Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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Has anyone used a time released magnesium supplement? Or how have you solved the diarrhea problem?

flag	asked May 5 2011 at 12:16 nancy64 1,398●3●16

luckybastard · Answer 1 · 2011-05-05 14:20:22Z UTC

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i use NOW's magnesium citrate powder. a full dose of theirs is 680mg which i take before bed. the only side effect i've had is peaceful sleep :)

answered May 5 2011 at 14:20

luckybastard♦
12.5k●1●14●65

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You are a lucky bastard:) I'd be in the bathroom all night and the next day with such a dose. – Katherine May 5 2011 at 16:25

hah... before the powder came in the mail, i ramped up on about 150-200g of magnesium citrate a night from the cvs brand. maybe that prepped me for it. i did that for about a week. the 680 i take almost every night and i've never had a problem. – luckybastard♦ May 5 2011 at 16:46

Thomas Seay · Answer 2 · 2011-05-05 16:05:26Z UTC

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Use magnesium oil. It's more efficient, more gets absorbed. Just apply it twice a day to your skin. Or try daily epsom salt baths.

answered May 5 2011 at 16:05

Thomas Seay

	So if you take an epsom salt bath you get the magnesium your body needs by absorption and it does not work as a laxative? – nancy64 May 5 2011 at 16:17
	I use transdermal magnesium "oil" every morning. It does itch and burn a bit but you only have to leave it on for about 20 minutes, then just shower and it all comes off and you're off to work/live etc. I do this in addition to natural calm. – ben61820 May 5 2011 at 16:37
	With either Epsom or transdermal "oil" there are zero stomach issues. The magnesium doesn't enter the digestive tract at all. – ben61820 May 5 2011 at 16:39

Basil.G · Answer 3 · 2011-05-05 13:15:58Z UTC

Magnesium glycinate (chelate) in an amount totaling 400-600mg elemental Mg, perhaps Albion Minerals' version (sold by Bluebonnet, among others), on a completely empty stomach, before bed... seems to completely solve the diarrhea issue. I've tried several other alternatives (taurate, citramate, citrate, malate, etc.) and the critical issue seems to be using a highly-absorbable chelate, so the Mg doesn't just hang out in the GI tract and pull in water, and doing so when the stomach has been empty for several hours, ideally.

Cheers, Baz

ben61820 · Answer 4 · 2011-05-05 14:09:07Z UTC

I've been a natural calm user for the past year. I simply followed the directions on the label, which say to start with a very small amount, twice per day and slowly increase the amount you take.

It does take time (maybe 3-4 weeks for me to get up to the dosage that nets you about 86% of the daily RDA; in other words Natural Calm's full daily dosage) and on the way titrating up occasionally you will probably take a bit too much and have to run to the bathroom but just go slow and add teeny amounts and you'll be fine.

Katherine · Answer 5 · 2011-05-05 16:28:46Z UTC

Even magnesium glycinate (a chelated form) is not tolerated well by my sensitive(ish) gut. The only forms I can tolerate are:

1)Jigsaw Health Magnesium w/ SRT (sustained release technology). I hate to spend so much on it but literally nothing else works for me. Still, I do have to take it with food but can take 2-8 per day with no issue.

2)Mg Chloride - ie magnesium oil. No gut issues with it (obviously) but it irritates the heck out of my skin with burning, prickling sensations even when I dilute it or use less.

3)Epsom Salts - absorption, at least for me, doesn't appear to be significant enough but that may be due to frequency...I'm not willing to waste the amount of water required for daily bathing. I take supershort showers most days.

So for me, Jigsaw it is!

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