This note summarizes my [magnesium shill thread](https://twitter.com/sadalsvvd/status/1430366325151608838) on twitter, with more thorough sources linked along with a FAQ. Allow me to preface this by saying I'm not a doctor: I was curious about this, I tried it, and it worked for me. Magnesium is an essential element for the body and most people can take more of it safely, but your mileage may vary, and if you have a medical condition that implicates magnesium levels, you should consult your doctor before trying anything described here. ## Magnesium's importance and dosing So: what's the deal with magnesium all of a sudden? Let me preface by saying this is all [@Grimhood](https://twitter.com/Grimhood)'s work, who dove deep into nutrition [chasing down the pharmacological causes of his ailments](https://twitter.com/Grimhood/status/1428322529739898880). I wrote this while I still had beginner's mind to give others a way in, but to be clear, this is ALL his work--mine is strictly summary. Magnesium is INSANELY important to the body, and is used in [3,751 of its processes](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23095498/). however, Calcium ions (CA+2) deplete magnesium like crazy, which disrupts these processes. CA+2 is inflammatory, and we live in an EXTREMELY inflammatory environment from factors such as "blue light, nnEMF, sunlight with poor sunlight resilience, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, heavy metals, unbound copper and iron, molds, bacteria, viruses, parasites, etc." (source: [Grimhood's Beginner's Guide to Magnesium](https://www.patreon.com/posts/grimhoods-guide-54246656)). Therefore, we need more magnesium. WAY more. Doctors Mildred Seelig, MD and Carolyn Dean, PhD respectively wrote [The Magnesium Factor](amazon.com/Magnesium-Factor-Nutrient-Pressure-Conditions/dp/1583331565) and [Magnesium Miracle](https://www.amazon.com/Magnesium-Miracle-Revised-Updated/dp/034549458X) wherein they describe that the actual ideal amount of magnesium is 5-10mg elemental magnesium* _per pound of body weight_. So if you weigh 150lbs, you should be getting 750mg - 1.5g of magnesium per day. The recommended daily amount (RDA) is ridiculously low, at ~300-400mg. Basically, this means that if you are not already supplementing, you are almost guaranteed to be magnesium deficient. I'll pause to say, Grimhood's system is based on 3 protocols: sunlight, magnesium, and nutrition/diet. I'll skip diet because it's much trickier, but look into ancestral diets. Sunlight you absolutely SHOULD get though, if you aren't already. Pandemic times have decimated our vitamin D stores and many people are deficient, and it's an important pairing with the mag for feeling good. ## Benefits I experience Speaking of, what ARE the benefits? Let me tell you. I've been doing sunlight, magnesium, and diet for about a month and so far: - Baseline energy is much higher, resilient to energy "dips" - Background anxiety is almost completely gone - Less dopamine-seeking: twitter, tv, substances, porn, video games, etc. - Reduction in ADHD-like symptoms, executive function++ - More energy and sense of vitality - I ACTUALLY FEEL TIRED AT NIGHT which is unusual and welcome for me I'm 30, and I feel 5 years younger. It's honestly absurd. So, let's assume you're sold on at least the mag and dig into the how. ## Forms of Magnesium There are many different types of magnesium with varying bioavailability (effectiveness getting to cells) and taste. The best and easiest to start with due to bioavailability and benefits to the system are: - glycinate - chloride - hydroxide (low bioavailability but will convert into bicarbonate) The worst due to low bioavailability or harsher impacts on the system: - oxide - citrate - aspartate All magnesium is generally a laxative because it pulls water into your colon, but most people are aware of magnesium citrate, which is specifically used as a laxative due to its ability to affect the bowels more strongly than other forms of magnesium. While other forms of magnesium will have a smaller laxative effect, this means you must scale SLOWLY, or be near a toilet when you do. If you have healthy kidneys, the worst thing that happens from pushing too much magnesium too hard is you "bowel flush". The ideal goal is to continually, slowly push magnesium intake up while remaining just below the level of a bowel flush. For anyone I'd recommend getting started with [Jigsaw MagSoothe](https://www.jigsawhealth.com/products/magsoothe-magnesium-glycinate). It has a nice tart raspberry taste and you can just scoop it into some water (and it's fizzy!). That'll start you slow-and-low at 200mg of mag glycinate, and you can scale from there, layering in different types. ### Mag water However, Jigsaw IS expensive so I recommend longer term investing in stuff to make "mag water", which is basically water with magnesium bicarbonate, the resulting form from combining milk of magnesia/magnesium hydroxide with carbonation. You'll need: - Gallon jug (optional, for diluted batches) - 45mL milk of magnesia or 3600mg magnesium hydroxide (same thing, just in powdered form--milligram scale recommended) makes ~1500mg of elemental magnesium - 1L bottles of seltzer/carbonated mineral water - A funnel Instructions: 1. Pour out 2-3 oz room in carbonated water for head room 2. Pour milk of magnesia or magnesium hydroxide into bottle, cap immediately (it will fizz) 3. Shake, wait until it settles, shake it again. 4. Pour into gallon jug and dilute as desired I personally do this process four times to get a huge gallon jug of highly concentrated mag water at 1500mg/L, and pour fractions into other liter containers to drink from and dilute with regular water (preferably distilled or more mineral water). (Aside on gallon jugs: the jug will end up having white magnesium hydroxide residue that accumulates at the bottom if you do not wash it frequently, which is tedious and requires more carbonated water to bind to to get it to come off the glass. Soap will make your life harder, as it doesn't remove the hydroxide and gets mixed into it, requiring excessive rinsing to avoid drinking soap. I'm not sure if this happens in the same way with milk of magnesia.) I eventually invested in a [DrinkMate](https://idrinkproducts.com/) to save money on carbonated water. My bottle has a 800mL fill line which requires 2.8g of magnesium hydroxide to make the same concentration of bicarbonate (magnesium hydroxide has 42% elemental magnesium, so the ratio is 0.42, so 3). Here's another site which describes the process well with some different tools: [Magnesium bicarbonate supplementation - Toxinless](https://www.toxinless.com/magnesium-bicarbonate) ## Going further From here, you can branch out into exploring the different products and forms of magnesum. Generally for anything magnesium-related you're curious about, you can search on Twitter ["Grimhood <term/type/etc.>"](https://twitter.com/search?q=from%3Agrimhood%20deficiency&src=typed_query) and you'll find relevant information, as Grim is extremely prolific and knowledgeable. He's also incredibly helpful and if you just whisper "Grimhood" he will probably drop by like a magnesium superhero--literally the only person who makes namesearching seem like something noble and cool. On that note, I HIGHLY recommend subscribing to [Grim's Patreon](https://www.patreon.com/grimmsapothecary) even if just for a month to get access to what's already there. He organizes tons of protocols there, meticulously researched and explained, including a vetted brands/products post, and a list of different forms of magnesium and their uses which are extremely useful. Some examples of protocols on the Patreon: - Solar Protection - Unbound Iron Detox - Skin Care - Gut Cleanse - Memory Protocol - Dopamine Support - etc. If you have any questions, feel free to ping me on twitter at [@sadalsvvd](https://twitter.com/sadalsvvd), but again, most of this is Grim's research and knowledge, so I'll probably only be able to answer the basics rooted in my experience. ## FAQ **What is "elemental" magnesium?** Elemental magnesium is the amount of actual magnesium in a compound like magnesium glycinate, which contains 14.1% elemental magnesium by mass, with the other 85.9% being made up by glycine molecules. You can google "magnesium \<form> elemental percentage" to find this for most types of magnesium. ![[Pasted image 20210913094335.png]] This means that if you want to get 200mg of elemental magnesium while taking magnesium glycinate, you actually need to take ~1400 mg of magnesium glycinate per day. The formula to solve for this is: `elemental mag target in milligrams / elemental mag percentage = milligrams of magnesium form` So the above example with magnesium glycinate becomes: `200mg / 0.141 = 1418mg mag glycinate` **What dosage should I start at?** For most people I recommend starting at 200-600mg per day. If 200mg has no noticeable effect, you can probably add 400mg before bed, too, and then scale up slowly from there. **How do you take it? All at once or throughout the day?** I take a slightly larger dose of magnesium as soon as possible upon waking up (~600mg bicarb/glycinate) and drink diluted mag water throughout the day. In the evening before bed I superdose ~1g of magnesium products, as this makes sleep especially restful and I wake up feeling great. I have recently added 120mg magnesium glycinate pills into my evening rotation so I don't have to pee quite so much. You will need to work up to these amounts. If I feel my stomach start to move too much or get close to a bowel flush, I back off until it settles and resume for the day at smaller doses. **Help! Very small amounts of magnesium (~200mg-400mg non-elemental) make me bowel flush!** This can indicate a thiamine, sodium, or potassium deficiency. Look into increasing these. **Doesn't magnesium make you feel drowsy?** Magnesium is often used as a sleep supplement because it helps the processes in the body related to your circadian rhythms/sleep cycle, so I do feel extremely tired in the evening because you're supposed to. While supplementing throughout the day I never feel tired or lethargic, just calm. If you feel drowsy or lethargic on magnesium it's likely you also need lifestyle changes which provide energy such as sunlight or diet, or there may be another underlying condition.