Magnesium with high bioavailability: Fast effect, but how?

When it comes to the absorption of minerals or other important nutrients, one often comes across the concept of
bioavailability
. It is a measure of how quickly your body can absorb a substance.

In concrete terms, this means how quickly a substance passes into your bloodstream after ingestion and to what extent it is then available to your organism unchanged.

Therefore, when taking medicines or dietary supplements, you should keep a good eye on this value. Finally, it provides information on how quickly an ingested preparation develops its effect.

Magnesium with high bioavailability is therefore absorbed faster by your body and can support you more quickly, for example, during heavy physical stress.

If you need to go fast: Magnesium with high bioavailability

Bioavailability is caused by several factors. So, of course, it depends on how you pick up a fabric.

Since it is primarily a question of the transfer of a substance into the bloodstream, the bioavailability with an intravenous administration is accordingly 100 percent. Depending on the type of intake, different forms of value are therefore distinguished.

Magnesium can also be administered by infusion in acute cases, but is not widely used in this form. For a sustainable increase in magnesium in the blood, nutrition is the most important factor.

A simple method is to use dietary supplements, where in this area oral bioavailability is the measurement of interest to you.

In addition to how, bioavailability also changes depending on what we take.

When taking magnesium, you should therefore pay attention to the form in which the magnesium occurs.

In preparations for dietary supplements, magnesium is always contained in a compound with other substances. Attention must be paid here: Depending on which magnesium compound is used, the bioavailability can change drastically!

Is magnesium with high bioavailability automatically better?

When we see dietary supplements as cars, bioavailability describes how many horsepower sleep under the bonnet. If one then compares the new sports car from the neighbor with the small car of the aunt, the expensive luxury car has the edge in most respects.

But the comparison lags: Yes, bioavailability tells you how fast a substance works, but quick effect is not always optimal. Depending on the reason for ingestion and individual tolerability, a magnesium compound with high or low bioavailability may be recommended for you.

Just because a preparation works quickly does not mean that it also achieves the desired effect.

The comparison with the cars may not be so wrong: after all, the 73-year-old aunt probably won’t be able to gain much from the sports car, because it simply offers the wrong thing for her needs for a car.

Magnesium with high bioavailability can also have undesirable side effects:

Your body absorbs magnesium primarily through the intestines and excretes it through the kidneys and digestion. This type of magnesium passes faster into your organism, but then it has to be excreted more quickly. Certain magnesium compounds therefore stimulate digestion.

Depending on the dosage, tolerability and habit, these can also have a disacting effect. It is not for nothing that magnesium is often used, especially in laxatives.

Basically, however, the body can get used to the fast magnesium boost and the laxative effect decreases again with regular intake.

The medicine also assumes that due to the comparatively rapid excretion, the magnesium stores in the body cannot be filled as effectively and sustainably as with magnesium with lower bioavailability.

Magnesium with high bioavailability is ideal due to the short-term and rapid supply of minerals, especially in competitive sports or in muscle spasms.

Which magnesium has high bioavailability?

Magnesium compounds are present in organic and inorganic variants.

Many available dietary supplements contain the inorganic
magnesium oxide
. Of all magnesium compounds, it contains the highest proportion of elemental magnesium at 60. This can be beneficial for certain applications, but the effect of a preparation with magnesium oxide is comparatively slow,as it has a low bioavailability.

Although there are few studies to compare this value and the results are controversial, it is generally assumed that organic magnesium salts are ahead of the pack.

The highest bioavailability in magnesium: the magnesium citrate

Above all, the organic
magnesium citrate
. It refers to the magnesium salts of citric acid and a number of positive properties.

Thus, it promotes the production of stomach acid and increases the fluid content in the digestive tract. These properties make magnesium citrate equally attractive for people with stomach problems.

Probably the most important property: Of all magnesium compounds, magnesium citrate has the highest proven bioavailability.

A variety of other organic compounds are also well suited for use as a dietary supplement in this point.

The following types of magnesium are most commonly used:

• Magnesium citrate (also
  magnesium tricitrate
  )
• Magnesium gluconate
• Magnesium aspartate
• Magnesium chelate
• Magnesium malate
• Magnesium lactate
• Magnesium glycerophosphate
• Magnesium oronate

Bioavailability is not everything in dietary supplementation. Nevertheless, the value is an important indicator of the efficacy and application of a preparation.

Especially if your body is constantly exposed to high loads (e.g. through competitive sports or intensive training) or if you suffer from muscle spasms after the sport,
magnesium citrate
can help you.

Due to the high bioavailability, it can act quickly and support your body during and after the sport.

However, if you are intolerance or if you have a magnesium deficiency, you should always consult your GP before taking it.