Magnesium bisglycinate (also called magnesium glycinate or diglycinate) is magnesium bound to two molecules of the amino acid glycine. It is one of several supplement forms of the mineral magnesium.
Also known as: magnesium glycinate, magnesium diglycinate.
ODS lists a Recommended Dietary Allowance of 400 to 420 mg a day for men and 310 to 320 mg for women (ages 19 and up). The Tolerable Upper Intake Level for magnesium from supplements and medicines is 350 mg a day for ages 9 and up; it does not count magnesium from food. Supplement labels list elemental magnesium, which is only part of the weight of magnesium glycinate.
It is sold in the US as a dietary supplement. Under the 1994 dietary supplement law (DSHEA), FDA does not approve dietary supplements before they are marketed, and the maker, not FDA, is responsible for safety and labeling. Magnesium is an FDA-approved drug in other forms, such as magnesium sulfate injection, and is an ingredient in over-the-counter laxatives and antacids.
ODS says about 30 to 40% of dietary magnesium is typically absorbed. It lists interactions: magnesium lowers absorption of oral bisphosphonates (take them 2 hours apart) and binds tetracycline and quinolone antibiotics (take those 2 hours before or 4 to 6 hours after magnesium), and some diuretics and proton pump inhibitors change magnesium levels. Too much supplemental magnesium can cause diarrhea, nausea and cramps.
We could not find a published human half-life or time to peak for magnesium glycinate. In one small study of people with bowel resection (Schuette 1994), absorbed magnesium peaked about 3 hours earlier after a glycine chelate than after magnesium oxide, but no single time to peak applies to everyone. Blood magnesium is tightly regulated, so a supplement dose does not show up as a clear curve. The app's 12-hour half-life and 3-hour peak are modeling values, so neither is listed.