{"id":407690,"date":"2026-01-14T02:26:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T02:26:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/407690\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T02:26:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T02:26:08","slug":"whens-the-best-time-to-take-magnesium-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/407690\/","title":{"rendered":"When\u2019s the Best Time to Take Magnesium?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The internet is buzzing about magnesium supplements<\/a>: the benefits of taking magnesium<\/a>, the different types of magnesium that are available, and how to time your supplementation to max out the benefits. But before we get into the latter, it\u2019s important to recognize that while there is a time for magnesium, there is also a place. And that place is not always in your supplement routine.<\/p>\n

\u201cInfluencers and health coaches have exaggerated the need for supplementation,\u201d says Maddie Pasquariello, MS, RD<\/a>. \u201cMost people can get enough magnesium through food without making drastic or expensive changes to their diet, and we should be encouraging this before telling everyone to supplement.\u201d Indeed, there are many common magnesium-rich foods<\/a> that can easily cover the 400\u2013420 milligrams that the National Institutes of Health recommend for men over 19 years old.<\/p>\n

Of course, if for whatever reason you aren\u2019t able to get enough magnesium through your regular diet, supplements can help. And, in that case, you\u2019ll want to make sure you\u2019re aware of the best times to take magnesium, whether you should be taking it with or without food, and any other considerations that might help you get more bang for your buck. So here\u2019s everything you need to know.<\/p>\n

Your body doesn\u2019t care what time you take your magnesium<\/p>\n

According to Pasquariello, it\u2019s much more important that you\u2019re getting enough magnesium than exactly what time of day you\u2019re taking it. \u201cWe just don\u2019t have an abundance of evidence to suggest that timing your magnesium to a specific moment in your day makes a huge difference for most people,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

That said, it makes sense that a more readily absorbed form of magnesium would take effect more quickly\u2014something worth considering if you\u2019re taking magnesium specifically to address your sleep<\/a>. \u201cFor easily absorbed forms of magnesium that exert a bit of a relaxing effect, like magnesium glycinate, taking it before you go to sleep<\/a> might be most effective,\u201d Pasquariello says.<\/p>\n

Similarly, the specific type of magnesium you\u2019re taking might come with side effects that could influence when you take it. \u201cMany people prefer to take magnesium with their morning meal, especially because some forms\u2014especially those that are mild laxatives\u2014can cause a bit of immediate digestive change that you don\u2019t want right before you go to bed,\u201d Pasquariello says. \u201cOn the other hand, some people find that the effects on reducing constipation<\/a> are best felt after a night of sleep. So it might just require a bit of trial and error to figure out what works best for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you are low on magnesium, consistency is more important than timing<\/p>\n

Diagnosing a magnesium deficiency can be tricky, as much of your body\u2019s magnesium is not found in the blood<\/a>. While urine tests and other diagnostic pathways can help you and your doctor get a handle on your magnesium levels, Pasquariello recommends that those concerned about their magnesium intake start with a simple dietary audit.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re not getting enough magnesium as evidenced by an audit of your diet or testing, your practitioner would probably recommend a daily supplement, but it\u2019s important to only supplement if you know that you need to,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

If you do, in fact, need to supplement with magnesium, consistency should be your main priority. Whereas a handful of specific supplements, like high-dose vitamin D<\/a> or iron, can be taken once or twice a week, magnesium supplements should be taken daily. \u201cLike most supplements, it\u2019s not one-and-done with magnesium,\u201d Pasquariello says. \u201cIf you\u2019re not getting enough through your diet and can\u2019t manage to do so by making dietary tweaks, taking a magnesium supplement just once a week or whenever you remember to is likely not going to be enough.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The internet is buzzing about magnesium supplements: the benefits of taking magnesium, the different types of magnesium that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":343732,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[1777,49,48,2998,84,51617,395,18549,343,406],"class_list":{"0":"post-407690","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"tag-_seo","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-food","12":"tag-health","13":"tag-life-advice","14":"tag-nutrition","15":"tag-textbelowcentergridwidth","16":"tag-web","17":"tag-wellness"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=407690"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407690\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/343732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=407690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=407690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=407690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}