This TRIPLES Magnesium Absorption, Calms Cortisol, and Stops Insulin Resistance

I have used magnesium glycinate for years and on your advice glycine. I started noticing that after taking magnesium glycinate and glycine while winding down at night I would get restless legs. I researched and found that people can react in a negative way to glycine. I switched to magnesium malate and I've been sleeping longer and better than I have in a decade. I will try Threonate. I hope this helps someone out there who has the same issue.

Yesterday took two mag glycinate in the morning with food, and two in the evening again with food. First time I ever had a perfect sleep score.

Basically, take Magnesium with Pre/Probiotics. As Butyrate and Acetate help absorption, vinegar and blue cheese should help, too.

I was chronically ill for years, every single magnesium supplement I tried NEVER brought me to bowel tolerance, until I tried Magnesium Malate powder, then I finally started absorbing it and was able to find my correct dose. It’s the one thing I make sure I take every single day.

You want cortisol to lower, take Ashwagandha and Relora every morning and night.

Magnesium + Reishi mushroom can make for a powerful sleep aid. Discover this in an inconvenient way after taking it before a meeting that was bound to be stressful. I couldn't keep myself awake and I almost felt asleep on my way and during the meeting.

# This TRIPLES Magnesium Absorption, Calms Cortisol, and Stops Insulin Resistance - Thomas DeLauer ## 1. The Magnesium Deficiency Crisis Magnesium is a critical mineral often overlooked due to the difficulty in diagnosing its status. Thomas DeLauer highlights several systemic reasons why magnesium deficiency is prevalent in the modern population: * **Intracellular Sequestration:** More than 99% of the body's magnesium is stored inside cells, bones, muscles, and soft tissue. Only approximately 1% circulates in the blood. * **Diagnostic Failure:** Standard blood tests measure serum magnesium. Because the kidneys actively pull magnesium from tissues to maintain serum levels, a normal blood test does not guarantee adequate cellular magnesium. In fact, researchers argue the reference range may be set too low to catch true deficiency. * **Dietary Decline:** Estimates suggest mineral content in vegetables has declined by 80–90% over the last century due to farming practices. * **Modern Diet & Caloric Intake:** Refined starches (like white flour) retain significantly less magnesium than whole grains. Furthermore, most people cannot consume enough calories (3,000+ per day) to reach adequate magnesium intake (300mg) solely through food, especially if in a caloric deficit. * **Medication Interference:** Medications such as proton pump inhibitors, diuretics, corticosteroids, and antibiotics can impair magnesium absorption. ## 2. Why Standard Supplements Often Fail Even when individuals supplement, they may not experience the intended benefits (lowered cortisol, reduced insulin resistance, muscle relaxation) due to absorption inefficiencies. * **Low Absorption Rates:** The body typically absorbs only about 10% of swallowed magnesium. * **Transporter Saturation:** Magnesium enters the small intestine via two pathways: 1. **Active Pathway:** Utilizes channel proteins TRPM6 and TRPM7. 2. **Passive Pathway:** Drifts between cells based on concentration gradients (dominant at high doses). Taking a high dose all at once (e.g., 400mg) saturates the active transporters, forcing reliance on the less efficient passive pathway. Splitting doses (e.g., 200mg twice daily) significantly improves absorption. * **Mineral Competition:** The TRPM6/7 channels are not magnesium-specific; they transport all divalent minerals. Taking magnesium simultaneously with calcium, zinc, or dairy products causes competition at the "gate," reducing magnesium uptake. * **Phytates:** Found in grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds, phytates can chelate magnesium and reduce absorption by up to 60%. Soaking or sprouting these foods can degrade phytates and improve bioavailability. * **Ineffective Forms:** Magnesium Oxide, a common supplement, has poor solubility and shows no significant difference from placebo in raising serum magnesium levels. ## 3. The Colon Pathway: Tripling Absorption The most significant insight from the transcript is the discovery of a specific absorption pathway in the colon that can triple magnesium uptake. * **The Baseline:** Under normal conditions, the colon contributes only about 10% of total magnesium absorption. * **The "Triple" Mechanism:** Prebiotic fiber fermentation activates this pathway. When gut bacteria ferment prebiotic fiber, they produce short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) like butyrate and acetate. * **The Biological Switch:** These SCFAs lower the pH inside colon cells. This acidic environment inhibits the standard TRPM6/7 channels but activates a different channel called **TRPV3**. * **The Result:** Activation of TRPV3 allows magnesium to enter via a new route. This increases colonic absorption from 10% to 30%, effectively tripling the contribution of the colon to whole-body magnesium status. * **Microbiome Dependency:** Two people taking the same supplement can have vastly different outcomes based on their microbiome. Low fiber intake, chronic stress, or antibiotic use suppresses butyrate production, hindering this pathway. ## 4. Optimal Magnesium Forms While marketing often overstates differences, specific forms have distinct physiological advantages. * **Magnesium Glycinate/Bisglycinate:** * **Best For:** General repletion, anxiety, muscle relaxation, and sleep. * **Mechanism:** The glycine neurotransmitter aids in relaxation and sleep. * **Evidence:** Highly well-tolerated and absorbs well. * **Magnesium Citrate:** * **Best For:** Raising serum magnesium levels. * **Evidence:** Outperforms oxide on absorption in head-to-head studies. * **Magnesium L-Threonate (Transcript referred to as "38 oxide" or "3 and8"):** * **Best For:** Cortisol reduction, stress response, cognition, and sleep quality. * **Mechanism:** L-Threonate acts as a carrier, facilitating the crossing of the blood-brain barrier. Standard magnesium raises serum levels but is largely excluded from the central nervous system; L-Threonate enters the brain. * **Note:** Benefits typically take 2–3 weeks to emerge. * **Magnesium + Vitamin B6:** * **Mechanism:** B6 is a required co-factor for how cells utilize magnesium. This combination outperforms magnesium alone for CNS relaxation. * **Taurine:** * **Mechanism:** Helps with intracellular retention of magnesium, reducing how quickly it leaves the cell. ## 5. Strategic Supplementation Protocol To maximize magnesium status and mitigate cortisol/insulin resistance, the following protocol is recommended: * **Dosing:** Aim for 300–400mg total daily. Split into two doses (e.g., 200mg morning, 200mg night) to prevent transporter saturation. * **Timing:** Take magnesium with or immediately after a meal containing fermentable fiber. * **Fiber Sources:** Consume prebiotics like chicory root, Jerusalem artichoke, garlic, onion, leeks, or psyllium husk to stimulate the colon pathway. * **Separation:** Keep magnesium at least 2 hours away from calcium, zinc, or dairy to avoid competition for transporters. * **Dietary Preparation:** Soak or sprout seeds, grains, and legumes to reduce phytate content. * **Co-Factors:** Ensure adequate Vitamin D levels to support transport capacity and consider Taurine supplementation for retention. ## Conclusion Magnesium deficiency is a systemic issue driven by soil depletion, modern dietary habits, and diagnostic limitations that render standard blood tests ineffective. While generic supplementation is common, it often fails due to poor absorption rates, mineral competition, and ineffective forms. The key to optimizing magnesium lies in understanding the gut's biology: specifically, leveraging the colon's TRPV3 pathway through prebiotic fiber to triple absorption. By selecting the correct form (L-Threonate for brain health, Glycinate for general relaxation), splitting doses, and managing mineral interactions, individuals can effectively lower cortisol, reduce insulin resistance, and improve sleep quality.

Folks, be very careful when buying magnesium. The oldest trick in the book is labeling them Magnesium Glycinate buffered. People are unaware they are buying Magnesium Oxide with just a trace of glycinate in the pill.

200 gr. dark chocolate gives the daily need for magnesium, by the way. Not recommended to eat so much chocolate, but it is good source.

Thank you Helix Sleep for sponsoring! Visit http://helixsleep.com/delauer to take advantage of their Memorial Day Sale Exclusive Partner Offer and get 27% Off Sitewide!