Swisse Wellness, JSHealth Vitamins, Opella-owned Nature’s Own, Ārepa, and AusVitality Wellness Co are some of the brands that have launched magnesium products in recent months.
On these products, either the name “magnesium glycinate”, “magnesium bisglycinate”, or “magnesium diglycinate“ could be found and all three are essentially the same.
The sudden interest in magnesium among the Australian public could have come from discussions on social media like TikTok, according to Sarah Lawman, head of Australia at JSHealth Vitamins.
“It is definitely trending on TikTok and social media,” she told NutraIngredients.
“As with anything in the supplement industry, as soon as there’s an education piece around it, as soon as the consumer understands what they’re taking, then there will be a greater desire to take it."
The company recently launched a powder version of its Advanced Magnesium + tablets, which contains three forms of magnesium, namely glycinate dihydrate, magnesium citrate, and magnesium amino acid chelate.
The aim is to cater to consumers with difficulty swallowing tablets, or prefer to mix it with beverage.
For its second product, start-up AusVitality also tapped on magnesium glycinate to form a stress and sleep support supplement blend.
Launched last month, the product known as NightDrift, is meant to complement its debut product Mindlift launched three years ago for improving mental focus, clarity, and reducing stress and fatigue.
In the same vein, the company noticed that interest in magnesium is growing, as seen from the amount of Google searches.
“If you look on Google, the amount of searches on magnesium glycinate is way up there, even in line with something like Ashwagandha which is trending right,” co-founder Gareth Lloyd said.
Leveraging on the trend has yielded results.
In its half-year financial results, Swisse’s parent company H&H Group said that magnesium glycinate tablet supplement was one of the new launches propelling sales growth in Australia and New Zealand.
“We’ve been able to track the ingredient digitally to get a feel in terms of what consumers are looking for,” said Swati Prasad, Sales Director, Swisse ANZ.
“We were also able to see what’s in the market, within the pharmacy range, and what’s working well, and get feedback from our consumers and see where they’re asking for support.
“Through those different ways, we’re able to determine how important or how necessary these needs are, which was how we came up with the launch of magnesium glycinate,” she said.
Ārepa, which specializes in blackcurrant functional drinks, has also venture into the magnesium bisglycinate space with the launch of its Brain Capsules for Sleep Support and functional beverage The Brain Drink for Calm & Clarity.
Opella-owned Nature’s Own, on the other hand, has launched Magnesium Glycinate 1150mg tablets.
ARTG database
A search of the term “magnesium glycinate” on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG) database showed 121 records of complementary medicines as of September 5.
There is a likelihood that the number would could continue to grow and exceed last year’s record of 138.
In 2023 and 2022, there were 60 and 50 records found respectively.
Why?
Magnesium glycinate, in particular, has emerged as a popular ingredient for reasons, including better bioavailability and being gentler on the gut.
Other reasons include its ability to support multiple bodily functions.
David Jones-Hawke, co-founder at AusVitality, pointed out that the ingredient could not only support sleep but also muscle recovery.
“There is a plethora of benefits from taking magnesium and magnesium glycinate is a form of magnesium that crosses the blood brain barrier, meaning it is highly bioavailable,” he said.
A review published in the Journal of Translational Medicine last year reported that magnesium supplementation could reduce muscle soreness, improve performance and recovery.
Another study conducted on mice reported that different forms of magnesium could produce different benefits.
Magnesium malate supplementation, for instance, could significantly increase magnesium levels in skeletal muscle and whole-brain tissue.
Magnesium citrate could increase hippocampal brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels, while magnesium glycinate played a role in anxiolytic - or anxiety relieving effects.
A study comparing the bioavailability of magnesium diglycinate and magnesium oxide reported that the former is a highly available form.
A reason could be because it is magnesium chelated with amino acids, which could have enabled it to be transported in the body via the dipeptide transporter pathway.
Angus Brown, co-founder and head of sales and R&D at Ārepa - a brand by Alphagen NZ Ltd, added that magnesium glycinate could support deeper sleep by supporting normal melatonin synthesis.
“It provides highly bioavailable magnesium that supports normal melatonin synthesis and GABA signaling, helping maintain deeper, more efficient sleep,” he said.
He cited findings from a clinical trial on adults with poor sleep, which reported that magnesium supplementation has improved Oura-ring measured deep-sleep duration and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) scores after two weeks.
Formulations
While magnesium can be made into a single ingredient product, most of the new launches mentioned above have also added synergistic ingredients into their formulations.
Ārepa, for instance, has formulated 1000mg magnesium bisglycinate with 200mg of L-theanine and 28mg of saffron.
According to Brown, L-theanine could help promotes a calmer brain state at bedtime, which supports shorter sleep-onset latency and better overall sleep quality.
Saffron, on the other hand, is clinically shown to improve subjective sleep quality and ease insomnia-type symptoms.
AusVitality, also used magnesium glycinate and L-theanine in its NightDrift supplement, while also adding chamomile extract for calming into the formulation.
