KenDBerryMD - Magnesium Mistake! (You're Wasting Your Money)

Short Summary

Main recommendation: Stop buying magnesium oxide supplements, because the video claims the body absorbs only about 4% of them, and choose a more absorbable form such as magnesium citrate, malate, or threonate instead. Dr. Ken Berry explains that the best-selling brands (Nature's Bounty, Nature Made, and Nature's Truth) are all magnesium oxide, and that most doctors, including himself early in his career, were trained to prescribe it anyway.

Key Points

• The video says the top-selling magnesium supplements are all magnesium oxide, and that multiple studies show only about 4% is absorbed, so roughly 96% of the money is wasted.
• Magnesium oxide is the only prescription magnesium in the United States, and it is FDA approved only for dyspepsia, not for low magnesium, so prescribing it for low magnesium is off label (legal and ethical, per the speaker).
• Doctors often prescribe magnesium oxide because they were trained to, and because insurance covers it as the only approved prescription magnesium.
• Choosing the form depends on bowel habits: magnesium citrate for constipation, magnesium malate or threonate for those without constipation.

Details Worth Noting

• Concrete instructions:
  • Check the ingredient label of your current magnesium bottle. If it lists magnesium oxide, it is the form the video says you absorb poorly.
  • Finish the remaining magnesium oxide, since the speaker says it is not harmful, just wasteful, and then switch.
  • If you tend toward constipation, choose magnesium citrate, which the speaker says helps loosen bowel movements.
  • If you do not have constipation problems, choose magnesium malate or magnesium threonate.
  • Several other forms are available, which the speaker says can be found on Amazon.
  • Choose a formulation your body can actually absorb on your next purchase.
• The three named brands shown are Nature's Bounty, Nature Made, and Nature's Truth, sold in 250 mg, 400 mg, and 500 mg strengths.
• The speaker says he prescribed magnesium oxide for low magnesium during his first few years of practice because he was taught to, and only later looked into the absorption question.
• The video is general information from a physician and is not individualized medical advice; anyone with a health condition should consult their own clinician before changing supplements.

Bottom Line

Check the label on your magnesium, and if it is magnesium oxide, switch to a more absorbable form matched to your bowel habits.