Dr. William Davis

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Magnesium glycerophosphate powder

By Dr. Davis | 19 Comments

There’s a relatively new form of magnesium available now in major stores: magnesium glycerophosphate in powder form.

I purchased this product from (of all places) Meijer for $11.99 (including a 50% off for second jar) and it yields a very nice, smooth tasteless texture when added to water. I have actually been enjoying the taste of water more with this form of magnesium added. Magnesium absorption from the glycerophosphate form is among the best, better than magnesium citrate, certainly better than magnesium chloride (often prescribed by doctors) and magnesium oxide. (It is unclear how it compares to malate or glycinate.)

Just to be safe and minimize the loose bowel effect, start with 1/2 teaspoon added to 8 ounces of drinking water; this provides 165 mg elemental magnesium. Drinking two 8-ounce glasses per day therefore adds 330 mg of magnesium. Increase the quantity of powder up to 1 teaspoon in 8 ounces water, if tolerated, twice per day to achieve ideal intake.

CVS also sells this form of magnesium for a similar price.

Those of you with need to restore magnesium to healthy levels rapidly, such as those with atrial fibrillation or other abnormal heart rhythms, bothersome leg cramps, migraine headaches, or osteopenia/osteoporosis, I believe that the Magnesium Water recipe that yields magnesium bicarbonate is still the best choice. But the glycerophosphate form is a nice second choice and, because it comes as a powder, is easily mixed into water or other liquids and avoids the large tablets or capsules that some people struggle with.

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About Dr. Davis

Cardiologist Dr. William Davis is a New York
Times #1 Best Selling author and the Medical Director of the Wheat Belly Lifestyle Institute and the Undoctored Inner Circle program.

Nothing here should be construed as medical advice, but only topics for further discussion with your doctor. I practice cardiology in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Comments & Feedback...

  2. Soloartista

    Wow, this is great. I will continue to drink the magnesium drink. But for my partner I’ll buy this. He takes 3 mag. malate capsules morning and evening. And mid day he drinks 8 oz. of mag. water. The powder will be much simpler.

  3. Kim

    Can you please add a link to this on amazon on your marketplace? There is not a Meijer or CVS near me and when I go to Amazon or RiteAid all I can see are citrate versions in powder form.l Thanks,

  5. Richard

    I found it at CVS and it is on sale – buy one, get one free. Maybe a new item for CVS. The container shows part #24310. CVS Health Magnesium Chelated Powder. 3 oz. They can order it for you or you can buy it at CVS online. I do not see this product at Amazon.

  6. bestdiet

    It’s getting more and more difficult to find milk of magnesia without sodium hypochlorite added to it. The Kroger brand has now added sodium hypochlorite. CVS told me they are no longer carrying their brand of milk of magnesia. Amazon is always out of stock on the Good Sense milk of magnesia. It’s like someone is systematically taking out the sodium hypochlorite free brands of milk of magnesia. Thanks for this alternative.

    • Bob Niland

      bestdiet wrote: «It’s like someone is systematically taking out the sodium hypochlorite free brands of milk of magnesia.»

      It seems to be more a case that the common supplier of the untainted magnesium hydroxide dried up, and everyone had to switch to a source that was using the bleach as a preservative in bulk imports.

      According to inquiries made by some Undoctored subscribers, the brands that used to offer unadulterated MoM are expecting fresh shipments in the near future. With any luck, they weren’t on board the containership ONE Apus.
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      • Jodeeras

        Bob, is it ok to use the mom with the bleach? Does it still give us the magnesium we need? I realize it’s not the best, but is it (like) “second best”? Just wondering.

        • Bob Niland

          Jodeeras wrote: «… is it ok to use the mom with the bleach?»

          The answers are: (1) we don’t know, and (2) doubtful.

          1. We don’t know what effect it has in the desired reaction:
          Mg(OH)2 + 2 CO2 → Mg(HCO3)2

          2. Even if it does not impair that reaction (or result in adverse by-products), there’s the separate question of whether the bleach is safe for the microbiome.

          I switched to using powdered food-grade magnesium hydroxide (basically making my own MoM) and home carbonation at least a year before the MoMs all got bleached.
          ________
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          • Pajenn65

            Bob,

            Could you share your recipe for turning the magnesium hydroxide powder into magnesium bicarbonate?

            Many thanks

            Paul

          • Bob Niland

            Pajenn65 wrote: «Could you share your recipe for turning the magnesium hydroxide powder into magnesium bicarbonate?»

            Perhaps in a week or so, when a recently ordered gram scale shows up.

            Gram scale? Yep. While we await some resolution to the bleached MoM scandal, we’ve been exploring the powder challenges on the Inner Circle forum.

            It’s become abundantly clear that whatever other concerns the Mg-hydroxide powders might have, their densities vary considerably. They often vary from the label claims (causing ConsumerLab to flunk some bulk powder products just for that). None have densities that match chemical reference sources (which references, to be sure, may be based on compacted solid form).

            So anyone working up from powder must rely on mass, and not volume, and typical kitchen scales don’t resolve to much below 1.0 gram.

            Then we need to confront the question of just how much Mg(OH)₂ can be fully reacted in a given volume of retail seltzer, or in the alternative, what’s the maximum for home carbonation.

            Stay tuned.
            ________
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    • Bob Niland

      Pajenn65 wrote: «I am looking forward to the results of your testing.»

      I ended up doing pretty much what I’ve been doing since switching to powdered magnesium hydroxide, but with a recipe now mass-based.

      It’s a bit more complicated than we’d like, so I’m frankly not expecting the WB or Undoctored programs to publish a similar recipe. You don’t need a semester of Pchem 101 to approach this, but anyone intimidated by the jargon below probably needs to avoid the process described. Stick to one of the suitable direct-consumption Mg supplements, such as that described in the blog post above. With any luck, unadulterated MoM will return to the market soon.

      Volumetric data for food grade bulk powders is completely unreliable. Testing service ConsumerLab has flunked several products merely because their label portions are inaccurate. None of the magnesium hydroxide (Mg(OH)2) products have label densities anything like scientific reference values for the compound, and brands disagree with each other. This might be due powder vs. solid form, plus variations in milling, settling in shipment, etc.

      Here’s a process:

      1. As with the program MoM recipe, you need a source of seltzer water that is strictly filtered water and CO2. This goes by different names in various regions. I’m using RO-filtered well water and home carbonation via a sodastream® appliance (carbonated after adding the Mg(OH)2).
      2. You need a supply of food-grade powdered Mg(OH)2. I’m using a 1 kg bag of BulkSupplements.com® brand powder that I bought several years ago. In the U.S, PureBulk offers a similar product, and I have no opinion on either for a fresh purchase. Elsewhere, it can be challenging to source this compound. It might require the assistance of a pharmacist/chemist.
      3. It would helpful if the container specified purity, such as, say, “97%”. Mg(OH)2 is hygroscopic to some extent, so part of its mass is going to be water from the atmosphere, and over time, it’s apt to pick up more, particularly if not tightly sealed.
      4. You need a scale that can resolve to 10 mg (0.010 gram). I more or less arbitrarily bought a Taylor 1250BKT for this purpose. The elemental Mg is 41.675% of the Mg(OH)2 mass. So if we are seeking ~450 mg of Mg per day, that’s a mere 1.08 g (1080 mg) of dry Mg(OH)2.
      5. Select a reliable one-tablespoon measuring spoon (near-hemispheric might be ideal). Weigh it, or just tare-it-out on the scale.
      6. Scoop some Mg(OH)2 out of the bulk container, and level it by sweeping across the spoon with some straight-edged device. Do not compact. Weigh it. In my case, the net weight of Mg(OH)2 was 6.65 grams. Note: you’ll need to do this only once per order, but you’ll need to re-do it for each new bulk container.
      7. Multiply that result by 0.417 to determine how much Mg is in that tbsp. In my case, it would be
        6.65×0.417=2.77g.
      8. For a target of 450mg/day, divide 0.45 by the Mg in a tbsp.:
        0.45÷2.77=0.16
      9. 0.16 tbsp. is ~½ teaspoon(tsp). I’m using a slightly rounded ½tsp, so as to bias toward 500 mg of Mg, plus compensate for any density loss due to humidity in my aging batch of powder.
      10. Note:
        adding powdered Mg(OH)2 directly to pre-carbonated (retail seltzer) water may provoke a vigorous reaction. It’s not what I do, so I don’t have any insight on how to minimize the issue. Chilling the seltzer might help.
      11. I dispense the ½tsp powder into an empty 1 liter sodastream bottle, add the filtered water, shake well, then place in refrigerator for 6 hours or so.
        The time helps dissolve the powder. The chilling is intended to reduce needless CO2 loss at the next step.
      12. I shake the chilled bottle, and inject two moderate squirts of CO2 via the sodastream, cap it, shake it again, and lay it on its side for at least 20 minutes, but more typically some hours. The time is required for the reaction to complete:
        Mg(OH)2 + 2 CO2 → Mg(HCO3)2
        The orientation enables checking for residues/precipitates on the side of the bottle. Note that this is a hypobaric reaction. If you press too hard on a post-reaction plastic bottle, it may dimple. A retail flimsy PETE/1\ bottle may indent on its own.
      13. When the suspension has gone clear, I shake the bottle again, stand it up, loosen the cap, and place it in the cupboard for later consumption. The loose cap allows excess CO2 to outgas, as it’s of no health benefit beyond the reaction. We have several bottles, so it takes a couple of days for each to get used.
      14. Consumption is an entire 1L bottle per day per person, which here is spread across three glasses, with some coarse Redmond Real Salt milled in.

      The above is for 1L bottles and 400-500mg of Mg. Anyone using the sodastream glass carafes (620mL) will need to run their own numbers.

      There is some upper limit to Mg-bicarbonate in water, both due to CO2 required and how much bicarb can remain in solution. 1½tsp of powder, and 3 squirts CO2 seems to be about the limit for 1L bottles. If you get white residue, it could be unreacted Mg(OH)2 powder, Mg(HCO3)2 precipitate, or some other problem (e.g. contaminants in powder or water).
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      • Pajenn65

        Bob,

        Thanks for the information.

        Taking your measurements, I am going to put a whole level teaspoon of Mg(OH)2 into an empty 2.5ltr jug and tip in a 2ltr seltzer bottle. Hopefully the required chemical reaction will take place and the extra capacity of the jug, along with adding the seltzer after the Mg(OH)2, will contain any “vigorous reaction”. The jug has a strong lid so I can shake it if this will help the reaction.

        Are there any side effects of consuming unreacted Mg(OH)2 powder that you are aware of?

        Thanks again.

        Paul

        • Bob Niland

          Pajenn65 wrote: « I am going to put a whole level teaspoon of Mg(OH)2 into an empty 2.5ltr jug and tip in a 2ltr seltzer bottle.»

          With that extra vessel&volume, I’d be tempted to pre-mix the powder into a small amount (less than 0.5L) of plain filtered water — basically making your own MoM — and then add that to the seltzer, just like the canonical recipe. But what you propose is worth at least one try, being simpler.

          re: «Are there any side effects of consuming unreacted Mg(OH)2 powder that you are aware of?»

          Well, yeah. Keep in mind the magic here. This reaction converts a poorly-absorbed effective laxative into a well absorbed mineral supplement. Any unreacted Mg-hydroxide would be expected to reduce Mg uptake in two ways, and could have unsought motility effects.
          ________
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          • Pajenn65

            Bob,

            Great advice on both counts. I’ll let you know how it goes once my Mg(OH)2 powder arrives.

            Thanks for your help.

            Paul

  8. mlteachout

    I just finished the 10-Day Grain Detox book so I am brand new to all of this. I just purchased Milk of Magnesia last night only to realize this morning that it is not compliant. If I use the magnesium glycerophosphate in powder form what kind of water can I add it to? Do I need to use seltzer water? Can I use reverse osmosis water or filtered water or tap water? What other beverages can it be added to? Thank you!!

    • Bob Niland

      mlteachout wrote: «I just purchased Milk of Magnesia last night only to realize this morning that it is not compliant.»

      If uncontaminated MoM returns to store shelves, it is compliant, when added to seltzer (or home-carbonated) water to make magnesium bicarbonate. Taken straight, any form or MoM is a laxative (Mg-hydroxide). What we seek is a well-absorbed Mg mineral supplement (Mg-bicarb).

      re: «If I use the magnesium glycerophosphate in powder form what kind of water can I add it to?»

      Mg-glycerophosphate, on the other hand, is consumed directly. It only needs to be added to something to make it easier to consume. Almost any program-safe beverage (or smoothie) will do. RO water? Sure.
      ________
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About Dr. Davis

Dr. William DavisDr. William Davis is a New York Times #1 best selling author and Medical Director and founder of the Undoctored program, including the Undoctored Health Workplace Program.