Using magnesium supplements for sleep is all the rage. What to know

By Kristen Rogers, CNN

(CNN) — Whether they’re hyping magnesium-based products like the “sleepy girl mocktail” or pink lemonade-like drink mixes, wellness influencers are adding to the longtime buzz around taking the mineral for sleep benefits.

But do these supplements work?

“Magnesium is actually an essential mineral that is needed for more than 300 processes in the body,” said Samantha Cassetty, a registered dietitian in New York City. “We need to get it from our diet, or supplements if we can’t get enough through our diet.”

Magnesium supports sleep by helping produce the sleep hormone melatonin, while also regulating blood sugar and blood pressure, energy production, digestion, and bone, muscle and brain health.

The recommended daily intake of for adults ranges from 310 milligrams to 420 milligrams, which you can get from foods high in magnesium. Good options include dark leafy greens, beans, nuts and seeds, whole grains such as quinoa and shredded wheat, and fruits.

If you’re considering taking magnesium supplements, they are “always produced from natural sources, such as seawater or mined minerals,” said John Travis, principal technical manager at NSF, formerly the National Sanitation Foundation, via email.

Though the mineral is critical for health, there isn’t much academic research that definitively supports the claim that magnesium supplements improve sleep, said Dr. Anita Shelgikar, director of the sleep medicine fellowship and clinical professor of neurology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

And choosing the right magnesium supplement and following best practices for dosing are essential to avoid any harmful or inconvenient side effects.

Common types of magnesium

Magnesium supplements vary in name because of the different chemical compounds formed when the mineral is combined with other substances that affect how they are absorbed or tolerated, Travis and Shelgikar said.

Popular forms include magnesium glycinate, magnesium citrate, magnesium malate, magnesium oxide and magnesium L-threonate.

Magnesium glycinate is the type most used for sleep since glycine is an amino acid that’s involved in the mechanisms of sleep and gentle on the stomach, according to Cassetty.

Magnesium citrate often catches people off guard because it can send you running to the bathroom instead of sending you off to sleep. The citrate pulls water into the colon and causes a laxative effect, stomach cramps or gas, Cassetty and Shelgikar said. That’s why it’s sometimes used before medical procedures like colonoscopies, abdominal surgeries and other bowel exams.

Both magnesium citrate and magnesium glycinate are much better absorbed than magnesium oxide, Cassetty said. But this form can still act as a laxative and is sometimes used to treat magnesium deficiency given its high potency, Shelgikar said.

Magnesium malate is less studied on its own, Cassetty said. But it’s less likely to cause digestive issues and other uncomfortable side effects, and it’s marketed as helpful for boosting energy and relieving pain. “People anecdotally report online, and some small studies suggest, it may improve symptoms,” she added. “But it’s kind of hard to say.”

However, it’s plausible that if pain is what’s causing your sleep issues and taking magnesium malate helps relieve that pain, that’s how the supplement could indirectly improve your sleep, Cassetty said.

Magnesium L-threonate, often branded as Magtein, was developed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology scientists to pass the blood-brain barrier. This function helps directly raise magnesium levels in the brain, which makes the mineral more useful throughout the body compared with other, less absorbable forms of magnesium.

Magnesium L-threonate is supposed to primarily support learning, memory and overall cognitive function — benefits found in clinical studies funded by the company behind Magtein. (Getting independent research done on a patented supplement is difficult.) This supplement is also thought to be potentially useful for sleep quality and stress relief, but less so than other forms.

Each of these forms are sold on their own or in combination with other types as magnesium compound supplements.

Can magnesium improve your sleep?

Few academic studies exist that show whether magnesium supplements directly improve sleep, Shelgikar said.

A small study of 134 adults, published in 2025, found the group that supplemented 250 milligrams of magnesium biglycinate daily had improved sleep, measured by significantly greater decreases in Insomnia Severity Index scores by week four. This finding was in comparison with the control group that took a placebo.

Those results echoed the findings of a 2021 review of three studies on 151 older adults with insomnia. The review found participants who took 320 to 729 milligrams of magnesium citrate or magnesium oxide for three to eight weeks fell asleep around 17 minutes faster and slept about 16 minutes longer than the placebo group. (But the researchers said some of their results were weak and that the trials were low quality, so any potential recommendations based on their findings aren’t as strong they’d like.)

Similar results have been found for older adults taking magnesium biglycinate for insomnia, said Dr. Tod Cooperman, president of ConsumerLab.com, an independent tester and evaluator of health and nutrition products.

A 2021 study of nearly 4,000 young adults found those who had the highest intake of magnesium — about 196 milligrams per 1,000 calories daily — were 23% more likely to have better sleep quality than participants who only consumed around 105 milligrams daily. The high-intake group was also less likely to get fewer than seven hours of sleep.

But some of the findings combined magnesium intakes from both food and supplements. The results also somewhat weakened in significance when the authors considered participants’ other health factors, such as smoking status, alcohol consumption and physical activity.

While there is a lack of research on a direct relationship between magnesium and sleep, taking the supplements has been shown to positively affect other factors that influence sleep health — such as levels of the stress hormone cortisol, muscle relaxation and receptors that regulate nervous system activity.

When magnesium can be dangerous

If you’re not getting enough magnesium in your diet — which is common — related sleep disruption is plausible, Cassetty said. For many people, there is generally little harm in trying magnesium supplements, she added — “so it tends to be something that’s pretty easy to recommend, even though the research might not be robust.”

Regardless, always talk with your doctor before you start taking a supplement to avoid the risk of harmfully interfering with a medical condition or any medication you’re taking, Shelgikar said.

“Just because something’s natural doesn’t mean that it’s safe,” Cassetty said.

People with kidney, cardiovascular or gastrointestinal disease or low bone density should be especially careful, experts said. When kidneys can’t properly filter and excrete nutrients, supplementing magnesium may lead to unsafe blood levels of the mineral, Shelgikar said.

Consuming more than 350 milligrams of supplemental magnesium can lead to magnesium toxicity, which can cause symptoms including low blood pressure, vomiting, irregular heartbeat, difficulty breathing and cardiac arrest.

If you’re having sleep issues, take stock of your habits before turning to “magnesium or any sleep solution as a magic bullet,” Cassetty said. “It’s not going to override poor sleep-supporting habits.”

If improving your sleep health habits isn’t fixing anything after several weeks, talk to your doctor or a sleep specialist to see whether you have an underlying problem that could be masked by supplements.

Navigating the magnesium market

The US Food and Drug Administration regulates over-the-counter supplements as food. Accordingly, the agency makes manufacturers responsible for evaluating the safety and labeling of their products — for compliance with FDA requirements — before they hit the market. This means there is significantly less standardization and quality control of the ingredients in supplements, which means the source and dose of an active ingredient aren’t guaranteed.

Accordingly, “the best way to ensure you are taking a safer, high-quality product is to look for certification by an independent, third-party organization like NSF,” Travis said.

“Products certified to NSF’s standards for dietary supplements ensure that supplements are manufactured in a safe, hygienic facility that is compliant with FDA regulatory guidelines and, depending on the type of certification, that what’s on the label matches what’s in the bottle by evaluating the composition of the dietary supplement and ingredients.”

The United States Pharmacopeial Convention and Cooperman’s ConsumerLab.com provide similar resources — so looking for an “NSF,” “USP” or “CL” label on supplements may help you avoid issues around quality.

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