DOSE AND LABEL GUIDE
Magnesium Glycinate Dosage: What the Numbers on the Label Mean
Magnesium glycinate dosage is confusing because the big number on a bottle is often the weight of the compound, not the magnesium inside it. This guide explains elemental versus compound weight, sets out the NIH, EFSA and NHS reference figures, and shows what the Tri-Mag Night label prints. It does not tell you how much to take.
Tri-Mag Night: three-form magnesium complex, 90 capsules.
Three magnesium forms
200 mg elemental magnesium per serving
90 capsules per bottle
30 servings per bottle
Taken in the evening
Three magnesium forms
200 mg elemental magnesium per serving
90 capsules per bottle
30 servings per bottle
Taken in the evening
Is there one right magnesium glycinate dosage?
There is no single correct amount for everyone, and this page will not invent one. It shows how to read the number on a label and sets out the published reference figures, so you can see where any product sits. For your own amount, follow the directions on the pack and ask a pharmacist or doctor, especially if you take medicines.
- Read the elemental figure. Any magnesium glycinate dosage on a label should come with it: the NIH says the Supplement Facts panel declares elemental magnesium, not the weight of the whole compound.
- Glycinate is about 14 percent magnesium. By our calculation from its formula weight, 1,000 mg of magnesium bisglycinate carries roughly 141 mg of magnesium.
- Three official ceilings exist. The NIH upper limit for supplemental magnesium is 350 mg a day for adults, EFSA gives 250 mg, and the NHS says 400 mg or less from supplements is unlikely to cause harm.
- A ceiling is not a target. Recommended intakes of 310 to 420 mg a day for adults (NIH) include food and drink.
- Ask first if you have kidney problems, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or take medication.
For context on the forms themselves, read our guide to types of magnesium.
OUR MAGNESIUM GLYCINATE
pr1mebody magnesium glycinate, 90 capsules
pr1mebody magnesium glycinate is our everyday magnesium: magnesium glycinate (bisglycinate) in veggie capsules, 360 mg of magnesium per three-capsule serving, taken with a meal and water. 90 capsules, 30 servings.
- Magnesium: 360 mg per serving (as magnesium glycinate)
- Serving: 3 veggie capsules with a meal and water
- 90 capsules, 30 servings per bottle
From
$26.99
1 bottle
90 capsules · 30 servings · $0.90 per serving
$26.99
Buy 2, get 1 free
3 bottles
270 capsules · 90 servings · $0.60 per serving
$53.99
5 bottles
450 capsules · 150 servings · $0.72 per serving
$107.99
Best value
12 bottles
1,080 capsules · 360 servings · $0.44 per serving
$159.99
See the full product page · Read first: types of magnesium explained · Prefer three magnesium forms at a lower dose? See Tri-Mag Night
Prices in US dollars as of 12 Oct 2026. Free tracked shipping and a 30-day money-back guarantee. Checkout opens on satiovex.com, the store run by Xinop LLC, which also sells pr1mebody products; the item may appear there under the Satiovex name.
ELEMENTAL VS COMPOUND
Why elemental magnesium is the number to read
Magnesium glycinate is magnesium joined to the amino acid glycine. Only part of its weight is magnesium; the rest is glycine. Labels that quote the compound and labels that quote the mineral look alike, so one bottle can be read two ways.
The NIH Office of Dietary Supplements states that the Supplement Facts panel on a US label declares the amount of elemental magnesium, not the weight of the entire magnesium-containing compound. Front-of-pack and shop-listing wording can quote either, so find the line that names elemental magnesium before you compare products.
Form
Formula weight (PubChem)
Magnesium share of the compound
Compound that carries 100 mg of magnesium
Form
Magnesium oxide
Formula weight (PubChem)
40.305
Magnesium share of the compound
about 60.3 percent
Compound that carries 100 mg of magnesium
about 166 mg
Form
Magnesium citrate (trimagnesium dicitrate)
Formula weight (PubChem)
451.12
Magnesium share of the compound
about 16.2 percent
Compound that carries 100 mg of magnesium
about 619 mg
Form
Magnesium bisglycinate (glycinate)
Formula weight (PubChem)
172.42
Magnesium share of the compound
about 14.1 percent
Compound that carries 100 mg of magnesium
about 709 mg
Form
Magnesium taurate
Formula weight (PubChem)
272.6
Magnesium share of the compound
about 8.9 percent
Compound that carries 100 mg of magnesium
about 1,122 mg
Form
Magnesium L-threonate
Formula weight (PubChem)
294.50
Magnesium share of the compound
about 8.3 percent
Compound that carries 100 mg of magnesium
about 1,212 mg
These are our own calculations for each dry compound on its own, using formula weights from PubChem and an atomic weight of about 24.3 for magnesium. Real ingredients can contain water, other salts or carriers, so the figure printed on the label always beats this table.
Worked examples from a label
- A label that says 400 mg magnesium glycinate and nothing else: about 56 mg of magnesium, if the 400 mg is bisglycinate alone.
- A label that says 1,000 mg magnesium glycinate: about 141 mg of magnesium.
- Reaching 100 mg of magnesium from bisglycinate alone takes about 709 mg of the compound, so a modest elemental figure can still mean several large capsules.
Our product listing makes the same point: it says bisglycinate is only about 14 percent elemental magnesium by weight, and our calculation gives 14.1 percent, so the two agree.
Start with the elemental magnesium line, not the compound weight.
FOUR NUMBERS PEOPLE MIX UP
RDA and upper limits: what each number measures
Most of the confusion comes from four figures that answer four different questions. Here they are side by side.
Figure
Source
What it measures
Counts food and drink?
Figure
310 to 420 mg a day (adults)
Source
NIH Office of Dietary Supplements (RDA)
What it measures
Recommended intake, which varies by age and sex
Counts food and drink?
Yes, all sources
Figure
350 mg a day
Source
NIH Office of Dietary Supplements (upper limit)
What it measures
Upper limit for magnesium from supplements and medicines
Counts food and drink?
No, supplements and medicines only
Figure
250 mg a day
Source
EFSA (upper limit, from the SCF 2001 opinion)
What it measures
Upper limit for readily dissociable magnesium salts and compounds like oxide in supplements, water or added to food
Counts food and drink?
No
Figure
400 mg or less a day
Source
NHS
What it measures
Total from supplements unlikely to cause harm
Counts food and drink?
No, supplements only
Each of these figures has a different job. The NIH explains why an upper limit can sit below a recommended amount for some groups. Recommended amounts count magnesium from food, beverages, supplements and medications, while upper limits count only supplements and medications, not the magnesium found in ordinary food and drink.
EFSA adds a wrinkle. Its footnote says the 250 mg limit applies to readily dissociable magnesium salts (it names chloride, sulphate, aspartate and lactate) and to compounds like magnesium oxide, in food supplements, water or fortified foods. It does not name glycinate, so we will not claim to know how it applies. The careful reading of any magnesium glycinate dosage figure is to count every magnesium supplement and medicine toward one daily total.
WOMEN, MEN AND AGE
Does the amount differ for women and men?
Many readers expect a sex-specific supplement amount. The sources we read give none: only a recommended intake that differs by age and sex, and an upper limit that does not.
Age
Male (RDA)
Female (RDA)
Pregnancy (RDA)
Lactation (RDA)
Age
14 to 18 years
Male (RDA)
410 mg
Female (RDA)
360 mg
Pregnancy (RDA)
400 mg
Lactation (RDA)
360 mg
Age
19 to 30 years
Male (RDA)
400 mg
Female (RDA)
310 mg
Pregnancy (RDA)
350 mg
Lactation (RDA)
310 mg
Age
31 to 50 years
Male (RDA)
420 mg
Female (RDA)
320 mg
Pregnancy (RDA)
360 mg
Lactation (RDA)
320 mg
Age
51 years and over
Male (RDA)
420 mg
Female (RDA)
320 mg
Pregnancy (RDA)
not applicable
Lactation (RDA)
not applicable
That is the NIH Recommended Dietary Allowance: a total from food, drink, supplements and medicines, not a supplement serving. The NHS gives lower daily amounts for ages 19 to 64, 300 mg for men and 270 mg for women, and EFSA sets adequate intakes of 350 mg for men and 300 mg for women.
Food counts toward the recommended intake
Food (NIH table, USDA data)
Magnesium per serving
Food (NIH table, USDA data)
Pumpkin seeds, roasted, 1 ounce
Magnesium per serving
156 mg
Food (NIH table, USDA data)
Almonds, dry roasted, 1 ounce
Magnesium per serving
80 mg
Food (NIH table, USDA data)
Spinach, boiled, half a cup
Magnesium per serving
78 mg
Food (NIH table, USDA data)
Black beans, cooked, half a cup
Magnesium per serving
60 mg
Food (NIH table, USDA data)
Banana, 1 medium
Magnesium per serving
32 mg
Food (NIH table, USDA data)
Whole wheat bread, 1 slice
Magnesium per serving
23 mg
The magnesium in those foods counts toward the recommended intake but not toward the supplement ceiling. The NIH adds that about 30 to 40 percent of the magnesium in food and drink is absorbed. None of this is a personal magnesium glycinate dosage. If a doctor has told you to take a specific amount, follow that instead of a general guide.
CHILDREN AND PREGNANCY
What about children, teenagers and pregnancy?
Parents do look for children's amounts, so here is what the NIH publishes. The upper limit for supplemental magnesium is much lower for young children than for adults.
Age
Upper limit for supplemental magnesium (NIH)
Age
0 to 12 months
Upper limit for supplemental magnesium (NIH)
None established
Age
1 to 3 years
Upper limit for supplemental magnesium (NIH)
65 mg a day
Age
4 to 8 years
Upper limit for supplemental magnesium (NIH)
110 mg a day
Age
9 years and over, including pregnancy and lactation from age 14
Upper limit for supplemental magnesium (NIH)
350 mg a day
These are ceilings, not doses. An adult serving is not a child serving, and choosing an amount for a child is a job for a paediatrician, not a general web page. Tri-Mag Night is for adults, and its listing says it is not intended for under-18s. In pregnancy the NIH gives a recommended intake of 350 to 400 mg depending on age and the same 350 mg upper limit for supplemental magnesium. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, ask a midwife, doctor or pharmacist before using any magnesium supplement.
What is the maximum per day, and what happens above it?
The NIH says high doses of magnesium from supplements or medications can cause diarrhea, nausea and abdominal cramping. It describes toxicity at very high doses, with low blood pressure, vomiting, difficulty breathing, irregular heartbeat and cardiac arrest, and says the risk rises with impaired kidney function because the ability to remove excess magnesium is reduced or lost. The NHS says 400 mg or less a day from supplements is unlikely to cause harm, while more than 400 mg for a short time can cause diarrhoea.
Which forms loosen the bowels? The NIH lists carbonate, chloride, gluconate and oxide as the forms most commonly reported to cause diarrhea. Glycinate is not on that list, but the fact sheet does not say it is free of the effect, and we found no head-to-head trial. A maximum magnesium glycinate dosage is therefore set by the daily total, not by the form.
Does a bigger single amount absorb proportionally more?
Not in the one experiment we found, which we read as an abstract only. In 1991, volunteers ate a standard meal supplemented with increasing amounts of magnesium acetate. Absorption rose with each increase, but the fraction absorbed fell progressively, from 65 percent at the lowest intake to 11 percent at the highest. The largest load was 80 mEq, roughly 970 mg of magnesium by our conversion, far above any supplement serving, and the salt was acetate, not glycinate. Read it as the general shape of absorption, not a rule for capsules.
Who should not choose a dose alone
If you have kidney problems, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or take medicines such as oral bisphosphonates, tetracycline or quinolone antibiotics, diuretics or proton pump inhibitors, speak to a doctor or pharmacist before settling on any dose. The spacing rules are in our guide to when to take magnesium. Supplements are not medicines.
MAGNESIUM
Dose is per serving, not per capsule, so check how many capsules make a serving.
LABEL CHECKLIST
What to look for on any label before you compare doses
Before you compare prices or trust a magnesium glycinate dosage claim, check these on the bottle, ours included.
- The form named exactly. Bisglycinate and glycinate are the same idea. The word magnesium on its own tells you nothing.
- Elemental magnesium per serving in milligrams. If only the compound weight is given, use the table above for an estimate and treat it as one.
- The serving size. A serving may be one capsule, three capsules or two gummies. Dose is per serving, not per capsule.
- Servings per container, so you can divide the pack into days.
- Which reference value the percentage uses. A US panel compares with the Daily Value, which the NIH gives as 420 mg for adults. Our listing quotes a percentage of the NRV, a different reference, so percentages from different regions are not directly comparable.
- Every form in a blend, with amounts. A three-form blend is a different purchase from one form, and hidden proportions make the dose harder to check.
- A warning line for pregnancy, breastfeeding, kidney problems and medication. Count other magnesium too: the NIH notes it is in some heartburn remedies and certain laxatives.
Gummy labels raise the same questions: is 400 mg the compound or the mineral, and how many gummies make a serving? We do not sell magnesium gummies, so we cannot say how any gummy label answers.
Here is the checklist applied to our own product. The elemental figure is printed, the serving size is stated and the pack count is clear. One gap remains: the listing does not state how much of each of the three forms is in a serving.
Tri-Mag Night label facts
Serving size
3 capsules
Servings per bottle
30
Elemental magnesium per serving
200 mg (53% NRV)
Magnesium forms
Bisglycinate, L-threonate, taurate
Capsules per bottle
90
Directions
Three capsules in the evening, with water
Only facts from the product label and listing are shown.
OUR CAPSULES
Where Tri-Mag Night sits against these limits
Tri-Mag Night is a three-form magnesium complex of bisglycinate, L-threonate and taurate, in 90 capsules. It is not a single-form glycinate product, so a plain glycinate dose figure does not describe it. The elemental total is what matters.
The listing gives 200 mg of elemental magnesium per serving, shown as 53 percent of the NRV. Against the US Daily Value of 420 mg the same 200 mg would be about 48 percent (200 divided by 420).
Set against the ceilings above, one serving is about 80 percent of EFSA's 250 mg, 57 percent of the NIH's 350 mg and half of the NHS's 400 mg, before any other magnesium you take. Follow the directions on the pack, do not exceed the recommended daily amount printed there, and ask a pharmacist or doctor if you take medicines.
Questions about magnesium glycinate dosage
How much magnesium glycinate should I take per day?
We cannot set a personal amount. Follow the directions on the pack and ask a pharmacist or doctor. For context, the NIH upper limit for supplemental magnesium is 350 mg a day for adults, EFSA gives 250 mg, and the NHS says 400 mg or less from supplements is unlikely to cause harm.
What is the maximum magnesium glycinate dose per day?
The sources give ceilings for total supplemental magnesium, not a glycinate-only figure: 350 mg (NIH), 250 mg (EFSA) and 400 mg (NHS). They are amounts of magnesium itself, so compare them with the elemental figure on a label.
Do women and men need different amounts?
The recommended intake differs by age and sex, for example 310 to 320 mg for adult women and 400 to 420 mg for adult men (NIH, all sources). The NIH upper limit for supplemental magnesium, 350 mg, is the same for both.
Is there a proven dose for sleep?
There is no proven sleep dose. The trials are small and short, and the most recent review rated the certainty as low to very low. Details are in our magnesium for sleep guide.
Is there a magnesium glycinate dosage for anxiety?
We found no source that sets a dose for anxiety, so we give none. Anxiety is a medical question for a doctor, and a supplement should not delay that conversation.
What is the magnesium glycinate dosage for kids?
The NIH upper limits for supplemental magnesium are 65 mg a day at ages 1 to 3 and 110 mg at ages 4 to 8. Those are ceilings, not doses. Ask a paediatrician, and note that Tri-Mag Night is for adults.
Sources, and where they stop
The reference values here come from the sources in the list further down, mainly the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements fact sheet, the NHS magnesium page and the EFSA overview of upper intake levels. We read each of them; where we read only an abstract, the text says so. Product facts come from our own listing.
- The percentages of magnesium in each compound are our arithmetic from PubChem formula weights. Real ingredients may differ.
- The NIH fact sheet does not rank glycinate against other forms for absorption, and EFSA's footnote does not name glycinate.
- A 2024 crossover study of 40 fasting adults (abstract only), funded by the maker of the microcapsule ingredient it was testing, found no significant rise in blood magnesium over six hours after bisglycinate, while oxide and citrate showed a significant rise at one and four hours respectively. Blood levels after one dose are a weak guide, since the NIH says serum levels do not accurately reflect total body magnesium, so we draw no conclusion.
- We found no source we could cite for a dose for anxiety, and no trial comparing glycinate dose levels head to head.
- This page has not yet been reviewed by a licensed professional. See our editorial policy.
Sources
2. NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, Magnesium fact sheet for consumers
3. NHS, Vitamins and minerals: magnesium
4. EFSA, Overview on Tolerable Upper Intake Levels as derived by the SCF and the EFSA NDA Panel (2025)
5. EFSA, Dietary reference values: magnesium and phosphorus (news item, 28 July 2015)
The pr1mebody range. Each product has its own label-first guides.
KEEP READING
Related reading on magnesium
Types of Magnesium
Types of magnesium compared: oxide, citrate, glycinate, threonate and taurate, with the NIH and NHS limits and what to check on a label.
Read the guide →
When to Take Magnesium
When to take magnesium: what small studies say about food and evening dosing, plus the spacing rules for bisphosphonates and antibiotics.
Read the guide →
Magnesium for Sleep
Magnesium for sleep: two small trials and three reviews, why the evidence is rated low, and what the NIH and NHS say about daily limits.
Read the guide →
Product: pr1mebody Magnesium Glycinate
pr1mebody magnesium glycinate: 90 veggie capsules, 360 mg magnesium per serving, above the NIH 350 mg limit. See the label and who should ask first.
See the product →
Want to check a label against these numbers?
The Tri-Mag Night label prints elemental magnesium per serving. Compare it with the limits above, then read the details and warnings before you order.
Food supplement, not a medicine. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding, have kidney problems or take medication, speak to your doctor before using magnesium supplements.
