Magnesium Glycinate? What the Experts Actually Take

Walk into any pharmacy and the magnesium shelf is a wall of forms: citrate, threonate, oxide, glycinate and more. Most people grab whichever is cheapest and hope for the best. The podcast experts are pickier, and they do not all pick the same one. Alan Aragon reaches for magnesium citrate, while Andrew Huberman and Tim Ferriss have settled on magnesium threonate. Here is exactly what each of them said, with the clip so you can hear the reasoning yourself.

A quick note for anyone who arrived searching for magnesium glycinate, which is one of the most searched forms of all. Across these particular episodes, none of the experts singled glycinate out by name. The forms they actually reach for and talk about are citrate and threonate, so that is what this comparison can honestly cover. If glycinate is what is on your radar, the useful thing these clips can settle is not glycinate versus everything else, but which forms these specific experts pick and why, so you can weigh that against whatever is already in your cabinet.

This is not medical advice. Everything below is something a named expert said on the record, not a recommendation from us. Magnesium can interact with medications and kidney conditions, so check with your doctor before starting a new form or dose.

Nutrition researcher Alan Aragon keeps it simple. He says he takes magnesium specifically to get enough of it to show benefits, and the form he uses is magnesium citrate. Coming from someone whose job is separating what the evidence supports from what is just marketing, that is a quiet endorsement of citrate as the unglamorous, cover-your-bases way to hit your daily magnesium target, rather than a chase for any niche benefit.

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Andrew Huberman is the loudest voice for a different form. He says he has taken magnesium threonate for well over a decade, and his reason is specific: it is the form that most readily crosses the blood-brain barrier. For many people, he adds, roughly 145 milligrams of magnesium threonate can be very beneficial. He groups it with apigenin and theanine as the supplements he takes and recommends for sleep.

He is not alone. Tim Ferriss mentions plainly that he is taking magnesium threonate too. And Jack Feldman, a guest on Huberman's show, says he has recommended it to skeptical, even cynical academic friends and insists that they try it. Between a decade of personal use, a second host taking it, and a hard-nosed scientist pushing it on colleagues, threonate is the form with the most vocal support across these episodes.

The 145 milligram figure comes from an episode Huberman titles his Sleep Toolkit, where magnesium threonate sits alongside his other tools for sleep and wake timing rather than standing alone. That framing matters: he is not presenting the supplement as a stand-alone fix, but as one piece layered on top of behavioral basics he covers in the same episode.

One point of confusion worth clearing up: magnesium threonate and magnesium L-threonate are the same compound, and the experts use the names interchangeably. Huberman, describing his sleep routine, calls himself a big fan of magnesium threonate alongside apigenin, and the product often sits on shelves labeled magnesium L-threonate. If you are comparing the two, you are comparing one molecule under two labels, not two different forms.

That matters for shopping, because the price and marketing can differ even when the ingredient does not. What you are actually paying for, in both cases, is the threonate form Huberman values for reaching the brain, not the citrate Aragon uses for general magnesium sufficiency.

In that same Sleep Toolkit episode, Huberman draws a sharp line around a different sleep supplement entirely. He strongly cautions against melatonin, noting that commercial doses sold over the counter run far above what the body naturally produces and can affect hormone systems, a concern he says is especially relevant for kids. He does not extend that same warning to magnesium threonate, which he frames instead as something he has used personally for well over a decade.

The contrast is useful context for anyone comparing magnesium forms. Huberman is not someone who approves of every sleep aid on the shelf; he singles out melatonin as a supplement to be careful with while continuing to recommend magnesium threonate alongside apigenin and theanine. That selectivity, endorsing one supplement while flagging concerns about another, is part of why his magnesium recommendation carries more weight than a blanket take-this-for-sleep claim.

The honest answer is that neither wins outright, because the experts chose them for different jobs. If your goal is simply to correct a magnesium shortfall, Aragon's magnesium citrate is the low-fuss pick. If your goal is sleep and cognitive benefit, Huberman's decade on magnesium threonate, backed by Ferriss and Feldman, points that way instead.

It is also worth keeping the experts' own restraint in mind. Huberman treats supplements as a last resort, reached only after sleep, nutrition and stress habits are in order. Magnesium of any form is a supporting player, not the main event, and the right choice depends on why you are taking it rather than on which form is winning the internet that week.

What is the difference between magnesium citrate and threonate?

On these shows the split is about purpose. Alan Aragon uses magnesium citrate to make sure he gets enough magnesium overall, while Andrew Huberman uses magnesium threonate because he says it most readily crosses the blood-brain barrier, which he links to sleep and brain benefits.

Which magnesium does Andrew Huberman take?

Magnesium threonate. He says he has taken it for well over a decade, that about 145 milligrams can be beneficial for many people, and that he uses it with apigenin and theanine for sleep. He first turned to it because he found it was the form that most readily reaches the brain, and unlike melatonin, which he cautions against, he has not raised similar concerns about magnesium threonate.

Is magnesium threonate the same as magnesium L-threonate?

Yes. They are the same compound, and the experts use the terms interchangeably. Differences you see between products are usually branding and price, not the actual ingredient.

How much magnesium threonate should I take?

Huberman mentions that roughly 145 milligrams can be very beneficial for many people, but that is his general comment, not a prescription. He also frames supplementation broadly as a step to add only after behavioral habits and nutrition are already dialed in, magnesium included. Doses and interactions vary by person, so confirm with your doctor before starting.

Strip away the crowded supplement shelf and the expert picture is clear: there is no universal best magnesium, only a form matched to a goal. Alan Aragon takes citrate to cover his magnesium needs, while Andrew Huberman and Tim Ferriss take threonate for sleep and the brain. Use the clips to hear their exact reasoning, remember that magnesium is a last step rather than a first one, and pick the form that fits your reason for taking it, ideally with a doctor's input. It is also worth remembering that Huberman is willing to caution against a different supplement, melatonin, while sticking with magnesium threonate for over a decade. That kind of selectivity, saying yes to one supplement and no to another rather than endorsing everything on the shelf, is exactly why these particular recommendations are worth paying attention to in the first place.