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A poreless woman scoops a mystery powder into an empty wine glass. She adds tonic water and lemon juice, before carefully taking a sip. “This is my magnesium mocktail,” she proudly declares to the camera. “I have it every night before bed.” She then reels off the benefits of her main ingredient, magnesium glycinate, the mineral that’s being touted as the miracle supplement of the moment.
This influencer – an effortlessly radiant twentysomething in expensive silk pyjamas – is representative of a growing movement in wellness. Across the internet, self-anointed gurus claim that ingesting supplemental magnesium can lead to better sleep, reduced stress, lessened anxiety and can even improve your digestion. Sounds like the perfect remedy for life’s aches and pains, right? The only issue is that we’re jumping on board with the supplements craze without doing any of our own research first.
Supplements have exploded into the spotlight recently, with dozens of influencer-backed companies popping up to offer potions promising everything from “glowy skin” to “increased productivity” to “a better night’s sleep”. While it’s long been standard procedure to take a Boots everyday multivitamin – or flirt with the idea of taking those Tess Daly tablets advertised on the Tube – the supplements industry has gotten a commercial facelift lately. It’s almost doubled in size since the pandemic, in response to vitamin sales increasing by 60 per cent post-Covid. The overall nutritional supplements industry is also forecast to be worth £110bn by 2028. As a result, the products to which we now have access have never been so heavily branded or widely marketed. Online, girls as young as 16 will throw around buzzwords like collagen, B12 and Vitamin D as they consume anti-ageing wellness hacks on the internet. And thanks to endorsements from celebrities such as Bella Hadid, Kourtney Kardashian and Taylor Swift, having a 12-step morning supplement ritual is considered aspirational.
I, too, have felt the pull of the supplements industry. My social media feeds recently became filled with adverts telling me that a multitude of magnesium powders and tablets will make me feel properly well. And I couldn’t help but feel inadequate when I watched Bella Hadid’s morning routine, which saw the model knocking back dozens of nutritional tablets, drinking different potions and rubbing essential oils into her skin before breakfast. My daily multivitamin didn’t seem like it was enough, and I was almost sold. I don’t sleep very well, I get tired a lot, and I could do without anxiety. Could magnesium glycinate be the answer?
When I speak to Jana Abelovska, a superintendent pharmacist at Click Pharmacy, she tells me how supplements have generally experienced a major image shift in recent years. “Health and wellness is at the top of people’s minds,” she says, pointing towards the rise in colourful, Haribo-like vitamins that are now marketed to adults. “Vitamin gummies have gone from something you give your children to make vitamins more appealing, to a product that’s really popular with adults.”
When it comes to magnesium glycinate specifically, its popularity is likely down to its muscle relaxing powers, which can also help people potentially sleep better. “Some studies have shown that it might be helpful for muscle soreness after a hard workout, as well as in reducing muscle spasms,” Abelovska explains. “It can also be helpful in treating anxiety as it seems magnesium can lower cortisol, a hormone commonly associated with stress.” According to the NHS, the mineral helps turn the food we eat into energy and encourages the parathyroid glands to work normally in producing hormones for maintaining bone health. In the UK, it’s recommended that adult men have an intake of 300mg of magnesium a day while women are recommended 270mg.
Abelovska adds that “transdermal” magnesium supplements – products absorbed through the skin – are becoming popular, too, such as magnesium sprays, patches and topical creams. This is in response to some studies that claim supplements might be faster-acting transdermally rather than in tablet form.
Magnesium’s popularity has been felt across the industry. Rachel Mason, the founder of the UK-based women’s wellness company Our Remedy, says that magnesium has become her business’s biggest seller. Unsurprisingly, this is the fault of TikTok – there are at present more than 200,000 videos on the platform in which people talk effusively about it. “Magnesium is particularly beneficial during menopause, where it can help alleviate symptoms like insomnia, sore joints, and anxiety,” she tells me.
She admits, though, that deciding what supplements you should take, and where to start, can be an overwhelming task. Magnesium citrate, not to be confused with magnesium glycinate, is a natural laxative, and many people report online that they tried it only to be caught off-guard by this small yet unfortunate detail. Mason recommends finding out about your own body first before following another person’s tailor-made plan. “Personalised approaches are key – I always recommend people start by identifying their specific health concerns,” she says, adding that seeking a blood test with your doctor is the best way to determine any deficiencies first and foremost. “This gives people a clearer sense of purpose with their supplements, increasing the likelihood that they’ll stay consistent with them.”
The issue with the supplements industry, though, is that products are marketed as shortcuts to better health, or as quick fixes to a longer-term problem. Before making any decisions, it’s worth looking at your own diet first, according to Jacob Teitelbaum MD, a medicine physician and author of From Fatigued to Fantastic!, a book that focuses on energy optimisation and alleviating chronic fatigue symptoms such as brain fog or insomnia. He says that before reaching for a fresh pot of supplements, analyse how nutritious your diet is first.
“Food processing removes or destroys fully half of the vitamins and minerals present in a healthy diet,” he says. “So virtually everyone eating our usual Western high-sugar and white flour diet would benefit from a good multivitamin.” There are plenty of magnesium-rich foods to try and incorporate into your diet before going down the artificial route, such as nuts, fish, bananas, beans and pumpkin seeds. If you are going to try a multivitamin brand, Teitelbaum says, it should include a high potency of B vitamin levels and at least 150 mg of chelated magnesium, at the bare minimum. “As with anything, it is important to use good companies that make good products,” he says.
Trying out a new supplement regimen will rarely be detrimental to your health. But our relationship with the wellness industry is one defined by speed and powerful marketing. I was drawn in by Hadid’s mega-step morning routine not because I wanted to emulate it to a tee, but because her general lifestyle is aspirational – and that maybe if I ingested enough supplements, I could replicate it. Perhaps it’s a good thing that we’re collectively becoming more vigilant about our everyday health, but as the lines between the luxury wellness and pharmaceutical industries become blurrier, a healthy dose of caution is recommended. Making a “magnesium mocktail” could be one influencer’s answer to a better night’s sleep. But for another, it might just mean spending a night on the loo.
