A Magnesium Supplement That Won’t Make You Poop Can Protect Your Heart – Health Digest

Your body needs magnesium to support hundreds of functions, but not all magnesium supplements are gentle on your digestive system. For instance, magnesium citrate may deliver the essential mineral, but it can also send you to the bathroom due to its effectiveness as a laxative.

Of course, you may sometimes need a little “number two” assistance from magnesium products, such as when the usual ways to get yourself to poop instantly don’t work. However, if you’re just looking to boost your magnesium levels without experiencing looser stools, you may want to consider taking magnesium orotate.

Like other magnesium supplements (e.g., magnesium glycinate, magnesium malate), magnesium orotate contains two components: magnesium and the carboxylic acid known as orotic acid. Orotic acid is vital to the healthy functioning of both RNA and DNA. Plus, its presence as a chelating agent in magnesium orotate helps your body absorb more magnesium than you might otherwise.

Magnesium orotate doesn’t only deliver magnesium and orotic acid into your body, though. The combination of the two (and their doubled-up effects) may make magnesium orotate a friend to your heart and your mind.

For instance, a 2018 study in the Journal of Hypertension showed that patients with severe heart disease who took an additional 4,500 milligrams of magnesium daily for one week appeared to reduce their risk of dying from their condition. After a year, 70% of subjects who consumed magnesium had survived, indicating that magnesium orotate might have protective abilities.

Those survival rates of individuals taking magnesium orotate were similar to ones that came from a 2009 study in the International Journal of Cardiology. During that study, subjects who were diagnosed with congestive heart failure were given magnesium orotate. A year later, about three-quarters of them had survived despite their critical health issues, suggesting that magnesium orotate was helpful in some capacity. (Here are some signs your cough is actually a symptom of heart failure.)

In terms of mental wellness, magnesium orotate may be helpful in reducing depressive states. In fact, a 2024 study published in Scientific Reports investigated the effectiveness of magnesium orotate, probiotics, and coenzyme 10 in resolving some symptoms of depression.

After eight weeks of taking the three substances, study subjects reported an improvement in their mental conditions. That said, they didn’t report further improvements eight weeks later, leading to the hypothesis that any magnesium orotate, probiotic, and coenzyme 10 benefits to stress and anxiety levels might be short-lived but still worth considering.

Though magnesium orotate has possible upsides, it does have a downside that may affect whether or not you want to start taking it. Unlike some forms of magnesium, it’s not inexpensive. Therefore, you may need to weigh its likely cardiovascular and psychological advantages against its relatively higher cost compared with other magnesium products.