Magnesium, Getting Quality Sleep, and Why Bisglycinate is Best

📚 Read time: 4 minutes

Coming up: kids, caffeine, crashes, what only 15% of the population are doing right, why not all magnesiums are made equal, a very dark room, and many surprising ways to improve your sleep.

👋 We’re Elaine and Rob, the married-couple team behind Sentro Labs.

Until a few years ago, we weren’t getting good sleep.

(so: we were always tired and grumpy, our gym performances weren’t at their best, and we couldn’t always show up for our kids in the way we wanted to)

And it’s the same for the vast majority of people: according to one recent study, only 15% of people sleep the recommended amount.

But, a few years back, we discovered several supplements that helped our sleep.

… and of them all, magnesium (or specifically Magnesium Bisglycinate) is one of our favourites.

What magnesium can do for you

We’ll come to sleep soon…

… but other things magnesium can help with include:

Blood sugar regulation (to avoid crashes—and useful for those with diabetes)
Making sure your muscles work properly (great for lifting and other exercise)
Heart rhythm, cardiovascular health, and potentially preventing heart attacks
Energy production (so it can make you feel more active and alert)
Nervous system regulation (so your nerves can work better)
Stress and anxiety reduction—and improved relaxation
It might help with muscle cramps (ideal if you run a lot)
Bone health (to keep your bones strong and sturdy)

Because magnesium is an electrolyte, it’s particularly essential that athletes get enough—and according to some research, consuming more magnesium can improve athletic performance. We both like doing lots of exercise—which is another reason we make sure we get enough magnesium.

How magnesium can help with sleep

Magnesium plays a BIG role in helping your body relax and prepare for sleep.

And it does so in three distinct ways:

By regulating neurotransmitters, to calm you down and get you ready for sleep
It can lower cortisol (which is the body’s stress hormone)
It helps relax your muscles

Magnesium deficiency can affect sleep in many ways: low levels of magnesium have been linked to insomnia, restless sleep, low-quality sleep, and regularly waking up at night.

💤 In short, magnesium is a very simple but very powerful addition to a bedtime routine.

But, importantly: magnesium only works properly if you get the right one—cos some forms are way better than others.

Magnesium Bisglycinate vs. the other magnesiums

Taking magnesium is a bit more complicated than we first realised.

(because not all magnesiums are made equal)

💡 Some are easy to digest. Some aren’t. Some work well. Some don’t. Some can be used as laxatives. Some (like Magnesium Sulfate) are better put in the bath than in your mouth.

Anyway, we’re sure you get the idea: all the different magnesiums are slightly different to one another—with slightly different effects.

Of them all, Magnesium Bisglycinate (also sometimes called ‘Magnesium Glycinate’) is usually considered the best form of magnesium for sleep (and one of the best overall).

💊 As well as doing all the useful stuff we mentioned above, the bisglycinate form of magnesium also has some other nice perks (for sleep, AND in general):

It’s safe to take every day
It doesn’t have any laxative effect
It’s easy for your body to use and digest
It’s super unlikely to cause an upset stomach
It doesn’t sedate you or knock you out, but helps you wind down without grogginess
Because it’s ‘glycinate,’ it’s bound to the amino acid glycine. We won’t bore you with all the details, but this basically means it promotes more relaxation than standard magnesium. And for sleep, that’s obviously ideal.

Meet EQUILIBRIUM

For all these reasons, Magnesium Bisglycinate is one of the 7 key ingredients in our EQUILIBRIUM stress + sleep complex.

(because, if we made a stress + sleep complex and didn’t include Magnesium Bisglycinate, we’d be doing it wrong)

Featuring Ashwagandha, L-Theanine, Lemon Balm, Magnesium Bisglycinate, Chamomile Extract, Hops Extract, and L-Ornithine HCL, EQUILIBRIUM has made us way more alert and energetic.

😴 It works for us, and it’s worked for loads of our customers:

🔈“I’ve been taking this for about a month now and I can honestly say I have never slept better. I have unbroken sleep now and getting up in the morning is easier and easier. I feel refreshed every day. I genuinely sleep so well at night” - Megan 🔈

More things we do to improve our sleep

We’ve covered this in way more detail here…

… but aside from taking EQUILIBRIUM, other sleep-fixing habits that work for us include:

Being more mindful about managing stress (cos stress + sleep are heavily connected)
Going for a quick walk in the morning—and trying to squeeze one in after dinner
Eliminating ALL artificial light from our bedroom (and getting blackout curtains)
Sleeping and waking at the same time every day (yep, including weekends)
Avoiding big meals too close to bedtime
Getting around 7 hours sleep a night
Cutting back on caffeine + alcohol
And no caffeine after midday

Magnesium, sleep, and why bisglycinate is best: final thoughts

So, that’s everything you need to know about magnesium, how it can help with sleep, and why bisglycinate is best.

To sum up, Magnesium Bisglycinate can:

Be used safely every day—without giving you an upset stomach
Help you wind down without knocking you out
Relax your nervous system and your muscles
Be used and absorbed easily by your body
Calm you down and lower your cortisol

So: Magnesium Bisglycinate is one of the 7 natural ingredients in EQUILIBRIUM, designed specifically to reduce stress and improve sleep. And combining the supplement with some simple lifestyle changes has massively improved the quality and consistency of our sleep.

Thanks for reading, and we hope this helps,

Elaine and Rob 🙏

P.S., Magnesium Bisglycinate is also one of the 7 ingredients in HARMONY, the complex we designed specifically to ease the symptoms of menopause and perimenopause. It’s helped many women with their mood, energy, stress, gut health, and hot flashes.