Not all magnesium supplements are equally effective.  One of the best is made by Charles Poliquin, and is called Ubermag.  It is the combination of different types of magnesium that makes this product so effective at counteracting many of the symptoms of magnesium shortage, the most instantly noticeable being poor sleep.

Such is the effectiveness of Ubermag that it is one of my top sellers.    It has to be introduced slowly to better enable magnesium levels in the body to recover.  Ubermag costs £25 plus p&p for a pot of 90.  Poliquin also sells a version of Ubermag with added tryptophan, called Ubermag Plus.  The body turns tryptophan into serotonin, shortage of this is associated with depression.  Ubermag Plus costs £20.30 for 90 pills.  Magnesium Essentials costs £33.50 for 150 pills. Contact me on eclareharding53@hotmail.com for supplies.

One of the best sleep remedies there is is a combination of Charles Poliquin’s Ubermag and Zen Mag.  Ubermag is made from magnesium mixed with four different amino acids: fumerate, orotate, glycine and taurine.

  • Magnesium Fumerate helps the cells give energy – and will help reduce menopausal symptoms.
  • Magnesium orotate reduces the symptoms of ADD and helps heart health.
  • Magnesium glycinate helps the liver detoxify.
  • Magnesium taurate is calming and increases the happy neurotransmitter, GABA.
  • Magnesium itself is calming, vital for heart health and increases insulin sensitivity, so helping weight loss.
  • The other way Ubermag helps weight loss is by improving sleep.  When we are tired, food cravings are much harder to deal with.
  • Magnesium Essentials also contains magnesium malate and citrate along with P-5-P, which helps the magnesium work in the body.

I have written a number of blogs about the benefits of taking magnesium.  The linked blog is the first in the series and is a more detailed summary. Top nutritionists summarise magnesium by calling it both the mineral of the menopause and the mineral of weightloss.

There are three  problems that make magnesium supplementation a daily necessity.  Problem one stems from the fact that magnesium has been leached from the soil by years of the application of agro-chemicals instead of nutritionally rich organic matter.  This means there is no longer enough magnesium in the food for our health and low magnesium levels lead to a number of symptoms including the following:

  • Poor quality sleep.
  • Low energy levels
  • Irritability
  • Muscle cramps
  • Restless leg syndrome
  • Fibromyalgia
  • Heart problems.
  • Glucose intolerance
  • The combination of the above – metabolic syndrome

The second problem comes from heavy metal toxicity, which blocks the magnesium receptors on the cells, making it hard to build up the body’s magnesium stores, and leading to an even greater need to supplement with magnesium daily.

The third problem comes from our low levels of HCl in the stomach. The body likes its magnesium to arrive attached to a protein, so what magnesium there is left in our food needs to be cleaved from the protein by a very acidic stomach.  To have good levels of HCl in our stomach, we need good levels of zinc in our diet – another micro-mineral lacking in the soil.  Therefore we are in a vicious cycle.

I recently gave the two lists of the top five supplements as given by coach Charles Poliquin and by leading nutritionists, and both lists included magnesium.  Not all magnesium supplements are made equal.  The linked blog covers many of the forms.  Because of the three problems listed above, magnesium needs to be taken in a decent dose to have a significant effect upon the symptoms of magnesium shortage – and most forms of magnesium supplementation are either fairly ineffective or, if taken in good quantities, lead to a case of the trots.  In my experience of dealing with people coming in with a multitude of problems, the order of events is fix the guts, fix the sleep.  And rarely do I come across someone who really sleeps well and for long enough.  Sleeping well means going to bed at a decent time, falling asleep easily and waking up without the need for an alarm clock, feeling completely refreshed and without having got up in the night to pee.

As a lifelong insomniac, all I can say is I wish I’d come across Ubermag much earlier.

 

Comments

    1. Hi Tracy. I’ve just picked this up and have no idea how it slipped through the net. I’m sure you’ve managed to source Ubermag, but if not, you can order them through me. Sorry that I missed this!

  1. How do I go about ordering the poliquin ubermag capsules, sorry last post had a spelling mistake in it

    Thanks

  2. Dear Clare
    Is it possible to order some ubermag plus px 2 with L-tryptophan from you? I am having difficulty getting hold of it in the UK.
    Thank you m
    Holly

  3. hi Clare
    I’ve bought Ubermag from you in the past. I’ve been reading that taking Magnesium can help with constipation. Do you think that Ubermag would help?
    My diet is high in fibre and I drink lots of water and cycle like a maniac but am bothered by constipation.
    Appreciate your opinion. Thanks Barbara

  4. Magnesium great
    But be careful if you have kidney problems
    Is there a guideline for those in need?
    Maybe a limit on the amount of magnesium

    1. Well I think your kidneys have to be in pretty poor order for magnesium to be a problem. If in any doubt, then do ask your doctor about it and remember to point out that Ubermag is chelated with amino acids rather than salts, which affects the uptake.

  5. Hi

    I’ve just started taking übermag and within a week I feel completely like a new woman – I’m sleeping better, have renewed energy plus my injuries seem less.
    My 13yo daughter is coeliac and finding it hard to keep focuses at school so consequently her grades are dropping rapidly.. Is this supplement suitable for her age?

    Thanks
    Thanks

    1. So glad Ubermag is helping. Sleeping well is so important for feeling well and so underestimated.
      As for your daughter, diet is critical in maintaining good brain function; this is just eating frequently and with low sugar. I realise that this statement is somewhat controversial these days, but all my clients find that a low sugar diet makes them feel much better. As for supplements: does she sleep well? If she can swallow pills, she can try Ubermag – it scores top for helping children with ADD, not that I’m suggesting your daughter is that bad. But to me it seems an obvious starting place. Being 13, if you can disguise the taste, I would start her with half a pill then move up to one pill and see how she does.
      Nice to hear from you and good luck.

  6. Hi Claire, have you had anyone say they felt really groggy and spaced out when starting to take Ubermag? I tried them a few years ago and that was my experience although could have been due to something else but I haven’t wanted to buy them since to try. Really appreciate if you can let me know if it’s possible it could create that effect in people and possible reasons why they had that effect.

    Thanks

    1. Hi Lizzy. Absolutely – most people experience some side effects when starting Ubermag. Some have the opposite to you in that they feel completely wired and get up in the middle of the night to do the hoovering – not something I’ve suffered from, ever. The reason why it will be making you feel groggy is that magnesium is the calming mineral and ubermag really works – you are finally getting some much needed magnesium in your system and it’s sighing with relief. Well, not really. But anyway, what I recommend doing is only taking 1 a day, mid meal and stick at that dose until you stop feeling groggy in the morning. You might even want to start taking it on days when you are not working. It usually only takes a couple of days for the symptoms to subside. I have also known people start by taking 1 capsule on alternate days. Let me know how you do. Clare.

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