4 Needs context
Heating oats, cooking leafy greens, or sprouting grains and seeds activates phytases, reducing phytate and increasing magnesium bioavailability.
"So for example, if you heat up oats, or you cook your leafy greens or legumes, or you germinate or you sprout your grains and seeds, all of these things decrease phytate levels because they activate those enzymes that are called phytases." (said at 0:05:48)
Food preparation methods like sprouting, germination, soaking, and cooking are well established to reduce phytate levels and increase mineral bioaccessibility/bioavailability (including magnesium, iron, and zinc). However, the claim attributes all phytate reduction across these methods to the activation of phytase enzymes. While germination and sprouting do decrease phytate by activating endogenous phytases, conventional cooking and high-heat preparation typically denature and inactivate phytase enzymes; phytate reduction during cooking occurs primarily through thermal degradation or leaching into cooking water rather than enzyme activation.
- context: The role of phytic acid in legumes: antinutrient or beneficial function? (Journal of physiology and biochemistry 2000) · cited 294x in the literature
"There are several methods of decreasing the inhibitory effect of phytic acid on mineral absorption (cooking, germination, fermentation, soaking, autolysis)." (abstract, conclusions, passage verified)
pubmedfull study (doi) - supports: Phytic acid: Blessing in disguise, a prime compound required for both plant and human nutr… (Food research international (Ottawa, Ont.) 2021) · cited 199x in the literature
"Phytate contains six negatively charged ions, chelates divalent cations such as Fe 2+ , Zn 2+ , Mg 2+ , and Ca 2+ rendering them unavailable for absorption by monogastric animals." (abstract, results, passage verified)
pubmedfull study (doi) - supports: Can sprouting reduce phytate and improve the nutritional composition and nutrient bioacces… (Nutrition bulletin 2022) · cited 69x in the literature
"Sprouting activates the enzyme phytase, which degrades phytate, thereby improving mineral bioaccessibility and bioavailability." (abstract, results, passage verified)
pubmedfull study (doi)
Organic magnesium salts like citrate, glycinate, taurate, and malate are more bioavailable and raise plasma magnesium better than inorganic forms like oxide, chloride, and sulfate.
"Clinical research on organic magnesium salts—so these include magnesium citrate, magnesium glycinate, magnesium taurate, magnesium malate is also in there—these organic salt forms of magnesium are generally more bioavailable and effectively raise plasma magnesium levels compared to inorganic forms of magnesium like magnesium oxide, magnesium chloride, magnesium sulfate." (said at 0:13:21)
Human randomized trials and comparative studies confirm that organic magnesium salts, such as magnesium citrate and magnesium amino acid chelates, are significantly more bioavailable and produce greater increases in plasma/serum magnesium than poorly soluble inorganic magnesium oxide. However, the claim broadly categorizes all inorganic salts as inferior. Soluble inorganic magnesium salts (such as magnesium chloride) have been shown to have relatively high bioavailability, and animal models comparing a wider range of organic and inorganic salts (such as oxide, chloride, and sulfate) often find small or non-significant differences in overall tissue retention and status. Additionally, clinical evidence specifically testing some mentioned organic salts, like magnesium taurate and malate, is far more limited in humans compared to citrate and oxide.
- supports: Mg citrate found more bioavailable than other Mg preparations in a randomised, double-blin… (Magnesium research 2003) · cited 124x in the literature
"Results showed that supplementation of the organic forms of Mg (citrate and amino-acid chelate) showed greater absorption (P = 0.033) at 60 days than MgO, as assessed by the 24-h urinary Mg excretion. Mg citrate led to the greatest mean serum Mg concentration compared with other treatments following both acute (P = 0.026) and chronic (P = 0.006) supplementation." (abstract, results, passage verified)
pubmed - context: Study of magnesium bioavailability from ten organic and inorganic Mg salts in Mg-depleted … (Magnesium research 2005) · cited 127x in the literature
"Organic Mg salts were slightly more available than inorganic Mg salts... Taken together, these results indicate that 26Mg is sufficiently bioavailable from the ten different Mg salts studied in the present experiment, although Mg gluconate exhibited the highest bioavailability under these experimental conditions." (abstract, results)
pubmed - supports: Assessment of bioavailability of Mg from Mg citrate and Mg oxide by measuring urinary excr… (Magnesium research 2019) · cited 8x in the literature
"Plasma [Mg] was also significantly higher for MgC than for MgO at 4 h (P < 0.05) and 8 h (P < 0.05). Compared with baseline levels, MgC supplementation showed a significant increase in plasma [Mg] at all time points, in contrast to MgO." (abstract, results, passage verified)
pubmedfull study (doi)
Both short-term (1 day) and long-term (1 month) sleep deprivation cause a reduction in red blood cell magnesium levels in healthy men.
"So this was done in healthy men, and both short-term and long-term sleep deprivation caused a reduction in magnesium in red blood cells. So the the the magnesium levels in red blood cells, with the long-term sleep deprivation having the the most robust impact." (said at 0:25:12)
A 1997 study in 16 healthy young men evaluated erythrocyte (red blood cell) magnesium levels under three conditions: normal sleep, temporary sleep deprivation (one night with less than 3 hours of sleep), and chronic sleep deprivation (one month with sleep duration reduced by over 40%). Mean erythrocyte magnesium dropped significantly under chronic sleep deprivation (1.1 ± 0.4 mg/dL) compared to baseline (1.8 ± 0.4 mg/dL, p < 0.01). While temporary sleep deprivation showed a slight numerical decrease (1.6 ± 0.4 mg/dL), this short-term change was not statistically significantly different from baseline. The evidence comes from a very small study sample (n=16).
A 2022 clinical study in 100 participants showed that 400 mg of magnesium threonate combined with vitamins C, D, B6, and phosphatidylserine improved cognitive performance relative to a starch placebo without increasing serum or brain magnesium levels.
"This study was published in 2022 and it involved 100 participants, and the treatment group was given 400 milligrams of magnesium threonate along with vitamins C, D, B6, and phosphatidylserine. In contrast, the placebo group received only 2 grams of a starch capsule. So despite the absence of any elevation of serum or brain magnesium levels, the treatment group did have improved cognitive test performance compared to the placebo group." (said at 0:19:30)
A 2022 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial in 109 healthy Chinese adults (PMID 36558392) found that 30 days of supplementation with 2 g/day of Magtein® PS (a combination of magnesium L-threonate, phosphatidylserine, vitamin C, and vitamin D) significantly improved Clinical Memory Test scores compared to a starch placebo. However, the trial did not measure brain magnesium levels, nor did it report an absence of elevation in serum or brain magnesium as a biological finding. Furthermore, because a multi-ingredient formulation was used, the specific contribution of magnesium L-threonate cannot be isolated from the other active constituents.
- partial: A Magtein ® , Magnesium L-Threonate, -Based Formula Improves Brain Cognitive Functions in … (Nutrients 2022) · cited 35x in the literature
"In this double-blind, placebo-controlled study, Magtein ® PS, a magnesium L-threonate (Magtein ® )- and phosphatidylserine-based formulation additionally containing vitamins C and D, was tested for its cognitive benefits in 109 healthy Chinese adults aged 18-65 years. Subjects were randomly assigned to receive either Magtein ® PS or placebo (starch) capsules, at a dose of 2 g/day... Subjects receiving Magtein ® PS showed significant improvements over the control group in all five subcategories of "The Clinical Memory Test" as well as the overall memory quotient scores." (abstract, results, passage verified)
pubmedfull study (doi)
Unverified means no publication matching the claim was located; it does not prove the claim false. Spotted an error? See the corrections policy - disputes from the people quoted are prioritized.