From the Pharmacist: The Supplement I Come Back to Every Time

This month there has been a lot of talk regarding cognitive health and sleep: what can I take to think more clearly, protect my brain long-term, and actually sleep better at night?

It's a good question. And the honest answer is that there's no shortage of supplements making those promises. 

What I tell people — when it comes to brain health and sleep, this is the supplement I come back to consistently, the one I suggest to people of all ages, and the one I believe in enough to take myself.

Most people have tried magnesium at some point. A lot of them tell me it didn't do much. And I believe them — because most of the magnesium on store shelves, the kind in standard supplements and multivitamins, doesn't actually reach the brain in any meaningful way. Magnesium oxide, which is the most common form, absorbs poorly and largely misses the mark for cognitive and sleep benefits.

The form I recommend is Magnesium L-Threonate (Magtein), and it's genuinely different. It's the only form that research has shown can cross the blood-brain barrier and raise magnesium levels in the brain itself — not just in the body. That distinction is everything when what you're actually trying to address is brain fog, mental fatigue, restless sleep, or that low-level anxiety that makes it hard to wind down at night.

This is exactly the kind of thing I love being able to talk to people about. There's so much noise in the supplement space, and most of it isn't worth your money. Magnesium L-Threonate (Magtein) is one of the ones I genuinely believe in.

— James

James Blackburn, PharmD, Blackburn Drug