Magnesium Glycinate vs Citrate: 7 Labels Compared

Magnesium glycinate vs citrate, on a label a shopper can check, is a form name plus three numbers: elemental magnesium per serving, the serving size, and how many units the directions name per day. Across seven listings read on Oct 28, 2026, elemental magnesium per serving ran from 120 mg to 400 mg. This page does not compare effects.

We read the listings’ label text and Supplement Facts.

Seven panels: form, serving, and elemental magnesium

Product	ASIN	Form on label	Serving size	Elemental Mg per serving	Mg per tablet/capsule	Directions
Doctor’s Best High Absorption Magnesium Glycinate Lysinate, 120 tablets	B00151G8L8	“Magnesium 200 mg (from 2,000 mg magnesium lysinate glycinate chelate)”	2 tablets	200 mg (48% DV on the brand page)	100 mg	“take 2 tablets twice daily, with or without food”
Pure Encapsulations Magnesium (Glycinate), 180 capsules	B0058HWV9S	“Magnesium (as magnesium glycinate) 120 mg”	1 vegetarian capsule	120 mg	120 mg	“take 1-4 capsules daily. Consume with food.”
Nature Made Magnesium Glycinate 200 mg per Serving, 180 capsules	B086RQVNDV	Magnesium (as Magnesium Bisglycinate)	2 capsules	200 mg (48% DV)	100 mg	“Adults, take 2 capsules daily with water and a meal.”
NOW Magnesium Glycinate 100 mg, 180 tablets	B07NWMVMT1	“Magnesium (elemental)(from 2,000 mg Magnesium Bisglycinate) (Albion®) 200 mg 48%”	2 tablets	200 mg (48% DV)	100 mg	“Take 2 tablets 1 to 2 times daily with food.”
NOW Magnesium Citrate 200 mg, 250 tablets	B000BV1O26	“Magnesium (elemental) (from Magnesium Citrate) 400 mg 95%”	2 tablets	400 mg (95% DV)	200 mg	“Take 2 tablets daily with food.”
Pure Encapsulations Magnesium (Citrate), 180 capsules	B0017CRZIK	“Magnesium (as magnesium citrate) 150 mg”	1 vegetarian capsule	150 mg	150 mg	“take 1-4 capsules daily. Consume with food.”
Nature Made Magnesium Citrate 250 mg per Serving, 120 softgels	B00CU3SX4K	Magnesium (as Magnesium Citrate)	2 softgels	250 mg	125 mg per softgel (derived)	“Adults, take 2 softgels daily with water and a meal.”

Elemental magnesium per serving on these seven listings is 120 mg, 150 mg, 200 mg, 250 mg, or 400 mg. The glycinate servings in this set are 120 mg or 200 mg. The citrate servings are 150 mg, 250 mg, or 400 mg. Pure Encapsulations uses one capsule as the serving. The other five use two tablets, two capsules, or two softgels.

Doctor’s Best lists 60 servings in the 120-count bottle. NOW glycinate lists 90 servings. NOW citrate lists 125 servings. Each of those counts is the bottle count divided by a 2-tablet serving.

Glycinate and bisglycinate on the same listing

Magnesium glycinate vs bisglycinate, on this set, is two names on one label. Nature Made’s title says Glycinate and the panel says Magnesium Bisglycinate. NOW’s title says Glycinate and the panel says Magnesium Bisglycinate, with Albion® on the same line. Doctor’s Best names the compound “magnesium lysinate glycinate chelate”. Pure Encapsulations prints “magnesium glycinate” and, on the citrate listing, “magnesium citrate”.

Who makes the Albion® ingredient on the NOW line, and what TRAACS® means, is covered in what Albion magnesium is.

Title milligrams that are not the serving

Per-tablet figures on the NOW titles

NOW Magnesium Glycinate is titled “100 mg”. The panel says “Serving Size:2 Tablets” and 200 mg of elemental magnesium, so the title number is per tablet. NOW Magnesium Citrate is titled “200 mg”. The panel says “Serving Size:2 Tablets” and 400 mg, so that title number is per tablet too. Reading only the title records half the serving.

Per-serving figures on the Nature Made titles

Nature Made’s titles say “per Serving”. The glycinate title is 200 mg per serving. The citrate title is 250 mg per serving. The Nature Made glycinate product page says “Serving size: 2 capsules”. The brand serving-size note says “Each capsule contains 100 mg of magnesium.” Two capsules at 100 mg match the 200 mg serving. On Oct 28, 2026 that product page showed “Discontinued” for the brand’s own store listing. The Amazon listing for ASIN B086RQVNDV was live the same day.

The magnesium citrate serving size on Nature Made is 2 softgels and 250 mg. Dividing 250 mg by those 2 softgels gives 125 mg per softgel. That 125 mg figure is derived. The listing text we read does not print 125 mg as its own line.

Doctor’s Best is the same per-tablet pattern without a milligram in the Amazon title we used. The Doctor’s Best product page prints “Serving Size 2 Tablets” and 100 mg per tablet. The panel line is 200 mg from two tablets.

The 2,000 mg line is compound weight

Two glycinate panels print 2,000 mg and 200 mg in one line. Doctor’s Best: “Magnesium 200 mg (from 2,000 mg magnesium lysinate glycinate chelate)”. NOW: “Magnesium (elemental)(from 2,000 mg Magnesium Bisglycinate) (Albion®) 200 mg 48%”. The 2,000 mg is the compound. The 200 mg is the elemental magnesium.

The NIH ODS magnesium fact sheet for health professionals states: “The Supplement Facts panel on a dietary supplement label declares the amount of elemental magnesium in the product, not the weight of the entire magnesium-containing compound.” On these two labels both weights are printed. The amount that sentence says the panel declares is the elemental amount, 200 mg.

Pure Encapsulations prints “Magnesium (as magnesium glycinate) 120 mg” and “Magnesium (as magnesium citrate) 150 mg”, with no 2,000 mg figure beside them. The number on each of those lines is the amount the panel declares.

Adding up the directions’ upper end

At the upper end of the directions in the table, elemental magnesium for the day is:

• Doctor’s Best, 2 tablets twice daily: 400 mg. The brand page says “Take 2 tablets twice daily, or as recommended by a nutritionally informed physician.”
• NOW glycinate, 2 tablets up to 2 times: up to 400 mg.
• Pure Encapsulations glycinate, 1–4 capsules: 120–480 mg.
• Pure Encapsulations citrate, 1–4 capsules: 150–600 mg.
• NOW citrate, 2 tablets daily: 400 mg.
• Nature Made glycinate, 2 capsules daily: 200 mg.
• Nature Made citrate, 2 softgels daily: 250 mg.

Printed percent Daily Value, where these sources show one: 48% on Doctor’s Best’s brand page for 200 mg, 48% on Nature Made glycinate for 200 mg, 48% on NOW glycinate for 200 mg, and 95% on NOW citrate for 400 mg. The same NIH fact sheet states: “The DV for magnesium is 420 mg for adults and children age 4 years and older”. The sources read here do not print a percent for the 120 mg, 150 mg, or 250 mg lines.

The NIH ODS consumer fact sheet lists 350 mg as the adult upper limit for magnesium in dietary supplements and medications, and states: “The upper limits include magnesium from only dietary supplements and medications; they do not include magnesium found naturally in food and beverages.” Ask a health care provider.

Bottle format, food line, and storage words

Doctor’s Best, NOW glycinate, and NOW citrate are tablets. Both Pure Encapsulations listings use a vegetarian capsule, with the line “Vegetarian capsule (cellulose, water)”. Nature Made glycinate is capsules. Nature Made citrate is a gelatin softgel that includes MCT, gelatin, glycerin, and “Colors Added (Including Carmine)”.

Capsules set against liquids, with serving and sugars lines from each label, are compared in tart cherry extract vs tart cherry juice.

Tablets set against powders, with sodium and carbohydrate lines from same-brand labels, are compared in electrolyte powder vs tablets.

Doctor’s Best’s Amazon directions say “with or without food”. Both Pure Encapsulations directions say “Consume with food.” Both NOW directions say “with food.” Both Nature Made directions say “with water and a meal.”

NOW glycinate and NOW citrate say “Store in a cool, dry place after opening.” Nature Made says “Store tightly closed, in a cool, dry place”. These sources do not include a storage sentence for Doctor’s Best or for either Pure Encapsulations listing. What the words refrigerated, cool, and room temperature correspond to in degrees is a separate label reading, on probiotic listings, in do probiotics need to be refrigerated.

Magnesium glycinate vs citrate stops at the label numbers

We read the listings’ label text and Supplement Facts on Amazon on Oct 28, 2026. Labels change, so check the package you receive. A magnesium glycinate vs citrate label check, on this page, is the form name, elemental magnesium per serving, the serving size, and the directions. This page does not compare effects, and it is not medical advice. The general order for reading a Supplement Facts panel is in how to compare supplement labels.