--- title: Magnesium Glycinate Is TikTok’s New Favorite Sleep Aid description: Supplemental magnesium may help improve some people's sleep and anxiety and depression symptoms. But know this before taking it. canonical: https://time.com/6258780/magnesium-glycinate-sleep-anxiety-tiktok/ author: Haley Weiss article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2023-02-28T15:31:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:03:38.536Z article:section: Health og:title: Magnesium Supplements Are a Buzzy New Sleep and Anxiety Aid og:description: But do they work? og:url: https://time.com/6258780/magnesium-glycinate-sleep-anxiety-tiktok/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt137af65a29155da5/698a3ab70116823bc7982c9a/GettyImages-1277716570.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3722 og:image:height: 2094 og:image:alt: magnesium-supplement-sleep-anxiety og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Magnesium Supplements Are a Buzzy New Sleep and Anxiety Aid twitter:description: But do they work? twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt137af65a29155da5/698a3ab70116823bc7982c9a/GettyImages-1277716570.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 03:05 video:published: 2021-11-04 section: health topics: anxiety, depression, COVID-19 pandemic, emotional awareness, core emotions, physical symptoms of anxiety, deep belly breathing, body scanning, emotional regulation genre: explainer, how-to tones: calm, instructive, supportive emotions: anxiety (high), sadness (low), hope (low) sentiment: neutral audience: people experiencing anxiety, people struggling with mental health, general wellness readers content_suitability: health controversy [00:01-00:21] transcript_source: publisher captions transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # Magnesium Supplements Are a Buzzy New Sleep and Anxiety Aid. Do They Work? > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Health Matters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Health Matters is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The latest health news and expert advice on living well. Health Matters makes the fast-moving world of health more useful, surprising and human, from the latest science and medical breakthroughs to practical ideas for living better. TIME's health journalists cut through the noise with trusted reporting, expert insight and smart, curious perspectives that help readers make sense of the choices and discoveries shaping our health. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=59b2cc6f-8f4c-46cf-bce2-6dd3c50776ec&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Anxiety Feels Terrible, But It Has an Upside. Here's How to Make It Work in Your Favor [Watch (HLS stream): Anxiety Feels Terrible, But It Has an Upside. Here's How to Make It Work in Your Favor](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/2dfRL909.m3u8) (3:05)  _Published 2021-11-04. These days, there’s a lot to be anxious about. Between losing loved ones and experiencing financial strain to family stress and fears about illness, many of us are struggling more than ever._ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary The video explains that anxiety and depression were already widespread before the pandemic and have been worsened by COVID, and notes that people are not taught how to handle emotions. It describes common physical symptoms of anxiety and frames emotions as innate, evolved responses. It then offers practical steps for working with anxiety in the moment: becoming aware of it, naming and validating it without judgment, grounding oneself, breathing deeply, and scanning the body to identify core emotions. ## Key points - The speaker says there is an epidemic of anxiety and depression that existed before the pandemic and has since been exacerbated. (00:01) - The speaker says COVID has unleashed major cocktails of emotions and that people are not taught what to do with emotions in society. (00:08) - Physical symptoms of anxiety listed include headache, tense shoulders, knotted stomach, stomach upset, racing heart, sweaty palms, looping thoughts, and insomnia. (00:30) - The speaker describes emotions as software programs humans are born with, which evolved over thousands of years because they helped humans survive and thrive. (00:50) - The speaker lists core emotions as anger, sadness, excitement, sexual excitement, and joy. (01:13) - The first step in working with anxiety in the moment is becoming aware of it, since people cannot work with anxiety they do not recognize. (01:30) - When anxious, the speaker suggests scanning the body and asking whether one is angry, sad, or afraid, noting it could be more than one emotion. (01:46) - The second step is to name and validate the anxiety without judging oneself, simply saying 'I'm anxious right now.' (02:03) - Suggested grounding practice: find a quiet place, feel your feet on the ground, practice deep belly breathing, then scan the body from head to toe to identify core emotions. (02:29) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:50] Anxiety epidemic and physical symptoms. The speaker describes rising anxiety and depression worsened by COVID and lists common physical symptoms of anxiety. - [00:50 to 01:30] Emotions as evolved survival programs. The speaker explains emotions as innate, evolved tools and names several core emotions. - [01:30 to 03:05] Practical steps for working with anxiety. The speaker outlines steps including awareness, naming and validating anxiety, grounding, breathing, and body scanning. ## Key quotes - [00:01] Speaker: "we have an epidemic of anxiety and depression that we had before the pandemic" - [00:08] Speaker: "COVID has unleashed major cocktails of emotions" - [00:21] Speaker: "we aren't taught what to do with emotions in our society" - [01:30] Speaker: "we have to, we have to become aware of anxiety" - [02:03] Speaker: "learn to name and validate the anxiety without judging ourselves" - [02:29] Speaker: "Practice some deep belly breathing, which is a great way to sort of help calm the anxiety right away" ## Questions this video answers - What physical symptoms can signal anxiety? [00:30] - What are emotions, according to the speaker? [00:50] - Which emotions does the speaker list as core emotions? [01:13] - What is the first step in working with anxiety in the moment? [01:30] - How can someone name and validate their anxiety without judgment? [02:03] - How can someone ground themselves and calm anxiety in the moment? [02:29] ## Content suitability - health controversy [00:01-00:21]: Discusses an anxiety and depression epidemic worsened by the pandemic; mental health subject matter without graphic detail.  by [Haley Weiss](https://time.com/author/haley-weiss/)  ## Haley Weiss Feb 28, 2023 3:31 PM UTC  Girl taking medicine. A middle-aged woman holds a glass of water and a pill in her hands. Girl taking medicine. A middle-aged woman holds a glass of water and a pill in her hands. Alla Bielikova—Getty Images  by [Haley Weiss](https://time.com/author/haley-weiss/)  ## Haley Weiss Feb 28, 2023 3:31 PM UTC Everyone on TikTok is bleary-eyed and anxious, it sometimes seems. The generations that dominate the app—Gen Z and Millennials—are also those most [beleaguered by anxiety](https://www.ualberta.ca/folio/2020/01/millennials-and-gen-z-are-more-anxious-than-previous-generations-heres-why.html), which is closely tied to sleep disturbances. It’s little wonder, then, that supposed sleep aids—like [tart cherry juice](https://www.today.com/health/sleep/tart-cherry-juice-sleep-rcna68131), [brown noise](https://www.shape.com/health/sleep/brown-noise-tiktok), [melatonin](https://time.com/5672106/melatonin-safety/), and [CBD](https://time.com/5516745/cbd-oil-legal-healthy/)—are constant fixtures on the social media platform. Now, the app’s wellness community has latched onto the latest supplement touted to heal both poor sleep and anxiety: magnesium glycinate, one of nearly a dozen over-the-counter supplements that can be used to boost the body’s levels of magnesium. Content creators insist that it helps them go to bed hours earlier than they usually do, eases insomnia, and lets them unwind at the end of the day. One nurse practitioner on the app called magnesium glycinate her “[holy grail supplement](https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRn5QxWM/).” So does it really work? ## What is magnesium? Magnesium, of course, isn’t new. It’s a mineral element that you already have in your body, thanks to foods like nuts, seeds, beans, and certain vegetable and dairy items. It works within the cells of [multiple body systems](https://academic.oup.com/ckj/article/5/Suppl%5F1/i3/447534?login=false) to keep muscles, nerves, and other parts functioning properly. Someone trying to sell you supplements might tell you that as many as [half of U.S. adults](https://osteopathic.org/2018/02/26/researchers-find-low-magnesium-levels-make-vitamin-d-ineffective/https://osteopathic.org/2018/02/26/researchers-find-low-magnesium-levels-make-vitamin-d-ineffective/) are magnesium-deficient, and while this is technically true, most of us still get enough to prevent any real noticeable effects, says Emily Tarleton, a registered dietitian and researcher at Northern Vermont University. Significant magnesium deficiencies are much less common and often [come with symptoms](https://health.clevelandclinic.org/feeling-fatigued-could-it-be-magnesium-deficiency-and-if-so-what-to-do-about-it/) like fatigue, weakness, and nausea. Some researchers, however, have also suggested that there could be connections between even mild [magnesium deficiency and sleep disorders](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780124201682000314). In nature, magnesium is always found in combination with other elements, meaning that there are many ways to deliver it into the body. Magnesium products and supplements mirror this diversity of form. You can buy capsules (like magnesium citrate), beverage additives (like magnesium lactate), or salts, which include magnesium sulfate (aka Epsom salt) and are designed to deliver small amounts of the mineral through the skin. Magnesium glycinate is popular because it’s among the capsule forms that are the most bioavailable, meaning that a larger amount of the mineral can be used by the body. **Read More:** [_How U.S. Health Care Is Causing Patient Burnout_](https://time.com/6257775/patient-burnout-health-care/) ## Do magnesium supplements improve mental health or sleep? Tarleton is one of the few researchers who have studied magnesium’s effect on depression in a randomized clinical trial, the gold standard for medication studies. In her 2017 [study](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28654669/), she found that people who took 248 mg of elemental magnesium from magnesium chloride tablets each day reported improvements in feelings of depression over six weeks. The same year, a [review of 18 small studies](https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/9/5/429) found that people who took various magnesium supplements reported improvements in symptoms of anxiety. In Tarleton’s study, “one of the other side effects was increased sleep,” she says. Though she hasn’t studied magnesium supplements’ effects directly on sleep, it makes sense to her that the mineral would work as a sleep aid, particularly in the more bioavailable forms like magnesium glycinate and magnesium chloride. “Magnesium plays a huge role in muscle contraction,” she says. “Athletes will sometimes use it for muscle cramping. So our theory is that the muscle relaxation side effect could help with sleep.” When sleep quality has appeared in magnesium supplementation research, it’s most often as a side effect. In studies where magnesium has been given to people with migraines, [polycystic ovary syndrome](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/hsr2.1013) (PCOS), and a few other health conditions, sleep improvements have sometimes been reported but are rarely formally tracked. A few studies have looked at magnesium supplements exclusively as an insomnia treatment, but they have all been too small and targeted to specific populations to draw conclusions from. One such [study](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3703169/) in 2012 included only elderly participants and had a sample size of only 46 people. Another more recent [study](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6910806/) from 2019 included magnesium as an insomnia treatment, but only as part of a supplement that also contained melatonin and vitamin B. In 2022, the authors of a [review](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12011-022-03162-1) that analyzed all studies of magnesium as an insomnia treatment concluded that without more and longer-lasting research, no definitive link between magnesium and sleep could be drawn. Magnesium’s biggest starring role in the health world has long been for the treatment of migraines; certain formulas and strengths are made available via prescription to those who suffer from the attacks. Current theories about how magnesium works to alleviate these symptoms primarily suggest that magnesium gives the brain a sort of boost to resume normal function, including moderating the release of chemical signals and drawing healing factors into the area. While there’s no firm evidence that any of these processes would also apply to the sleep-addled mind, Tarleton says that it’s plausible. ## How to use magnesium safely If you want to try magnesium for sleep, relaxation, or any other reason, it’s important to make sure you actually know how much you’re taking. And because supplements aren’t regulated in the same way medications are, magnesium tablets may have other ingredients mixed in. “There are very few magnesium supplements that have been tested and verified in terms of knowing exactly what’s in them,” says Tarleton. She recommends always checking the bottle’s label to make sure the manufacturers have listed the amount of elemental magnesium (essentially, the volume of just the mineral itself) present in the pills. A health care professional is best suited to point you toward a good starting dosage—and weigh in on whether you should take magnesium at all, since supplements are not risk-free. “The big side effects of too much magnesium are diarrhea, upset stomach, and eventually nausea and throwing up,” says Tarleton. “Those are sort of the first signs” that you may be taking too much. Like any sleep aid, it’s also best to use magnesium supplements sparingly, since their effects can weaken over time, Tarleton says. And before you start popping supplements, consider revamping your [sleep hygiene](https://time.com/collection/guide-to-sleep/) and habits. “It’s much easier to take a supplement than to try to really take a hard look at what the reasons are that you’re not sleeping well to begin with.” ## Transcript [00:01] What I think we all intuitively know is that we have [00:05] an epidemic of anxiety and depression that we had before [00:08] the pandemic. That's only been exacerbated. COVID has unleashed [00:14] major cocktails of emotions. And sadly, we aren't taught what to [00:21] do with emotions in our society. So it's a huge problem. [00:30] Anxiety comes with a lot of physical symptoms. And so we [00:34] might notice a headache, tense shoulders, a knotted [00:38] stomach, stomach upset, a racing heart, sweaty palms, thoughts [00:44] that loop over and over, insomnia. [00:50] You can think of them as these individual software [00:54] programs that we are born with, where they're wired in from the [00:59] get go at birth. And these evolved over 1000s and 1000s of [01:05] years, as humans evolved, because they helped us survive [01:11] and thrive. [01:13] So core emotions are anger, sadness, excitement, [01:18] sexual excitement, joy, I think there are a lot of different [01:22] ways that anxiety can be treated. And it depends on what [01:24] we see as the focus of the problem. [01:30] The really actionable steps to working with anxiety in [01:34] the moment is number one, first and foremost, we have to, we [01:38] have to become aware of anxiety. But if we don't know that we're [01:41] anxious, then we won't know to stop and work with it. So if I [01:46] get anxious, I scan my body and I asked myself, am I really [01:50] angry? Am I really sad? Am I really afraid of something, and [01:55] it could be more than one emotion and feeling and then we [01:58] have to hold each and every emotion. The second is to learn [02:03] to name and validate the anxiety without judging ourselves, just [02:09] to merely be able to say to myself, I'm anxious right now is [02:14] very important, then we can look for the underlying core [02:18] emotions, or the core needs or the core conflicts. And so to do [02:25] that, you would find a nice quiet place, feel your feet on [02:29] the ground, right, which kind of tells us that we've got a firm [02:32] ground underneath us. Practice some deep belly breathing, which [02:38] is a great way to sort of help calm the anxiety right away. And [02:43] as we start to relax, then I would scan my body from head to [02:48] toe and toe to head and really say which of the core emotions [02:52] can I name and again, this is a practice over a lifetime, but [02:56] once we start we feel immediate results. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6258780/magnesium-glycinate-sleep-anxiety-tiktok/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6258780/magnesium-glycinate-sleep-anxiety-tiktok/"},"headline":"Magnesium Supplements Are a Buzzy New Sleep and Anxiety Aid. 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