supplements don’t really get absorbed very effectively…especially if the supplement has calcium in it.
It’s SO easy to make a very effective Magnesium Bicarbonate supplement with simple ingredients found at the grocery store. And it’s a form of magnesium that already has lots of fans, and some clinical trial results that are very impressive! Let’s take a quick look at this news story on Magnesium Bicarbonate water, and then I’ll share the recipe and info on how to make your own.
MAKE YOUR OWN HIGHLY ABSORBENT MAGNESIUM SUPPLEMENT:
I’m totally excited about this! Let’s hear another personal experience from my friend, Heather:
I have had WONDERFUL results with mixing my own magnesium supplement. I take Milk of Magnesia (unflavored) and Soda water (water, sodium bicarbonate). I do a mix of 2 TBLSP of MOM to 1 liter soda water.
Milk Of Magnesia is magnesium hydroxide, which is not very absorptive into the tissues and cells. Mixing it with the soda water causes a chemical reaction that converts the magnesium hydroxide into magnesium bicarbonate, which is absorbed readily by the body.
My Naturopath is king of making his own supplements and says they have tested the results of raising serum levels of magnesium with different supplements and the only thing that raised magnesium levels faster than this mix was IV magnesium given in the hospital.”
So are you ready to make some?
- 2 liter bottle of chilled soda water
- ¼ c. of plain (unflavored) Milk of Magnesia
- Measured the Milk of Magnesia into the lid it came with (4T=1/4 cup).
- Slowly pour the MoM into the chilled 2 liter soda bottle.
- Cap it, shake it, and return it to the fridge after use.
If you can't find "Soda Water" that is suitable, then you may buy just plain carbonated water.
Add ½ t. of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) to the measured out Milk of Magnesia, and stir in. It may fizz a little. Pour this mixture into the plain carbonated water.
Estimated Magnesium Content per Serving:
125 mg of magnesium per 4 oz. serving
Homemade Magnesium Bicarbonate Cost:
with .99 (2 liter) club soda and $1.99 plain MOM (2T per liter, or ¼ c. per 2 liter bottle), the cost is $.08 per 4 oz. serving. Or $.64/liter
Ways to Take Your Homemade Magnesium Supplement:
Flavored: We add it to juice around here all the time. It can alter the color somewhat so be warned. –Heather
In your daily water: I have a 2L bottle and about ⅓ of it is the concentrate, at this point that seems to be what I need. –Beppy Jo
We just drink it straight from the bottle. –Judi
Other ideas for flavor: We add a bit of liquid sweetleaf stevia flavoring to it, add lemon juice, or a packet of Emergen C (it gets REALLY fizzy!) –Gwen
I told you it was easy!
An Alternative Magnesium Bicarbonate Recipe
Judi and Heather both pointed me to this article, from a newsletter
which is put out to the Arterial Fibrillation community that explains a
lot more about this homemade magnesium supplement, with an alternate recipe with higher magnesium concentration. Be sure to check out his source citations if you want to see clinical trial results and other highly valuable and nerd-worthy info.
How does this compare to another magnesium supplement as far as absorption?
According to the Afibb newsletter that I posted above, “Magnesium dissolved in water (ionized) is considerably more bioavailable than is magnesium in solid tablets or capsules. About 50% of the magnesium contained in magnesium/bicarbonate water is absorbed [sources cited on his newsletter]. This is 12 times better than the absorption rate for magnesium oxide. So drinking 1 liter of magnesium/bicarbonate water [approx. 4 cups] per day would correspond to taking five 500 mg magnesium oxide tablets daily.”
How does it taste, and am I mixing this right?
It will have a very slight mineral/Gatorade type aftertaste, and will still have a bit of fizz. The soda water may bubble over while mixing. Judi suggests chilling your soda water first, and then adding the milk of magnesia in a little at a time, or very quickly, and capping it. Heather adds little bits at a time, letting it settle between pours. I dumped a little bit of the soda water out, and then added the milk of magnesia to the bottle.
How much should I take and how do I gauge when I’ve gotten enough?
This is what is difficult about magnesium. It’s not easy to test cellular levels. Your physician can test the blood levels, but that doesn’t really give you the full picture. There are other tests available, but I’m comfortable (after reading several articles by doctors on this topic) just basing our need on symptom clusters, and gauging our response based on bowel tolerance. What that means is, when your body has enough, you’ll notice that you’ll start to have a “cleansing” reaction from your bowels. When this happens, Heather shares:
“This is the way I judge how much magnesium I need: When things start to loosen up back off big time. Skip a day and then take just a little to see how you are doing with it.”
So that’s what we’re going to do. Heather started out taking 4-6 oz., 3 times per day, and is now down to 2T per week, to maintain her levels of magnesium.
I believe, based on symptoms, that we’re relatively deficient here. So I have mixed up the conservative 2T/liter blend, and I’m dosing my husband and I twice a day with 4 oz. glasses. I plan to start my younger daughter, who has signs of deficiency, with 2-4 T per day, just mixed in with her water bottle. Once we hit saturation point, I’ll back way off and just move to a once or twice a week maintenance dose.
Other things to be aware of:
- Calcium is going to interfere with how much magnesium you absorb; your body “uses” some of the magnesium for your body to metabolize calcium. So, if you’re JUST looking at boosting magnesium, don’t combine this with a meal, snack, supplement, or drink that contains calcium.
- While this form of magnesium is alkaline, it isn’t supposed to neutralize stomach acid. But any drink taken with a meal will dilute your stomach acid, just on the principal of adding more volume to the stomach juices. So those with digestion issues may get better results (and higher absorption) taking this on an empty stomach.
- If you have heartburn, or other stomach acid issues (which can mean not enough acidity), then you may want to consider supplementing with some HcL, or using Yellow Dock tincture or digestive bitters to increase your body’s ability to absorb minerals and fat soluble vitamins.
OTHER MAGNESIUM SUPPLEMENT OPTIONS:
I have experience with a few other forms of magnesium that may be worth mentioning.
Supplement Tablets: I took a separate Cal/Mag/Zinc supplement with my last pregnancy that was a blend of Magnesium Oxide, Calcium, Zinc, and vitamin D3. It was honestly just the cheapie grocery store brand, but it was my best pregnancy ever, with absolutely no middle of the night leg cramping! I liked how it worked, but if I had known this recipe at the time, I would probably have used it instead.
Natural Calm is a powdered supplement of magnesium citrate, which is very popular. It’s mixed into water, and effervesces a bit like Emergen C or Alka Seltzer. It comes in several flavors. Many people who use it swear by it, and love it for helping them get good rest at night.
NOW foods makes magnesium citrate (sans the flavoring and such that Natural Calm contains) in a bulk/powdered form, which can be found here:
My Mom uses this (it’s less expensive that the Natural Calm) and just puts it in her morning smoothie, or stirs it into a small glass of juice before bed. It’s fizzy and sour, so it’s great stirred into citrus juice.
Magnesium Oil: I’ve read some great personal testimonies about using magnesium as a trans-dermal supplement, often called “magnesium oil”. You can read about another bloggers experience with magnesium oil, and how to make your own very cheaply with a magnesium oil recipe.
Have you supplemented with magnesium before? I want to hear how it went, and what you used.
This tastes awful !
Ha! Yeah…it’s not party punch. I use it with the powdered Emergen C packets, and it’s not bad. Or, you can dilute it down in your daily water ration.
It may not taste great, but it works great!
Why does the MoM need to be unflavored?
You’re shooting for a chemical reaction between the magnesium in the MOM and the carbon in the soda water, so you really don’t want to add additional ingredients that could interfere with that. If you want more flavor to your finished mag water, just to add a flavoring (vitamin C packet, drink squirt, etc.) that you like just before drinking it. 🙂
oops. I didn’t catch that, and I bought flavored. :/ I guess I’ll go ahead and try it anyway.
Add it OJ. Or any juice. I take the 60 humic shale minerals too, awful stuff but it is healing me, I dilute it with juice.
I love my Natural Calm – it lasts a long time :). Tastes yummers. I mix it in with my C-salts (which aren’t so yummers) in my daily water.
Do you do this in place of the club soda water? Who would need C-salts?
Natural Calm is a commercially available form of magnesium. It’s relatively well absorbed, but a lot pricier, and the club soda version is IMO, a better absorbed form than the NC.
Natural Calm is a good product, and tasty! It’s just out of my price range for how much mag I need to take each day. I combine a vitamin C packet (Kroger brand) with my mag water for a very similar taste, and I can control how much mag I get. 🙂
It makes my husband and goats poo loosely. They all love it but there’s that. I don’t dare. I will see if this laxative mix with club soda calms down the poo effect. Hope so.
Great article. Dr Carolyn Dean has recently come out with a new magnesium supplement that is 100% absorbable called ReMag pico ionic magnesium! It is the fastest working Mag supplement I’ve ever used. You can feel it working in 15 minutes!
I’d love for you to try this one and let me know if you think they’re comparable. I can tell a difference quickly with the DIY supplement as well!
I’m curious what you feel working? I mostly take magnesium to keep things moving. I’ve been wanting to make Gwen’s recipe, but not sure what to look for as far as results.
Cynthia, I need to do a post on the forms of magnesium. Magnesium is always bonded to another mineral or element. Depending on what it’s bonded to, it can be an absorbent form (where the body can break the bond and use the magnesium), or a non-absorbent form. The non-absorbent forms like mag oxide are useful for moving the bowels, but they are not useful for addressing magnesium deficiency or raising cellular levels.
Magnesium carbonate, the form in this recipe, is very useful for raising blood magnesium levels. It’s an absorbent form. The only time it will affect bowel function is if your body is topped out and doesn’t need any more magnesium, OR if your digestive system is compromised to the point where it really can’t break the bonds and absorb it. In which case you’d want to look at enhancing your digestion and using a spray version of “magnesium oil” to help get your levels back up. 🙂
I have a SodaStream and i make soda water with distilled water and a little sodium bicarbonate.
To make magnesium bicarbonate water can i use magnesium oil? If i can would i still need the pinch of sodium bicarbonate?
How much magnesium oil per litre do i need? Is magnesium oil better than Milk of Magnesia?
Your advice would be much appreciated.
Hi George,
Magnesium oil is magnesium chloride in water. It’s very bio available already, and can be used in the bath or on the skin to address magnesium deficiency.
This recipe uses magnesium hydroxide, which is NOT bioavailable or absorbent until it combines with the carbon of the soda water and sodium biCARBONate. 🙂 The mag swaps parteners and becomes magnesium carbonate, which is very absorbent. Your soda stream version of soda water would work perfectly for this, but I’d stick with the Milk of Magnesia (magnesium hydroxide) to get the right chemical reaction going.
Hi Gwen
Thanks for the reply. This may interest you and is about Magnesium Oil which I still think is the better choice.
http://www.health-science-spirit.com/MagOil.htm
and
http://www.health-science-spirit.com/magnesiumchloride.html
My wife is about to try out your Meatloaf recipe. Can’t wait.
Hi George! I make my own magnesium oil, and I do have that as a topical option, but the supplement/drink enables me to get a lot more into my system quickly. It’s on par with IV magnesium as far as how quickly and effectively it ups your blood levels of magnesium.
Hello Gwen! Very interesting post. I know it’s quite an old one, but can I use pure Magnesium chloride (MgCI2x6H2O) instead of MoM? Many thanks in advance for your time as well as for your reply. TC
I only use MOM (magnesium hydroxide) for this recipe. I haven’t studied using Magnesium Chloride internally, and am not sure what it would do chemically with the CO2 in the water. That’s a chemistry question. 🙂
Wondering if you have any idea how long this mixture is good for? I made a batch about three weeks ago and it seemed to relieve all the muscles aches I have, but after taking it for 10 days I hit my “limit”, which was good timing cause I was going on vacation. So I stopped taking it, and forgot about it, and now my aches are back. Wondering if the mixture in my frig is still good or if I should whip up a new batch? thoughts? thank you!
It’s essentially a mineral water, so it’s still going to be good to go!
I have been doing some research for a few months now on Mag and stumbled on your blog. I’ve been using a store bought Mag supplement that has 150mg per tablet. It is artificially sweetened which takes away from it’s goodness IMO. So, am thrilled to find a DIY version.Thank you!
Gwen, awesome article! Do you have a photo of this fancy drink? I’d love to see!
Is Schweppes soda water okay for this. It lists Carbonated Water, Sodium Bicarbonate, Sodium Chloride, Potassium Sulfate as the ingredients. Is buying carbonated water and then adding baking soda a better choice?
This should work just fine, but baking soda and plain carbonated water is going to be just as effective.
I am completely new to this magnesium thing… The only MOM I could find at my local store has 3 ingredients… magnesium, water, and sodium hypochlorite. Is that ok?
I did find plain soda water – “carbonated water”
I have several different issues going on, and the more I research, the more I find, “needs magnesium for body to use.” So, I’m assuming magnesium deficiency is a big player in my issues! I have a very limited budget, so I need as much inexpensive DIY choices as possible!
So… Is MOM with sodium hypochlorite ok?
Sodium hypochlorite is a bleaching agent. I don’t know why they’re adding it to Milk of Magnesia, and it’s just been started recently. Our local Kroger brand doesn’t contain it. I’d avoid it if possible.
Think it would be ok to use until I CAN find one without? I really need to up my magnesium levels & can’t afford the pricey brand names right now. :/
The soda water I found has Potassium Bicarbonate. Will that do?
Thats all I could find as well. Carbonated water, potassium bicarbonate and potassium citrate. Did you find and answer to your question?
Hi Gwen;
I buy magnesium cloride flakes/powder and mix with spring water; is there any advantage to mixing it with soda or carbonated water?
Mag chloride is a great form to use. I make my own mag oil with it for topical use. If you’re happy with that, there is no reason to convert it to Mag carbonate. They’re both good forms.
Hi again,
Sorry I wasn’t clear….The mag chloride (water + flakes) is not for topical use, but what I drink. I read it is very bio available in this form and also very cheap to make. What’s yr. opinion? Would the carbonate be a better form?
Thks. Mark
BE FOREWARNED! This is just like adding baking soda to vinegar! It most definitely WILL fizz! ALOT! Would have been nice to know how much so I could have been ready to cap it quickly. Although, it may have blown the cap off.
It does fizz. I have started dropping a spoon handle down into the soda water prior to pouring the MOM in, and that seems to tame the fizz a lot. I also do this in the sink now.
Thank you for mentioning that, Angela.
For this reason I specifically modified the procedure to include a separate container for the recipe. I pour the MOM into the container FIRST. Then slowly add the CO2H2O. This should eliminate all fizz overflow. BTW: I use Kroger brand pure CO2H2O as this seems to be the only one in my area whose makers aren’t bent on adding extra crap to the mix. This is coming from a guy whose used clear sodas and even beer (lol!) in a pinch – and yes they did produce results; albeit not as pure.
Great tips, Ryan! I found that sticking two tines of a fork into the top of the bottle and then pouring the MOM over them keeps my bottle from overflowing as well. 🙂 And YES to the Kroger brand! That’s what I like too. Wasn’t sure if they were a national chain though.
I can’t get milk of mangesia. Can I use Magnesium hydroxide instead?
Looks like yes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnesium_hydroxide
Thanks!
I want to produce magnesium bicarbonate from magnesium oxide adding it in the first step to water for getting magnesium hydroxide out of it.And than follow next steps you have described.
But I am not quite sure if there is no problem with this additional step and with the fact that the magnesium oxide is “only” 70-75% chemically pure.
Could anybody help me with that issue and also tell me what amounts I should use in every single step?
THANK YOU IN ADVANCE!
My naturopath has me make ionic magnesium by adding 1T MOM to 3T white wine vinegar. You give it a good shake and within a few minutes the liquid is totally clear. It loses the vinegar taste, but is still pretty nasty. I sometimes add it to my water bottle, but usually just shoot it to get it over with. Ick, but effective.
I remember my mom used to give us a mix of soda water and milk many years ago.I am 71. Does this have the same effect. It was said that it helped flush the kidneys. What do you think.? Thanks .
That’s a new one to me. I would think it would just alter the ph of the milk, but I don’t think it would be a sub for the Milk of Magnesia (which is just a brand name for a solution of magnesium hydroxide in water). So it’s not a true milk.
Hi there!
What a small world! I just made the same concoction of MoM and Carbonated water, and I do Trim Healthy Mama too! But after reading comments I was wondering if my seltzer water ( only ingredient- Carbonated water) is good enough, or do I need to add baking soda? Thanks for the great post! Answers appreciated!!
I may have missed it but am wondering what the dosage is for this? How much do you drink at one time and how often during the day do you drink this?
I don’t give dosage amounts in the post, because it’s something where you want to work your way to your tolerance. I knew that I had a medical condition that was causing my body to burn through magnesium, so I started with one 8 oz glass in the morning and ended up needing one at night as well. So it really depends on how profound your symptoms are.
Excellent! Thank you! and honestly its not bad at all, can’t wait to see how it does on my (doctor cant tell me whats going on) finger! Great write-up, father told me about baking soda and magnesium and I found your recipe.
Hi Gwen –
I’m hoping this will help my little ones! But would like your opinion. Is this recommend in smaller doses for kids? My 3yr old has very hard tough BM and has practically since birth. My 4 1/2yr old has trouble sleeping. I’ve had success with both issues since taking a pill supplement and would like to try your DIY version for me, kids and hubby. Any suggestions or tips are greatly appreciated! Thank you!!
Hi Holly! Great question…I’d look at using epsom salt baths and this recipe for alkaline water as a gentler approach for kids and daily use. 🙂
https://gwens-nest.com/alkaline-water-recipe/
I made the mag. water and took 4 oz. today. I will see how I do tomorrow in the bathroom after using the mag. mixture. Usually mag. “moves” things along for me. It does taste good with a little stevia added.
If you don’t do well with oral preparations, try out the magnesium oil recipe here on my blog. 🙂
what is a $1.99 MOM?? please define??
thanks
MOM= Milk of Magnesia. It’s very inexpensive and easy to find here. 🙂 You want a kind that’s only magnesium hydroxide and water. (No flavors or other ingredients)
What is SUITABLE soda water? There are so many different ones… Can I make it myself?
Sure! I often just pick up carbonated water and add 1/4 tsp of baking soda to make my own soda water. 🙂 It’ll fizz a little when you add it, so I like to stir it into the MOM first and add it all at once.
Hi! I made this the other day, and forgot to put the soda bottle back in the fridge. Now there’s little white particles at the bottom. Is this just temperature related? Also, I’m pregnant, and usually enjoy taking Natural Calm to keep things moving. Am I correct in understanding that your homemade version won’t help with that? Thanks!
The floaties are just little bits that didn’t convert, but that’s totally normal. You’ll have to see if you respond the same way with this as you do with natural calm. Also, talk with your MW or doctor about supplementing with magnesium late in the pregnancy, as it can and will calm down smooth muscles (uterine muscles) and can relax them too much. My MW had me taper off in the last month.
Hi! Thanks so much for the DIY magnesium bicarbonate recipe. Just what I was looking for.
Another thing I heard about magnesium is that it is very well absorbed through the skin, and people soak themselves in a bath in which Epsom salts are dissolved. I don’t have a bath tub, so can’t do this, but I can surely drink the water!
I have been searching for this for quite some time, useful sensible DIY. In the mean while I have been using Mg mineral oil & it has been useful for my muscle aches
Awesome! Glad this is meeting a need for you. 🙂
I made this with 1 liter of club soda and 3 T. of MOM. I am a bit concerned because it was mentioned that it doesn’t taste all that great, but I don’t taste a thing. In fact, it is the crispest glass of pure water I have ever had! Also, there is no carbonation left as was also mentioned. Did I do something wrong?
Nope! The lack of carbonation means you did it right. 🙂 As far as the taste, it probably depends on the taste buds, and the water and MOM quality going into it.
Gwen, i’d like to use pure, lab grade Magnesium hydroxide micronised powder in place of the MOM. Its cheaper and most likely a cleaner supplement that the vats of mag hydroxide Bayer buys from China! Also a lot of MOM products contain sodium hydrochlorite, aka BLEACH in it. Can i replace the 1200mg mag hydroxide in the MOM with just plain, pure magnesium hydroxide and purified water to reasch the 45ml total fluid?
Hi Jill,
My guess would be yes that you can replace it, since the MOM I use is just water and mag hydroxide. However, I’m not sure as to how easily magnesium hydrates or bonds with water…I know that mag chloride does so easily but some compounds are hydrophobic. I’d love to hear how this turns out for you!
I’m aware that many brands are starting to add bleach now, and have mentioned that in my posts I think. I can still find some local store brands that are clean. If they all end up adding the sodium hypochlorite, I may also start buying the powder. 🙂
Please forgive my ignorance but, is soda water the same thing as club soda? And thanks so much for posting this info!
I check the ingredients and pick one with bicarb (usually sodium bicarb). If I can’t find that one, I just go with carbonated water and add a pinch of baking soda (sodium bicarb!) 🙂
Can anyone who understands this more than I, please lend us a hand.
From research on this blog and others, I learned you can make Magnesium Bicarbonate by introducing Magnesium Hydroxide to carbonated water, where it reacts with the CO2 and the end result is Bicarbonate. Given the articles you can find that Potassium Bicarbonate is also as important and healthy, questions arise.
Take from this theory I did research if the same thing is possible with Potassium Hydroxide. From a few places, including wikipedia, I learned that indeed it is possible to add Potassium Hydroxide to carbonated water, when it reacts with CO2 we have the Bicarbonate end product in Potassium form.
Now the information on this was scarce, and I found no posts by individuals who do this. Can anyone confirm or deny if Potassium Hydroxide works the same as Magnesium Hydroxide? If it does, are there any reasons to not do it? Perhaps the process or not mixing properly, is very dangerous? Maybe the reaction creates other things too?
Any information you can provide would be very helpful for me and anyone interested. The reason I’m interested is because it would be cheaper and I already have high grade Potassium Hydroxide I use for soap making.
If this is a totally viable option, I would first figure out exactly the amount needed for both Potassium and Magnesium Hydroxide (separately) to fully react with a 1 liter of soda. Then do a 50/50 mix in one bottle or react them individually and just mix both into the final drinking water.
Thank all
LJ, I’m not a chemist, so I can’t really give you any useful feedback on this. I do think the more you add to the solution, the more variability in the outcome? I also prefer to get my potassium in foods if possible. Potassium and magnesium can both be added to garden soil for healthy crops, along with other trace minerals.
Thank You Gwen, unfortunately neither am I and I dont feel like “experimenting” without confirmation others are doing it. So how do you add Potassium Bicarbonate to your water, if at all? I heard both are healthy and was thinking of creating a mix like it would be in nature.
Potassium in the wrong dose can be fatal.
Hey thanks so much for the recipe. I was wondering, in Australia we don’t actually have milk of magnesium so are we able to use powdered magnesium instead? Is there anything that can replace MOM? cheers 🙂
Not that I know of for this, since you need a specific chemical reaction and type of magnesium. (You may be interested to look into the history of why Borax and Milk of Magnesia are no longer for sale in Australia…kind of fascinating.)
Milk of Magnesia has nothing to do with dairy milk, powdered or otherwise! They just call it Milk of magnesia because it looks like milk. It’s magnesium hydroxide floating in water. It’s sold everywhere in pharmacies under various brand names, milk of magnesia is just a way to describe it. Try searching for products that contain magnesium hydroxide, that’s how I found it.
Hi there I’m Sarah from Liverpool. I’ve suffered restless leg syndrome for 13 years , it’s really got to be the worst most uncomfortable feeling in the world . I’ve also just been diagnosed with fibromyalga and osteoarthritis. I’m a very young 44 years old but I’ve suffered so much . I’m going to give this a try as I’m all out of ideas / information ect . Also adding fuel to fire I’ve had oral thrush for 7 months I’m so run down ….it’s a very rare form of thrush that has spread to my lungs . I’m taking a very expensive medicine now as a last resort to see if the doctors here can kill the infection. So life really is getting me down at the moment . Hoping the magnesium and soda mix might help me . Sorry to tell you my whole life story . I just want to get better xxx
Sarah, I just had to comment on your post. I got stung by a yellow jacket and the doctors gave me a steroid and it caused a problem with yeast building up in my body, with a bad case of thrush in mouth and lungs. I developed a horrible chest congestion caused by yeast buildup from an inhalor that contained steroids, also bad for causing yeast buildup in the body. I had to stop ever taking steroids or corticosteroid of any type. I felt like I was going insane trying to beat the yeast in my body and mouth. The only thing that helped me was going on o very low carb diet and taking organic virgin coconut oil everyday. I had to rinse my mouth with Silver Sol that you can get at the health food store. It might come in the form of colloidal silver but see if you can get it there. I hope this helps you.
I just wanted to clarify the amount of MOM – is it 2Tbsp (1oz.) or 1/4 cup (2oz)?
Thanks
I use 2 liters of water and 4 T (1/4 c.) of MOM. 🙂
My husband had a twitching eye that annoyed him for weeks and I had insomnia plus aching muscles particularly in the morning. We began to have a bath 1 or 2 times a week with 1 cup of magnesium sulphate added to it. Do not use soap in the bath until just before you are getting out as soap can limit the properties of the magnesium. We had good results from this. The eye twitching stopped almost immediately.
Thank you for sharing.
Are you sure magnesium causes loose stools at saturation point? I know that happens with vitamin C, but even then it has to be taken often (every two hours) at smaller amounts throughout the day, because body can’t absorb at once a lot. I know, because I took vit c powder in 2.4 gram doses every two hours and took 7 doses without any problems. However when I took double at one sitting, I got loose stools.
From my experience good quality and form of magnesium doesn’t cause that problem. I use glycinate form (Innovixlabs, no fillers), and I can take 1000mg a day without any symptoms of loose bowels. I usually take 600 mg in two doses a day to prevent migraines, but some days I need more, so if I feel headache coming on, I take extra. I tried to do it with ionic form (commercial, not this recipe), and while it took my migraine away, it gave me diarrhea…I take that over migraine anytime, but I don’t have to. I hope this recipe wouldn’t cause that.
I would love to try this instead as it is considerably cheaper. So if 4 ounces are 125mg, then I would need to take almost 20 ounces a day-2.5 cups, which would give me 625mg.
How much have you taken a day and what were your results.
It’s my understanding that saturation can cause diarrhea, but I’ve also learned that not everyone tolerates the same forms of magnesium. So if your body can’t process/digest a certain form, that will also give you diarrhea. Some people have that reaction with every form of oral magnesium, and others only with specific forms. I think you just have to test out what works best for you. 🙂
Well as a nurse and med nurse most of the time, Milk of Mag is what is Standard Operating Procedure to give patients when they are bound up. It doesn’t always work. I find a gram or 2 of vitamin C actually works better. But MOM and Mag citrate are both famously known for loosening stools. AND not absorbing too well. BUT if the chemistry is altered with the soda water, I’m game. I have had a terrible issue with poor quality hay for my goats this year- and have been devastated by calcium deficiency and mag deficiency, in alfalfa which is supposed to be fine in those areas, but we have had to dose the trough with calcium citrate, which sinks as is, I will try the soda water change and see how that works. (Calcium deficiency in newly lactating Mom anything can cause milk fever AKA grass tetany, and can cause lethargy , loss of milk production and death. ) I lost a champion registered Doe to this (feeding grass as alfalfa was not available) and it pains me to have to supplement for bad alfalfa. Money down the drain, and greater labor and frustration for caring for needlessly sickly animals. Plain mag citrate does loosen their bowels. It fizzes in their water though and they seek after the fizzy. But we don’t need them loose. They poop every 10 minutes.
It’s interesting how we have different information and habits in different countries. I make my own magnesium supplement by mixing 21 gr Nigari (magnesium chloride) with 1 l water and drinking 20ml 3 times per day. I learned this from doctors and Naturopaths in Brazil and Portugal (See Dr. Lair Ribeiro on YouTube, for example)l. I had problems such as very stubborn and old verrucas as well as invisible rashes that disappeared completely after I started taking it. I live in the Uk and my doctor doesn’t know what to say as I had these problems for many years and nothing he did worked.
It also tastes horrible, like rotten sea water 🙂
Since some MOM preparations have dyes and artificial sweeteners, I found BioCleanse capsules. It is Magnesium Hydroxide, Sodium Bicarbonate, & Vitamin C.
Why add the baking soda? Does it add to its availability? Regards
Yes! It’s sodium biCARBONATE, meaning it’s contributing more carbons to the mix to bond with the magnesium. 🙂
Awesome!
I take magnesium malate for fibro itch. It does help but it is in a pill supplement form. I was wondering about a better way to take that & have it be absorbed.
The link to the ALTERNATIVE MAGNESIUM BICARBONATE recipe is not working. Please correct. Thank you.
I checked it and it’s still working for me? If you can’t get it to come up, look up “Weller Water”
Does it cause diarrhea? We would like to avoid that.
So glad you learned about this. I started drinking it (FYI, I add a few tablespoons of cider vinegar to make it kind of tangy) and it has helped my sleep. Also, told a dear friend of mine who has slept lightly for years. She says she now sleeps through the night. I just love how God loves us so much that He provides for our health this way! Blessings!
So Gwen, I thought I read somewhere that this concentrate can be added to normal purified water to make it mineral water. I thought it was on your blog but cannot find it now. Do you know how much to use per a gallon of water? Also do you know what percentage of magnesium that would be per 8 oz glass? What percentage is the concentrate for the 4 oz. you take? My son has to supplement magnesium due to a lung transplant. His blood levels are always low. Thanks.
I think you’re looking for the Alkaline Water Recipe 🙂
Your post is fascinating to me. Never thought I could do this on the cheap. I’ve used ReMag, Innotech (both liquid–picometer and ionic–so well absorbed and way less laxative) as well as Ancient Minerals mag lotion.
I’m epileptic and drank diluted bicarbonate soda in water then went to bed. My husband told me I had the worst seizure ever. Can I drink this magnesium bicarbonate water? I don’t know what to do
I have no way of knowing how you would react to this. It is alkalizing. I’m not sure if that’s a trigger for your seizures? It might be better for you to use a topical magnesium, like a spray or epsom salts bath. Definitely go slow in how much you are exposing yourself to and watch for reactions. Leafy greens are another great way to get magnesium in your diet!