Is magnesium glycinate the right form for rugby players?

By Tom Francis·Updated 2026-09-03·3 sources·Editorial policy

What the form actually is

Magnesium glycinate, or bisglycinate, is magnesium bound to two molecules of the amino acid glycine. That binding is what chelated means, and it changes how the magnesium behaves through the gut compared with a simple salt like oxide.

The two names appear interchangeably across UK labels. Bisglycinate is the more precise term because it describes the two to one binding, and Futuro Labs Magnesium Glycinate prints magnesium bisglycinate on its ingredient panel.

The 20 percent problem

Because the glycine makes up most of the molecule by weight, bisglycinate is only around 20 percent magnesium. That is the reason a bisglycinate label shows a large front of pack figure and a much smaller elemental figure underneath.

1500mg of magnesium bisglycinate gives 300mg of elemental magnesium. Anyone comparing a 1500mg bisglycinate product against a 400mg oxide product on the headline number is comparing two different things, and the elemental line is the only one that resolves it.

Why it suits a full season

The practical argument is adherence. A club season runs eight months and the product a player actually takes every day is worth more than a theoretically superior product abandoned in October because it upset their stomach.

Bisglycinate is generally the most comfortable of the common forms at a full serving. That is not a claim about superior absorption or superior results, it is a claim about tolerability, which is the thing that determines whether the serving gets taken at all.

What the claims cover at this dose

Form does not change the claim position. Magnesium claims apply to the mineral, at a serving providing at least 15 percent of the 375mg reference intake, whichever compound delivers it.

At 300mg elemental, Futuro Labs Magnesium Glycinate sits at 80 percent NRV and the full authorised set is available: normal muscle function, normal protein synthesis, reduction of tiredness and fatigue, electrolyte balance, energy yielding metabolism and normal nervous system function. There is still no cramp claim and no sleep claim, in any form.

The glycine question

Players sometimes ask whether the glycine itself does anything, since it is the larger part of the molecule. Glycine is a non essential amino acid the body makes for itself, and the amount delivered in a magnesium serving is small relative to dietary intake.

The honest position is that the glycine is there to carry the magnesium, and no claim attaches to it at this dose. Anything sold on the glycine component doing separate work is going beyond what the label supports.

Where the name causes confusion

Three things get muddled in this category and all of them appear on UK shelves.

Magnesium glycinate and magnesium bisglycinate are the same thing, described with different precision. Bisglycinate names the two to one binding, and Futuro Labs Magnesium Glycinate prints magnesium bisglycinate on its ingredient panel while using glycinate in the product name.

Buffered magnesium bisglycinate is different. It is bisglycinate blended with magnesium oxide to raise the elemental content per gram cheaply, and the oxide portion brings the absorption and tolerability profile of oxide with it. And magnesium glycinate powder products often quote a scoop weight rather than an elemental figure, which is the same problem in a different format. In all three cases the elemental line resolves it.

Where to go next

• Futuro Labs Magnesium Glycinate: the full labelCompound weight, elemental content, NRV, excipients and cost per day.
• Best magnesium for rugby playersThe full criteria, ranked, for choosing between products.
• Does magnesium stop cramp in rugby?The honest answer on the thing magnesium is most often sold for.

Questions players ask

Sources

• EFSA register of nutrition and health claims
• National Diet and Nutrition Survey, gov.uk
• Food supplements guidance, gov.uk