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Magnesium threonate has so many benefits, including aiding with migraine brain fog. This article will explain the benefits of magnesium threonate and how to use it to improve cognitive function.
The information presented here is purely informational and all supplement changes should be reviewed with your health practitioner before use.
Magnesium L Threonate Benefits
Magnesium has been shown to decrease migraine symptoms in general, but often we forget that different types of magnesium are helpful for different areas. Magnesium Threonate is one of the best for neurological issues, particularly because it has a high absorption rate and can penetrate the blood-brain barrier.
One particular study found it’s helpful with memory decline, Alzheimer’s disease, and enhanced learning in young rats. You’ll often see some kind of “neuro” or “cogni” in the name based on the research that supports its ability to help with cognitive and neurological functions. Magnesium L Threonate benefits include:
- Aids with cognitive function and promotes a “clear head”.
- Helps with migraine prevention.
- Reduces migraine brain fog common with vestibular disorders, as well as vertigo.
- Some find it energizing as a caffeine replacement.
- Can aid with depression.
- Crosses the blood brain barrier, restoring magnesium directly to the brain.
Research shows magnesium to be a critical player in the activation of nerve channels that are involved in synaptic plasticity. That means that magnesium is critical for the physiological events that are fundamental to the processes of learning, memory, cognitive function and for healthy mitochondria.
It is highly absorbable and has the unique ability to permeate the brain and enhance the receptors that are involved in this process.
Magnesium L Threonate is said to be the only form of magnesium that crosses the blood brain barrier and significantly increase the levels of magnesium within the brain – exactly where people with migraine need it!
Magnesium for Vestibular Migraine
One of the ways vestibular migraine hit me hardest was with cognitive function. Before my symptoms began I had a quick wit and often managed the work of multiple people at my job.
When my chronic illness began, I couldn’t even think of small words like “dinner” without having to pause and think incredibly hard. I’d be having a conversation and would get hung up on what I was trying to say, racking my foggy brain for basic words. Often I wonder if the anxiety I felt from this exacerbated my symptoms. I felt stupid.
There were also points where I had some short term memory loss and would misplace things regularly or forget conversations. These are all symptoms of migraine and some vestibular disorders, specifically vestibular migraine.
While this supplement is expensive, I thought I would give it a fair trial of at least a month before I refilled the supplement. I noticed fairly quickly after I would take Magnesium Threonate in the morning that I had more energy and mental clarity.
As time continued, this was a common occurrence. My morning brain fog is eliminated and I am more alert without caffeine. It is a part of my treatment plan to this day – I take two capsules of Cognimag in the morning!
Magnesium threonate can be helpful for vestibular migraine because:
- Brain fog and memory loss is common with this type of migraine.
- It can reduce dizziness and fatigue.
- It contributes to the overall amount of daily magnesium you can take for migraine prevention.
- Outside of magnesium glycinate, threonate is one of the best forms of magnesium for vestibular migraine.
Because this supplement can be expensive and the recommended dosage for migraine prevention in studies is 400mg, it is best to mix and match with another less expensive form of magnesium to get the full amount needed.
Types of Magnesium Threonate
Here are a few types of magnesium l threonate that I have personally tried.
1. CogniMag by Pure Encapsulations
CogniMag contains the patented product called Magtein, developed by researchers at MIT including a Nobel Prize winner. The total amount of magnesium is 72mg. It also includes a proprietary blend called PhytoMemory which includes blueberry and strawberry extract, as well as spinach juice.
Extremely limited on fillers, this is my personal supplement and one I recommend as the best option. 95% of my readers report some kind of success taking this daily. You can also get an exclusive discount.
2. Neuro-Mag by Life Extension
Neuromag also contains Magtein but has a few more fillers listed in ingredients (it is also less expensive. Overall you get 144mg of magnesium threonate in this supplement. If cognimag is ever on backorder, this is the one I use. This neuromag is also available at a discount.
3. NeuroMag by Designs for Health
This NeuroMag is chelated magnesium threonate and another brand I used when Cogimag was out of stock. NeuroMag has very few fillers and also contains 144mg in the daily dosage. This is not available on Amazon right now, but can be found in my supplement store. This is also generally less expensive than cognimag.
4. Less Expensive Alternatives
Several readers have emailed me to update me on their favorite brands that are a little less expensive than the ones above.
Magtein ($22)
Jarrow Magnesium Threonate ($26)
Discounted Magnesium Threonate
Magnesium L Threonate UK brands:
Dr Mercola & Life Extension
Reviews on Magnesium Threonate
“I wanted to drop you a line to say that adding magnesium threonate has been a major game changer. It clears up the heavy head feeling I have when I wake up. The change has been remarkable” – Aimee
“I started taking the Magnesium Threonate close to 2 months ago. When I had to increase my dosage of Nortriptyline to 50 mg I noticed I was fuzzy headed all the time. I added the Magnesium Threonate and I am in pretty good shape now and I have had to increase my dosage of the Nortp to 75 mg to boot. It has made a big difference. But basically after I read page on supplements I now take both Magnesium’s, B2, CoQ10 and Ginger everyday. The whole package works well…For me I have had to find alternative brands because the Pure Encap are too expensive.” – Nancy
Migraine Supplement Articles
For more articles on supplements that benefit migraine disorders, check out these posts.
Natural Treatments
The Best Magnesium Supplements for Migraine
Natural Treatments
Tryptophan for Migraine, Anxiety, and Sleep
Natural Treatments
Natural Treatments for Vestibular Migraine
Vestibular Migraine
The Vestibular Migraine Treatments That Cured My Daily Dizziness
This post was originally published August 30, 2018 and was updated December 3, 2021 with new information and an infographic.
Hi Alicia,
Thanks for sharing your experience and all the information on this site. I love it.!
I’m in Canada and is very hard to find CogniMag here or any vendor who will ship it to Canada, including Amazon. There is Pure Encapsulations L-Theanine available on Amazon.ca, please have a look and let me know of your thoughts.
https://www.amazon.ca/Pure-Encapsulations-L-Theanine-Hypoallergenic-Supplement/dp/B01MA0F9N0/ref=sr_1_26?crid=1DWWJWXJDL8QQ&keywords=pure+encapsulations&qid=1568162476&s=gateway&sprefix=pure+%2Caps%2C181&sr=8-26
Thanks
Julie
Hi Alicia,
I’m updating my comment! I tried both Magtein and Cognimag. (NOTE: I don’t have VM, just regular migraine) I found more benefit from Magtein than Cognimag for brain fog. And I am planning to try Teraputics Mag Threonate next year (didn’t see it before I had ordered a fresh bottle of Magtein). Thank you for all the information you put together and share!!
Hey Mary – are you saying there was a certain brand that worked better? Cognimag actually contains Magtein! I’d love to know so I can add to the list. Keep us updated on the Teraputics. 🙂
Could you send those aimovig+another preventative reviews? From my understanding all the research is about aimovig on its own given I thought that was a requirement of the studies. I’ll ask my neurologist if we should do botox and aimovig at the same time
Yea hopefully the pe Glycinate helps with the dizziness as other magnesiums havent. By another preventative, what do you mean? I’ve been taking b2 and lamictal forever which I think are both technically preventatives so I was taking those with aimovig and yeah I tried aimovig for six months and it didn’t do anything for me and now the plan I should to try botox as I’ve tried so many other prescription preventatives with no result. Never tried timolol but that seems mainly for eye pressure and I’ve never seen it on mvertigo or dizzy Facebook groups or dr hains site or any other lit (I feel like I’ve ready everything :). I’ve been cleared by multiple visual therapists (I use prisms which help) for eye problems and I’m now trying Syntonics. Feel like botox would be better to try first than timilol as I’m 99.9% I’ve tried more better researched migraine preventatives in the same family as timilol
I mean that it seems more effective when people combine medication preventatives like botox/aimovig or topamax/aimovig vs aimovig by itself, but that’s just an observation from some of the reviews I read. I haven’t heard of it helping much for vestibular migraine in general so it’s interesting to hear your point of view.
Timolol eye drops aren’t as well researched because there’s no money in generic drugs (all the focus is on antiCGRP right now), but the research out there is all positive. I’ll copy some links below you might find interesting. My neuro has had great success with it for VM at his research hospital but I think they’re a little more open to experimental treatments. After all, there’s really not a ton of information on VM in general. I liked it because of it’s low risk of side effects and I think it is one of the reasons I feel 100% most days. It also helped me a lot with light sensitivity. If you’ve already tried a beta blocker though, it sounds like botox will be a great fit for you.
https://www.ajmc.com/newsroom/timolol-eyedrops-effective-in-some-patients-with-acute-migraine-
https://headaches.org/2016/07/01/use-beta-blocker-ophthalmic-solution-treatment-migraine/
https://www.nature.com/articles/6701303
Thanks! I have tried PE’s Glycinate that you linked to and Amazon has free returns so I’m going to try it as I’m finishing my aimovig in two weeks which hasn’t helped so might as well start the pe magnesium Glycinate when it arrives Sunday as I need some more magnesium anyway and can’t hurt to try it 🙂
Hopefully you’ll notice a difference with that one too. Sorry to hear about the aimovig – will you be trying the others after that? Most of what I’ve heard in my groups is that it’s great with another preventative. I was also curious if you had tried timolol malate ophthalmic solution yet? It’s what I’ve been taking as a preventative and I think it’s been really helpful with little to no side effects. I have some articles on it here. Good luck and keep me updated!!
I mean I’m able to tolerate it but it doesn’t do much for me and especially doesn’t do anything for my migraines or dizziness but I’ve tried all the different types of magnesium and all the different ways to take it and it seems like there’s no difference between any of them and my neurologist says my magnesium levels are fine so she thinks it’s not worth just trying a bunch of different ones especially given the Magtein did nothing if that makes sense
I see! It seems commonly prescribed because most Migraine sufferers do have low levels of magnesium. If you’ve tried them all and your levels are normal, that makes sense it’s not the answer for you. It may be worth it to look into other potentially beneficial supplements like CoQ10, Feverfew, B2, etc if you haven’t already.
I also think there’s been some misunderstanding of the post with a few readers – CogniMag was NOT the miracle cure for our dizziness or Migraine, it just helped tremendously with my brain fog and memory recall. It was a great addition to my traditional supplements since I cannot tolerate coffee and had a hard time getting my brain to work in the morning.
I took this one which doesn’t have gelatin and I feel like this is the least amount of fillers possible so hopefully this fits that criteria you mentioned 🙂 https://www.ebay.com/p/KAL-Magnesium-Glycinate-400-MG-180-Tablets-Vegan-Chelated-Non-gmo-Gluten-US/13016360569?iid=273104790237
Hi Nick,
Silica is used as a bulking agent and some people find they have issues with magnesium stearate. But if you’re doing well with it, I’d probably stick with it. Metagenics contains the same ingredients and I had success with it at one point too. The only ingredients in PE are cellulose (the capsule) and ascorbyl palmitate, which is a source of vitamin c so it’s been the best supplement I’ve been able to find. Hope that explains it a little bit more!