This is kind of a loaded question as I get arguments from some pretty learned people about this but if you look at the data, its pretty much a safe bet that magnesium bound to amino acids (chelates) is the best way to go.  Thanks to my friend James Larsen, he made me add this to my blog as he sent me a study entitled “Magnesium bioavailability from magnesium citrate and magnesium oxide” by J. S. Lindberg, M. M. Zobitz, J. R. Poindexter and C. Y. Pak at the Center for Mineral Metabolism and Clinical Research, University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas 75235.

In this paper, and many others like it, it is pretty clear that using magnesium oxide as a supplement is just not as effective as magnesium citrate.  There is some guy that trolls Yahoo forums trying to get everyone to buy magnesium chloride as some magical form, especially his topical one because he just knows its the best. Problem is, many people are elevated in total chloride loads in their bodies and we just don’t need to add anymore of that to our systems.  To top it off, when asked for proof, he, as many other’s who tout that they have “it”, he resorts to some silly banter about how I’m out to get him and that his proof is on how great he and his family feel.

I’m not here to sell any products, I just want to present the facts.  If you want a good form of magnesium, try magnesium citrate.  It works, and its cost effective.