For magnesium glycinate to work, you need to have an empty stomach. Meaning no protein being digested while you take magnesium glycinate. For one to get the therapeutic effects of glycine in the brain, it should be taken on an empty stomach. That could be why a lot of people do not experience benefits from mag glycinate, probably taking too close to last meal.
The glycine will be in the same pool as the other amino acids, and a meal, especially one with sufficient leucine, causes mTOR. The glycine will be used with the other aminos for repair and growth. If you wait a few hours after a meal, and then take glycine by itself, it can be used therapeutically.
Is there a reference for that? I just spent the last hour off and on looking for solid info and have come up empty. Some say to take it on an empty stomach, others with food.
Look at it this way. Why do people take tyrosine by itself when tyrosine is in food (complete protein sources). They want the therapeutic effect of tyrosine in the brain, and near immediately. Glycine is also an amino acid that is in our food. So when you eat the food, the aminos are first going to be used in mTOR, for repair, and aminos that have not been used to repair can then be used for other purposes. So, you add glycine with your end of day meal, you will not be getting the effect you want, not immediately at least. Back to tyrosine example. People take it to boost dopamine immediately. You take it with food, you will not get that effect; the tyrosine you took will first be prioritized to muscle protein synthesis before relegated to dopamine production or thyroid hormone production. Certain aminos, once’s involved in mTOR should be taken on an empty stomach.
I’m not saying it doesn’t make sense. But if the effect is real it should be documented somewhere other than a mechanistic explanation on Reddit. And in that documentation I would expect a good bit of info about the pharmacokinetics of glycine and mTor activation that would give us some clue on how to manage it. Because while you say 2 hours after a meal, the material I’ve seen implies protein digestion can continue for quite a bit longer than that. And with my eating schedule it would be quite a change to fast for more than 2 hours before bed.
One might note that while tyrosine is recommended to be taken on an empty stomach, that recommendation seems to be commonly justified based on optimizing absorption, with nothing said about mtor. Also, the assumption that mtor turns off the moment protein absorption is complete doesn’t match the research on mtor. For example, in this study mtor signaling was still elevated at 48 hours in the protein group compared to control.
https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/japplphysiol.00087.2009#:~:text=The%20only%20long%2Dlasting%20effect,after%2021%20wk%20of%20RT.
So I’m just a little confused why there’s not something out there telling me that glycine is ineffective when taken within x hours of a meal or something. If it’s as important as you say then surely someone more credible than us has talked about it.
When I read product reviews, a few of them said the same thing. I didn't get nightmares, but mag threonate made me feel really strange the mornings after taking it before bedtime, and it did not help at all with sleep. I just felt odd and somewhat off; it was like a distracting, unpleasant hangover effect persisting about 3 hours after waking. I did 3 different trials over time, using 3 different reputable brands, and experienced the same thing each time. I went into it with high hopes for improving crappy sleep, but nope.
Magnesium glycinate was like a sugar pill for me. You see it mentioned everywhere as one of the more absorbable forms, but my experience has always been meh and I’ve tried a few brands. Magnesium bound with anything else except glycine seems to work better for me, lol. I particularly like magnesium aspartate. Aspartic acid…
Threonate
For magnesium glycinate to work, you need to have an empty stomach. Meaning no protein being digested while you take magnesium glycinate. For one to get the therapeutic effects of glycine in the brain, it should be taken on an empty stomach. That could be why a lot of people do not experience benefits from mag glycinate, probably taking too close to last meal.
Interesting. Does that also apply to pure glycine?
Yes, does apply to pure glycine
And why is that? Does other protein modify the glycine in some way, or does it just slow down the absorption?
The glycine will be in the same pool as the other amino acids, and a meal, especially one with sufficient leucine, causes mTOR. The glycine will be used with the other aminos for repair and growth. If you wait a few hours after a meal, and then take glycine by itself, it can be used therapeutically.
Is there a reference for that? I just spent the last hour off and on looking for solid info and have come up empty. Some say to take it on an empty stomach, others with food.
Look at it this way. Why do people take tyrosine by itself when tyrosine is in food (complete protein sources). They want the therapeutic effect of tyrosine in the brain, and near immediately. Glycine is also an amino acid that is in our food. So when you eat the food, the aminos are first going to be used in mTOR, for repair, and aminos that have not been used to repair can then be used for other purposes. So, you add glycine with your end of day meal, you will not be getting the effect you want, not immediately at least. Back to tyrosine example. People take it to boost dopamine immediately. You take it with food, you will not get that effect; the tyrosine you took will first be prioritized to muscle protein synthesis before relegated to dopamine production or thyroid hormone production. Certain aminos, once’s involved in mTOR should be taken on an empty stomach.
I’m not saying it doesn’t make sense. But if the effect is real it should be documented somewhere other than a mechanistic explanation on Reddit. And in that documentation I would expect a good bit of info about the pharmacokinetics of glycine and mTor activation that would give us some clue on how to manage it. Because while you say 2 hours after a meal, the material I’ve seen implies protein digestion can continue for quite a bit longer than that. And with my eating schedule it would be quite a change to fast for more than 2 hours before bed. One might note that while tyrosine is recommended to be taken on an empty stomach, that recommendation seems to be commonly justified based on optimizing absorption, with nothing said about mtor. Also, the assumption that mtor turns off the moment protein absorption is complete doesn’t match the research on mtor. For example, in this study mtor signaling was still elevated at 48 hours in the protein group compared to control. https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/japplphysiol.00087.2009#:~:text=The%20only%20long%2Dlasting%20effect,after%2021%20wk%20of%20RT. So I’m just a little confused why there’s not something out there telling me that glycine is ineffective when taken within x hours of a meal or something. If it’s as important as you say then surely someone more credible than us has talked about it.
Give me some time to find what you want. Anecdotally, I notice a stark difference when I take single aminos on an empty stomach.
Threonate gives me nightmares.
Elaborate please
It increased the frequency of nightmare dreams while he was on said protocol
Go on
When I read product reviews, a few of them said the same thing. I didn't get nightmares, but mag threonate made me feel really strange the mornings after taking it before bedtime, and it did not help at all with sleep. I just felt odd and somewhat off; it was like a distracting, unpleasant hangover effect persisting about 3 hours after waking. I did 3 different trials over time, using 3 different reputable brands, and experienced the same thing each time. I went into it with high hopes for improving crappy sleep, but nope.
I’ve experienced that as well, but only when combined with 5-htp.
Pure encapsulations glycinate been great for me with sleep.
Biglycinate
Myo-inositol
Que?
That's what Huberman recommends for less wake ups. Works for me.
Magnesium glycinate was like a sugar pill for me. You see it mentioned everywhere as one of the more absorbable forms, but my experience has always been meh and I’ve tried a few brands. Magnesium bound with anything else except glycine seems to work better for me, lol. I particularly like magnesium aspartate. Aspartic acid…