Natural Factors Magnesium Citrate vs. Source Naturals Magnesium Malate – Which Is Best?

Originally published on: February 19th, 2019
Last updated on: December 17th, 2020

Magnesium is one of the most important minerals your body actually needs in order to function properly.

And while I don’t necessarily recommend you take an enormous number of nutritional supplements each day – magnesium is one of those incredibly valuable supplements that you absolutely want to consume daily.

I know from first-hand experience taking the right form of magnesium can help you get deeper sleep, feel more energized during the daytime, and live a better life in general.

However, I’ve taken some ineffective forms of magnesium before (ahem, magnesium oxide). Ineffective magnesium, like magnesium oxide, isn’t super soluble in the human body, and doesn’t work very well for this exact reason (in most cases).

On the other hand, high-quality varieties of magnesium, like magnesium citrate or magnesium malate, are very soluble in the human body and therefore effective.

Today’s comparison article on Mystic Future breaks down the differences between Natural Factors Magnesium Citrate vs. Source Naturals Magnesium Malate.

	Natural Factors Magnesium Citrate	Source Naturals Magnesium Malate
Core benefit:	A proven & popular form of magnesium	A more niche form of highly-soluble magnesium
Price:	Very cheap	Very cheap
Value:	Excellent value	Excellent value

I’ve tested both of these brands of magnesium for myself. And I’m here to share my personal experience with you.

However, I’ll let you be the judge of which type of magnesium will work best for your specific needs.

Let’s get started…

About Natural Factors Magnesium Citrate

Natural Factors Magnesium Citrate has been my go-to source of magnesium for quite some time.

VIEW ON AMAZON

I love this stuff.

I’ve always enjoyed Natural Factors Magnesium Citrate because it’s affordable, highly-soluble, effective, and the capsules are incredibly easy-to-swallow.

VIEW ON AMAZON

To be perfectly honest, if you decide to stop reading this article right now in order to grab a bottle of Natural Factors Magnesium Citrate for yourself, there’s a strong possibility you’ll be perfectly happy with your decision.

(But I do hope you continue reading this article, of course.)

The nice thing about Natural Factors is they’re local, non-GMO and certified organic. They have their own organic farms, laboratories, production facilities, encapsulation processes, and more. Basically, Natural Factors controls the entire production process of their nutritional supplements. This is surprisingly rare in the nutritional supplement industry.

To put it simply, Natural Factors is a brand I personally depend on. And I have a feeling you’ll trust them with your health too.

Each capsule of Natural Factors Magnesium Citrate provides you with 150 mg of magnesium citrate. I personally swallow two capsules right before heading off to bed. This is what works for me.

But you may need to supplement with 1, 2 or 3 capsules of Natural Factors Magnesium Citrate, depending on your specific dietary needs, stress levels and lifestyle.

About Source Naturals Magnesium Malate

Source Naturals Magnesium Malate is an incredibly intriguing magnesium supplement, because it’s actually a combination of magnesium malate and malic acid.

VIEW ON AMAZON

Malic acid is a natural fruit acid that crosses the blood brain barrier and has been shown to bind to aluminum.

So this particular supplement, which is essentially magnesium malate combined with malic acid, has the potential to provide your body with a highly-soluble form of magnesium and eliminate unwanted aluminum build-up.

This is a nice little “win-win” bonus that you get, if you decide to go with Source Naturals Magnesium Malate.

VIEW ON AMAZON

Somewhat like Natural Factors – Source Naturals also handles its own manufacturing, encapsulation and raw materials sourcing etc.

Source Naturals is ultimately a high-quality and trustworthy nutritional supplement company that I am a fan of.

At the end of the day, Source Naturals Magnesium Malate is a strong magnesium supplement you can’t really go wrong with.

However, I will say the Source Naturals Magnesium Malate tablets are a tiny bit difficult to swallow, if you’re picky about tablet sizes.

VIEW ON AMAZON

I mean, the tablets are definitely fine. You can deal with them. But you might not look forward to swallowing these tablets nightly, as they feel a bit “chunky” going down your throat.

Just to be perfectly clear, the size of these tablets should not be considered a “deal breaker” by any means.

I just wish there was a way for Source Naturals to combine their magnesium malate with malic acid inside of a smooth capsule similar to the one Natural Factors offers. I’m not sure if this is possible. But I hope Source Naturals can find a way to make it happen.

Natural Factors Magnesium Citrate vs. Source Naturals Magnesium Malate

This is the “breakdown” portion of this article, where I compare Natural Factors Magnesium Citrate vs. Source Naturals Magnesium Malate.

Here are the main points for you to keep in mind:

Natural Factors Magnesium Citrate is cheap, effective and provides you with easy-to-swallow capsules. It’s a very basic and highly-soluble form of magnesium that helps you sleep a lot better, improves your heart health, and boosts your brain function.

Source Naturals Magnesium Malate is equally affordable and effective, but a bit less easy to swallow. However, these tablets have the added bonus of providing you with malic acid. Malic acid has been shown to reduce aluminum build-up in your body, which may be beneficial in helping to prevent Alzheimer’s disease. Some studies have linked aluminum build-up in the brain to Alzheimer’s.

If you feel like you need an extra layer of defense against Alzheimer’s, you may want to go with Source Naturals Magnesium Malate here, and put up with the slight inconvenience of swallowing tablets rather than smooth capsules.

Either way, I don’t think you can go wrong.

These are both excellent magnesium supplements.

Conclusion

Overall, Natural Factors Magnesium Citrate is simple yet extremely effective.

Meanwhile, Source Naturals Magnesium Malate potentially offers bigger health benefits, with the added “cost” of a slightly chunkier tablet to swallow.

So it’s completely up to you to decide which form of magnesium you’d like to go with.

In my case, I prefer Natural Factors Magnesium Citrate because I know I can always get malic acid from watermelon, apricots or various other fruits that are naturally rich in malic acid.

Sourcing malic acid is never going to be an issue for anyone.

You just have to visit your local health food store and pick up some fresh organic fruits that are high in malic acid content.

Finding a high-quality and soluble source of magnesium is the main concern of this article.

Which is why I personally recommend Natural Factors Magnesium Citrate.

In any case, you can’t go wrong with either option.

Enjoy your newfound deep sleep and refreshed mornings!

By the way, please let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

Have you had a chance to try either magnesium citrate or magnesium malate?

Please let us know if either of these varieties of magnesium has impacted your brain, body and healthy lifestyle!

Sources

Natural Factors Magnsium Citrate on Amazon
https://amzn.to/2DYFF8n

Source Naturals Magnesium Malate on Amazon
https://amzn.to/3mpC0Vj

PubMed (Magnesium And The Brain)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK209305/

PubMed (Aluminum And Alzheimer’s Disease)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21157018

Newsmax (Foods Containing Malic Acid)
https://www.newsmax.com/t/newsmax/article/635741/113