Buffered vs Non-Buffered Magnesium Bisglycinate: What the Label Is Telling You
Some magnesium bisglycinate products say "buffered" on the label. Others say "non-buffered" or "unbuffered". It sounds like a technical detail. It is actually a question about what you are paying for, because buffered usually means a second, cheaper form of magnesium has been added.
What "buffered" means
Buffered magnesium bisglycinate is bisglycinate blended with another magnesium source, most often magnesium oxide.
Non-buffered, or unbuffered, means no other magnesium salt has been added. The magnesium comes from bisglycinate only.
Why brands buffer
It comes down to how much magnesium fits in a capsule.
Pure magnesium bisglycinate is only about 14 percent magnesium by weight, in theory. Commercial grades are often lower. One pure bisglycinate product on the market, for example, uses 750 mg of the compound to deliver about 88 mg of magnesium.
Magnesium oxide is around 60 percent magnesium by weight. Adding some to the blend raises the magnesium per capsule, which means fewer capsules, a bigger number on the front of the pack, and a lower cost per milligram.
The trade-off
Oxide is the form people usually choose bisglycinate to avoid.
According to the US National Institutes of Health, small studies have found that forms like citrate are absorbed more completely than magnesium oxide. Oxide is also among the forms most commonly reported to cause diarrhea at high doses.
So in a buffered product, part of the headline dose comes from the weaker, harsher form. That is not automatically a problem. It becomes one when you cannot see how big that part is.
The real issue is the ratio
A buffered label often gives one combined magnesium figure, without saying how much comes from bisglycinate and how much from oxide. A blend that is mostly oxide with a little bisglycinate can look identical, on the front of the pack, to one that is mostly bisglycinate.
That is exactly the situation the CuratedFit Standard is strict about. When two forms of the same mineral are combined under one total, with the split between them undisclosed, the product cannot be meaningfully evaluated, and it does not pass. If the individual amounts are disclosed, a blend can pass.
How to spot a buffered product
Check the front and the ingredient list. Look for the word "buffered", or for magnesium oxide listed anywhere.
Compare the two numbers. If a label gives both the compound weight and the elemental magnesium, divide one by the other. Pure bisglycinate is at most about 14 percent magnesium, and often closer to 10 to 12 percent in practice. A product claiming 200 mg of magnesium from 1,000 mg of "bisglycinate" is at 20 percent, which suggests something else is in the mix.
Look for an explicit claim. "Non-buffered" or "unbuffered" on the label means no other magnesium salt was added for that purpose.
Is buffered always worse?
No. If you mainly want more magnesium per capsule, and the label discloses how much comes from each form, a buffered product can be a reasonable, cheaper choice.
What you should avoid is paying a bisglycinate price for a product where you cannot tell how much of the magnesium is actually bisglycinate.
Magnesium bisglycinate products that passed the CuratedFit Standard
Source Naturals Magnesium Bis-Glycinate provides 200 mg of magnesium per two-tablet serving, from a single magnesium form.
Life Extension Magnesium Glycinate provides 105 mg of magnesium per capsule, from bisglycinate only, with no other magnesium types combined.
The takeaway
"Buffered" is not a quality claim. It usually means magnesium oxide has been added to raise the dose. Check whether the label says so, check the ratio, and if the split between forms is not disclosed, assume you cannot know what you are getting.
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