Can You Take Vitamin B6 With Magnesium?

Quick answer

They are often sold together, and no official source we read names a clash between them. In an 8-week trial of 264 adults, adding 30 mg of vitamin B6 to 300 mg of magnesium made no overall difference to stress scores or magnesium levels. That much B6 is over Europe's 12 mg daily limit.^1,2,3

Key facts

The US upper limit for vitamin B6 is 100 mg a day for adults. Europe's food safety authority set a lower limit of 12 mg in 2023.^3,4
The adult upper limit for magnesium is 350 mg a day from supplements and medicines; magnesium in food does not count toward it.⁵
In the trial of the pair, people took two tablets at each of three meals, about 300 mg of magnesium a day in all.¹
Across Men's Multi, Ashwagandha Complex and our immune formula, our labels add up to 11.7 mg of vitamin B6 a day, just under Europe's 12 mg limit.³

Why the two are paired

The pairing rests on an idea more than a finding. The authors of the main trial of the pair wrote that vitamin B6 may help cells take up magnesium and keep the body from losing it. Their own follow-up analysis checked: adding B6 raised blood B6 but did not lift red blood cell magnesium any more than magnesium alone did.^1,2

NIH's fact sheets do not link the two. The magnesium sheet never mentions vitamin B6, and the vitamin B6 sheet never mentions magnesium, so there is no documented clash and no documented reason to take them as a pair.^4,6

What the trial of the pair found

Who took part: 264 adults with low blood magnesium and high scores on a stress questionnaire.¹
What they took: about 300 mg of magnesium a day as magnesium lactate, with or without 30 mg of vitamin B6, for 8 weeks.¹
Overall result: stress scores fell by 45% in the group taking both and 42% in the magnesium group, and the two did not differ.¹
Subgroup: in the 162 people with the highest starting scores, scores fell further with the pair, by 3.2 points more on average.¹
Magnesium levels: red blood cell magnesium rose in people who started low, by about the same amount with or without B6.²

There was no placebo group, so the trial cannot say how much of the fall came from either product, and its authors called for a placebo-controlled trial. Several of them were Sanofi employees.¹

What each one does on its own

Both nutrients have established jobs in the nervous system, the usual reason given for pairing them. The grades below describe each nutrient on its own. None of them is a finding about the pair.^4,6

Contributes to normal muscle and nerve function*^6,7,8

Moderate evidence

A long-established role of the mineral, described by NIH and included in the EU list of permitted nutrient-function statements. It does not mean extra magnesium improves performance in people who already get enough: a meta-analysis of 14 trials found no significant gains in muscle strength or power, with benefits appearing only in groups likely to be short of magnesium, such as older adults.

Amount studied: Recommended daily intake from food and supplements

Vitamin B6 contributes to normal functioning of the nervous system*^4,9,10

Moderate evidence

A well-established nutrient function. Vitamin B6 is needed to make neurotransmitters, the chemical messengers between nerve cells, and NIH notes its role in brain development during pregnancy and infancy. The EU permits this wording for vitamin B6. NIH notes that B6 supplements, alone or with other B vitamins, do not seem to make a difference to memory or mood in healthy people.

Amount studied: Recommended intake: 1.3 mg a day for adults up to 50, then 1.5 mg for women and 1.7 mg for men, from food and supplements combined

How the amounts compare with the limits

Daily amounts for adults^1,3,4,5,11
	Magnesium	Vitamin B6
Recommended amount	310 to 420 mg, by age and sex	1.3 to 1.7 mg, by age and sex
US upper limit	350 mg from supplements and medicines	100 mg from all sources
Europe's upper limit	250 mg from supplements, water and fortified foods	12 mg
In the trial of the pair	About 300 mg	30 mg
Our Men's Multi	50 mg, as magnesium oxide	7.5 mg, as pyridoxine hydrochloride

The trial's 30 mg of B6 sits under the US limit but well over Europe's. The European panel took 50 mg a day as its reference point for nerve harm and set its limit well below that.³

The body absorbs large doses of vitamin B6 well but quickly passes most of the excess in urine.⁴

When to take them

No source we read sets a best time for the pair. In the trial, people took their tablets with breakfast, lunch and dinner. NIH's vitamin B6 sheets give no timing advice, and for magnesium a larger share is absorbed from several small amounts than from one large one.^1,9,12

In the one trial of magnesium bisglycinate for sleep, people took their two capsules, 250 mg of magnesium in all, 30 to 60 minutes before bedtime.¹³

What's in ours

What’s in ours

Magnesium Glycinate: Magnesium, 275 mg per serving, from the label
Men's Multi: Magnesium, 50 mg per serving, from the label
Creatine + Electrolytes: Magnesium, 60 mg per serving, from the label

What’s in ours

Men's Multi: Vitamin B6, 7.5 mg per serving, from the label
Ashwagandha Complex: Vitamin B6, 2.5 mg per serving, from the label
Immune Support: Vitamin B6, 1.7 mg per serving, from the label

Our Magnesium Glycinate with our Men's Multi

Magnesium Glycinate and Men's Multi together provide 325 mg of magnesium a day, close to the 350 mg upper limit for magnesium from supplements. Do not add another magnesium product.

Men's Multi is the one product of ours that carries both. Its 7.5 mg of vitamin B6 is the largest B6 amount in our range, and with Magnesium Glycinate it brings magnesium to 325 mg a day, close to the 350 mg limit.⁵

Side effects, medicines and who should ask first

Taking 1 to 6 g of pyridoxine a day for 12 to 40 months can cause severe, progressive sensory neuropathy, with loss of control of body movements. The symptoms usually stop if the supplement is stopped as soon as they appear.^4,9

Some reports describe sensory neuropathy at less than 500 mg a day, while studies of people taking about 200 mg a day for up to 5 years found none. The European panel took 50 mg a day, from a case-control study, as its reference point for nerve harm.^3,4

In the trials pooled in a Cochrane review, mostly gut side effects such as diarrhea affected 11% to 37% of people taking oral magnesium, against 10% to 14% of those on placebo.¹⁴

In the trial of the pair, diarrhea was the most common side effect: 4.5% of people taking both and 7.6% of those taking magnesium alone.¹

Ask your pharmacist or doctor first

The carbidopa and levodopa label says pyridoxine at 10 to 25 mg can reverse the effects of levodopa taken on its own, and that carbidopa blocks this. The same label warns that carbidopa and levodopa can lower vitamin B6 levels, that seizures from low B6 have been reported, and that doctors should check B6 levels before and during treatment.¹⁵

On the medicine's label

Ask your pharmacist or doctor first

Valproic acid, carbamazepine and phenytoin speed up the breakdown of vitamin B6 and can lower its blood levels, which NIH says could reduce the drugs' ability to control seizures. Research also suggests that 200 mg a day of pyridoxine can lower blood levels of phenytoin and phenobarbital; whether smaller amounts do this is not known.^4,9

Reported in studies

Ask your pharmacist how far apart to take them

Tetracycline antibiotics such as doxycycline may not be absorbed if taken too soon before or after a product that contains magnesium. The doxycycline label says antacids containing magnesium impair the absorption of tetracyclines.^5,6,16

On the medicine's label

Stop vitamin B6 and see your doctor if you notice numbness, tingling or unsteadiness⁴
Ask first if you take levodopa, an anti-seizure medicine, cycloserine or theophylline⁴
Ask first if you take an antibiotic, a bisphosphonate, a diuretic, a medicine for acid reflux, gabapentin or levothyroxine⁵
Ask first if you have kidney disease, are on dialysis or have had a kidney transplant^4,6
Ask first if you are pregnant or breastfeeding

Questions people ask

Does vitamin B6 help the body absorb magnesium?

The one trial that checked found no sign of it. Adding 30 mg of B6 to 300 mg of magnesium for 8 weeks raised blood B6, but red blood cell magnesium rose no more than with magnesium alone.²

What is the best time to take vitamin B6 and magnesium?

No study we found compared times of day for the pair. The trial gave them with meals, split across breakfast, lunch and dinner, and splitting magnesium into smaller amounts means a larger share of it is absorbed.^1,12

Can you take vitamin B6 with magnesium glycinate?

No source names a problem with the glycinate form. Watch the totals instead: magnesium from supplements is limited to 350 mg a day for adults, and B6 amounts in products vary from under 2 mg to 30 mg or more.^1,5

See what we make

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See the Full Measure line Creatine + Electrolytes Magnesium Glycinate Men's Multi

Sources

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

This page is information, not medical advice. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist about your own situation.