Can You Take Vitamin E With Magnesium?

Quick answer

NIH's fact sheets for magnesium and for vitamin E do not mention each other, and we found no study of the pair. A meal suits both: vitamin E needs some fat, and one small study hinted that magnesium is absorbed better with meals. Adult limits count supplements only: 350 mg of magnesium and 1,000 mg of vitamin E.^1,2,3,4,5

Key facts

Both adult limits leave out food: 350 mg a day for magnesium and 1,000 mg for vitamin E, from supplements.^4,5
A vitamin E capsule taken with only fat-free milk raised blood vitamin E far less than vitamin E eaten in a breakfast cereal.⁶
In a one-week pilot study, urine magnesium rose by 33.6 mg a day when magnesium was taken with meals and by 21.8 mg when it was taken fasting.³
High doses of vitamin E can raise the chance of bleeding, especially with blood thinners, so ask a doctor before taking 400 IU or more a day.²

What is known about this pair

This pair has almost no research of its own. The NIH fact sheets for magnesium and for vitamin E do not mention each other, and we found no study that gave the two together to healthy people. What can be said comes from how each one is absorbed and from their limits.^1,2

They are very different nutrients. Magnesium is a mineral that more than 300 enzyme systems rely on, and half or more of it sits in bone. Vitamin E is a fat-soluble antioxidant that stops the chain of damage when fats in the body are oxidized, and the liver keeps mainly one form of it, alpha-tocopherol.^1,2

What each one does

Both statements below are about reaching the recommended intake, which many Americans do not do from food alone. They are quoted from our ingredient pages.^1,2

Helps you reach the recommended daily magnesium intake*¹

Moderate evidence

National survey data from 2013 to 2016 show that 48% of Americans take in less magnesium from food and drink than the estimated average requirement. One serving supplies 275 mg, 65% of the Daily Value. In an earlier national survey, adults who used magnesium supplements had average total intakes well above requirement levels.

Amount studied: Recommended intake: 400 to 420 mg a day for men, 310 to 320 mg for women, from all sources

Helps you reach the recommended daily vitamin E intake*^2,5,7

Moderate evidence

National surveys have found that the diets of most Americans provide less vitamin E than the recommended 15 mg a day, although the estimates may be low because fats added in cooking are often not counted, and clear signs of a shortage are very rare in healthy people. In a study of 90,771 adults, vitamins A and E and zinc were the nutrients whose intakes rose most when multivitamins were counted. A typical once-daily multivitamin supplies about 13.5 mg.

Amount studied: Recommended intake: 15 mg a day for adults and 19 mg while breastfeeding, from all sources

Taking them with a meal

In 5 fasting adults, a 400 IU vitamin E capsule taken with fat-free milk raised blood levels far less than vitamin E added to breakfast cereal, and the response varied widely when the capsule was taken with a low-fat cereal breakfast.⁶

What else is in a meal changes how much magnesium is taken up. Phytate, oxalate, some kinds of fiber and high doses of other minerals lower uptake; protein, medium-chain fats and some carbohydrates, such as inulin and resistant starch, raise it.⁸

In a one-week pilot study of eight adults under medical care, urine magnesium rose by 33.6 mg a day in those who took magnesium with meals and by 21.8 mg in those who took it fasting, a rough sign of more absorption with meals.³

So a regular meal with some fat and protein suits both. The way most likely to waste vitamin E is a capsule swallowed with only a fat-free drink. For magnesium, the share absorbed is larger from several small amounts than from one large one.^6,8

Adding up the amounts

Magnesium and vitamin E for adults, per day^4,5
Per day, adults	Magnesium	Vitamin E
Recommended amount	400 to 420 mg for men, 310 to 320 mg for women	15 mg
Upper limit	350 mg from supplements and medicines	1,000 mg from supplements
Does the limit count food?	No	No
Main concern with too much	Loose stools, nausea, cramping	Bleeding

Neither limit counts food, because magnesium and vitamin E that occur naturally in food have not been found to cause harm.^4,5

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 E, 13.5 mg per serving, from the label
Immune Support: Vitamin E, 15 mg per serving, from the label

Men's Multi carries both. Its vitamin E is far from the limit, but its magnesium adds to Magnesium Glycinate's, as the check below shows.

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.

Who should ask first

High doses of vitamin E supplements might increase the risk of bleeding, by reducing the blood's ability to clot after a cut or injury, and of serious bleeding in the brain (hemorrhagic stroke).^2,5

That is why NIH asks for care with large doses of vitamin E in people who take warfarin or another anticoagulant or antiplatelet medicine. The amount needed for a clinically significant effect is not known, but NIH says it probably exceeds 400 IU a day.²

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.^1,4,9

On the medicine's label

Ask first if you have kidney disease or reduced kidney function, because kidneys that work poorly cannot clear extra magnesium.¹
Ask first if you take a quinolone antibiotic, a bisphosphonate, a diuretic, a medicine for acid reflux, gabapentin or levothyroxine, which magnesium can affect, or simvastatin with niacin, or orlistat, which matter for vitamin E.^2,4
Ask first if you are having chemotherapy or radiotherapy, or are pregnant or breastfeeding.²

Questions people ask

Can you take vitamin E with magnesium glycinate?

Nothing in our sources sets the glycinate form apart here. What matters is the magnesium figure on the label, which counts toward the 350 mg limit for supplements, and taking the vitamin E with food that has some fat.^1,4,10

Does magnesium change how vitamin E is absorbed?

No study in our sources measured it. NIH's vitamin E fact sheet names fat in the meal as what vitamin E needs, and the one documented factor that cuts it sharply is a medicine, orlistat, which lowered absorption of a vitamin E supplement by about 60%.^2,11

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.