Magnesium Stearate

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j.

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Magnesium stearate is found in many supplements. Is it bad or neutral? What's Ray Peat's opinion about it?
 
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J

j.

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My experience suggests it might be one of the least evil additives. I take Life Extension Pregnenolone, which has it, and I don't react badly to it, while I seem to react badly to a lot of supplements.
 

4peatssake

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j. said:
Magnesium stearate is found in many supplements. Is it bad or neutral? What's Ray Peat's opinion about it?
Personally, I don't think it's all that bad j - based upon this comment from RP about the previous formula for Amour thyroid.

Ray Peat said:
Armour thyroid, USP, was the standard thyroid used widely for about 80 years. Since ownership of the product name was bought by Revlon and then a series of other companies, I'm not sure anything of the simple original formula remains; maybe magnesium stearate, I haven't looked lately.
 

Dan W

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4peatssake said:
Personally, I don't think it's all that bad j

I tend to agree: hopefully I haven't caused any paranoia by listing it in the "bad" column on my site. I do that more as "playing it safe" than thinking it's terribly toxic.
 

Gabriel

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After all, it is just magnesium + stearic acid (C18:0), a saturated fatty acid.
 

Dan W

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Gabriel said:
After all, it is just magnesium + stearic acid (C18:0), a saturated fatty acid.

To be fair to the critics of magnesium stearate, I think they generally don't complain about the substance itself, but rather what might come along with the production process (potentially GMO cottonseed oil, along with something about metal catalysts that I've never fully understood :lol:).
 

4peatssake

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j. said:
Ray Sahelian, author of a book about pregnenolone, has some thoughts on the safety of magnesium stearate.

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Dan mentions Sahelian and a few others on both sides of this issue in a pretty comprehensive article on his website.

Toxinless
 

tomisonbottom

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Ray Peat is quoted as saying:

"Most people don't have allergic reactions to the rice and magnesium stearate."
 
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j.

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drclarkstore_2270_5990884


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I don't believe it though.

drclarkstore_2272_16376159
 

Parsifal

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I've read that it is not an organic mineral (so the body cannot really use it because it is not chelated to a chaperone protein) and that it gives you diarrhea?
 

equipoise

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BUMP, sorry for the necro.

Whats the final verdict on Mg sterate? Just got my niacinamide from NOW foods and wondering about it. Probably safe yeah?
 

rei

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I would consider it a nutritional supplement, both stearic acid and magnesium are good for you. Of course there is always the question of impurities of manufacturing, but that is true with everything.
 

AlaskaJono

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I would consider it a nutritional supplement, both stearic acid and magnesium are good for you. Of course there is always the question of impurities of manufacturing, but that is true with everything.
It is most def NOT a nutritional supplement. Both stearic acid and magnesium stearate are used as 'flow agents' or lubricants in the processing of the pill/caps. Stearic acid is found in nature, though mag stearate is not. Mag stearate is usually made from (GMO) cottonseed or canola oil, or palm oil. That is dandy in itself. It may cause a decrease in bioavailability in the desired ingredients of your supplement. That it is necessary in the production is definitely not true. Thorne Research, Pure Encapsulations, and some other companies do not use them and they never have. I have used both of these companies for 30 years. The industry claims there is so little in each pill that it just doesn't matter what the (unintended) effect is. I personally choose to have less fillers and less toxins in my vitamins. Thank you very much. There are some things I may take infrequently that probably have it as an ingredient, so I do not want more. Like X-rays. I wouldn't worry about it if you bought some products, but if you take something daily then my suggestion is to do your best to get as clean a supplement as you can according to your situation. And feel good about it.
 

rei

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You don't seem to understand, if it is magnesium stearate then all that does not matter. And if you don't have any evidence then it is stupid to talk about possible impurities. Pure magnesium stearate is stearic acid and magnesium, both healthy supplements, no matter from where it is produced unless process impurities remain in the product.

Common sources of the starting material, stearic acid, are vegetable triglycerides obtained from coconut and palm oils and animal triglycerides from tallow.
Purified sodium stearate can be made by neutralizing stearic acid with sodium hydroxide.
Magnesium stearate is produced by the reaction of sodium stearate with magnesium salts or by treating magnesium oxide with stearic acid.
Seems like a very simple and natural process unlikely to produce impurities/contaminants, you can do it at home.
 

AlaskaJono

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Simply to add to this discussion for greater understanding, Thorne Research came out about 10 years ago with a statement of why and how they do not use magnesium stearate. Basically they state it hinders absorbtion. Also Dr Mercola has written about the promotion of bio-film in the intestines by mag stearate, which would of course render some or all nutrients unavailable to enter one's circulatory system. So this is more about biochemical actions than 'impurities' of (synthetic) additive(s).

Also Mercola mentions the first study below and I found the next one just now also interesting. My understanding of biochemistry is basic, but maybe some smart folks can chime in and translate for us. ;-)

Molecular basis for the immunosuppressive action of stearic acid on T cells.

Inhibition of lymphocyte proliferation by free fatty acids. II. Toxicity of stearic acid towards phytohaemagglutinin-activated T cells
 

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