Comparison
Melatonin vs Magnesium L-Threonate
Melatonin
Pineal hormone regulating circadian rhythm. Low doses (0.3-1mg) often outperform higher doses for sleep.
Magnesium L-Threonate
MIT-developed magnesium that crosses the blood-brain barrier. Shown to enhance synaptic density and reduce 'brain age'.
| Field | Melatonin | Magnesium L-Threonate |
|---|---|---|
| Category | neuroprotective | neuroprotective |
| Dose range | 0.3–3mg | 1000–2000mg |
| Half-life | 1h | 6h |
| Onset | 30min | — |
| Evidence | EVIDENCEA | EVIDENCEB |
| Safety | ●●●●● | ●●●●● |
| Legal (US) | USOTC | USOTC |
| PubMed refs | 28000 | 90 |
The comparison in plain English
Auto-generated from dataMelatonin and Magnesium L-Threonate are both in the neuroprotective category respectively. Melatonin Pineal hormone regulating circadian rhythm. Magnesium L-Threonate MIT-developed magnesium that crosses the blood-brain barrier.
Bottom line
Melatonin (evidence A, safety 5/5) has a weaker evidence base than Magnesium L-Threonate (evidence B, safety 5/5). Melatonin has the slightly cleaner safety profile. For users new to either, the higher-evidence option is the safer first try.
Choose Melatonin if
Melatonin is the better fit when your goal aligns with its mechanism (Endogenous hormone produced by the pineal gland in response to darkness, signalling the circadian sleep window) and the dose range (0.3–3mg) suits your protocol. Half-life is 1h.
Choose Magnesium L-Threonate if
Magnesium L-Threonate is the better fit when your goal aligns with its mechanism (L-threonate is a sugar-acid carrier that uniquely enables magnesium to cross the blood-brain barrier in meaningful quantities — most oral magnesium forms (oxide, citrate, glycinate) raise serum magnesium but not central magnesium) and the dose range (1000–2000mg) suits your protocol. Half-life is 6h.