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Recently there has been much debate around magnesium stearate. Which is why this post takes a closer look at this additive: what it is, how it works, is there any danger and what are the positives of it being in your supplements?

What is magnesium stearate?

[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”53791″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” css_animation=”fadeIn”][vc_column_text]Magnesium stearate is a magnesium salt obtained from vegetable stearic acid. When taken orally, the body breaks magnesium stearate back down to stearic acid anions and magnesium cations. We all know the benefits of magnesium for health and wellbeing. So what is the other part – the mysterious stearic acid?

Stearic acid

Stearic acid is a saturated fatty acid found in many foods, including animal and vegetable fats and oils. For example: stearic acid is the predominant saturated fat in cocoa butter. It makes up about one‐third of the total fat in cocoa butter and more than half of the saturated fat.

Stearic acid is considered a unique saturated fat because, relative to other saturated fats and trans-fats, it does not raise LDL cholesterol levels. It “exerts a neutral cholesterolemic response in humans” [1]. It converts (desaturates) to oleic acid – an important fatty acid found in olive oil [2].

Safety first

Stearic acid has, in general, been recognised as being safe for human consumption at levels below 2500mg/kg body weight/day. That means that there is no observed effect on the body below this limit [3].

To reach the safety limit – the point where consumption of stearic acid would have any effect on the body – a 75kg person would have to consume 187.5 grams of stearic acid daily. This is the equivalent of:

• 18 chocolate bars a day (100g, 45-59% cocoa) or
• 9 salted butter packets a day (250g packets, min 80% milk fat content) or
• 56,306 our supplement capsules a day (each capsule contains 5mg magnesium stearate – approx. 3.33mg stearic acid).

These are quantities no sane person could meet or even get close to! So it’s safe to say that stearic acid is safe.

The role of Magnesium Stearate in supplement production

There’s a reason why magnesium stearate is such a common ingredient in the production of tablets and capsules. It’s often referred to as a ‘flow agent’ or ‘anti-caking’ agent or excipient. What those terms means in practice is this: magnesium stearate is an amazing lubricant. And the lubricant properties of magnesium stearate has two major effects on the supplement production process:

1. Magnesium stearate helps to make the manufacturing process a fast one because it stops the ingredients from sticking to the mechanical equipment. A smooth and speedy process means lower manufacturing costs and a lower product price. Or that’s our ethos at least.
2. It prevents the formation of lumps (caking) in supplement mixtures, something that causes individual ingredients to stick to each other. This is of particular importance for supplements using more than one ingredient. The use of magnesium stearate facilitates a consistently homogeneous mix. In other words: it makes sure that each capsule or tablet contains exactly the same amount of ingredients. This level of quality control is hardly possible without using magnesium stearate.

[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”53799″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” css_animation=”fadeIn”][vc_column_text]As you can see, it’s vital that your supplements contain magnesium stearate.

We manufacture our supplements to exacting industry standards that places quality control over every aspect of the manufacturing process to ensure we deliver only the best products. Use of magnesium stearate is part of our quality assurance.

Bad reputation & fake dangers

You may be aware of the recent controversy surrounding magnesium stearate so let’s take a look at it.

It began with three online nutrition personalities involved in the production and sales of dietary supplements containing no magnesium stearate. They expressed concern about the safety of the additive.

But, given that there’s no science to support their concerns it’s reasonable to interpret their worries as a marketing strategy rather than real issues.

If you’re interested in the details then check out this video:[/vc_column_text][vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/Fx_ISfVVGuQ” el_width=”80″ align=”center” css_animation=”fadeIn”][vc_column_text]References:
[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12589329
[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7977144
[3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7434368[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]