Vitamin B12
A well-known energizer, taking this B vitamin too close to bedtime could have you lying awake on your pillow long after you should have entered dreamland.
“Digestion slows down during sleep, so taking your nutrient supplement late at night would not be associated with an efficient absorption.” Neil Levin, a clinical nutritionist at NOW Foods, agrees that morning is best for multivitamins and any B vitamins.
B vitamins shouldn't be taken in the evenings as they work in the body to convert food into energy. Therefore, taking them close to bedtime can disturb or inhibit sleep. They are also water soluble, which means they can be taken without food, or dietary fat, and be as easily absorbed."
Therefore, magnesium supplements can be taken at any time of the day, as long as you're able to take them consistently. For some, taking supplements first thing in the morning may be easiest, while others may find that taking them with dinner or just before bed works well for them.
It is a good idea to take magnesium before bed because it can help you sleep. Because calcium and magnesium compete for absorption, they should not be consumed at the same time. Another reason that it is not good to take calcium at night is because vitamin D should be combined with complete meals.
Our only hard recommendation: Avoid supplementing with vitamin D at night. There's evidence that vitamin D can suppress melatonin—which is bad news for your sleep quality.
There's no set time of day that's best to take vitamin D supplements. Some people say taking vitamin D supplements at night is an insomnia risk. There's no research to confirm this, but you might want to take your supplement earlier in the day if you think it's screwing with your sleep.
You can—but it's probably not a good idea. For some supplements, optimal absorption can depend on the time of day taken. Not only that—taking certain vitamins, minerals, or other supplements together can also reduce absorption and may result in adverse interactions, which can be harmful to your health.
Magnesium does not cause insomnia. A magnesium deficiency, however, can. As discussed above in this article, we recommend healthy doses of magnesium through diet or supplements to help combat insomnia.
Folate and vitamin B-12 help you feel energized and alert. They play a role in red blood cell production, which helps you ensure that your brain can access the oxygen it needs to work.
Vitamin B12
As a general rule of thumb, take your B vitamins in the morning or with a meal. Vitamin B12, for example, should definitely be taken in the morning. This is because it is important for energy metabolism, which may interrupt your sleep if taken at night.
Growing evidence has demonstrated that vitamin D has a role in sleep regulation [12]. Specifically, vitamin D deficiency (VDD) can increase risk of sleep disorders and is associated with sleep difficulties, shorter sleep duration, and nocturnal awakenings in children and adults [13,14,15].
Studies published in the Journal of American Geriatrics Society have revealed that the combination of Zinc, Melatonin and Magnesium is highly recommended to help improve the quality of sleep of insomnia patients. Zinc supplement, if taken at night will be beneficial for the body in multiple ways.
Try taking it alongside breakfast or with a bedtime snack — as long as it doesn't interfere with your sleep. The key is to find what works for you and stick with it to ensure you're meeting your vitamin D needs. Taking vitamin D with a meal can increase its absorption, but studies on specific timing are limited.
Yes! You can and should take magnesium and vitamin D together. In fact, the bioavailability of vitamin D largely relies on magnesium. Also, many nutrients wouldn't work efficiently without magnesium, further highlighting the importance of this mineral!
In general, magnesium supplements should be taken near mealtime to avoid an upset stomach. However, if you're using magnesium as a laxative, it should be taken on an empty stomach with a full glass of water one hour before or two hours after a meal.
Magnesium can decrease the absorption and effectiveness of numerous medications, including some common antibiotics such as tetracycline (Achromycin, Sumycin), demeclocycline (Declomycin), doxycycline (Vibramycin), minocycline (Minocin), ciprofloxacin (Cipro), levofloxacin (Levaquin), moxifloxacin (Avelox) and ofloxacin ...
Other experts caution against taking magnesium at the same time as other minerals. “It can interfere with absorption of other minerals, so if you take a multivitamin, calcium or zinc, take magnesium at a different time of day,” Cooperman warns.
Magnesium and calcium/multivitamin
But if you do take magnesium, Erin Stokes, ND, recommends not taking it at the same time as your multivitamin, as it may interfere with the absorption of smaller minerals found in the multivitamin, like iron and zinc.