Elm & Rye Magnesium promises to support bone and heart health as well as to promote better muscle function and recovery. Elm & Rye is a company committed to ensuring its supplements are formulated with high-quality ingredients that are backed by science. However, is this product powerful enough to soothe the painful symptoms of leg cramps? We reviewed this formula and found that it came up slightly short when compared to our first product pick.
There is one active ingredient in this product which is Magnesium Gluconate. At first, we were skeptical of a supplement that could be effective with only one ingredient. What made us give this product a second look is the commitment of Elm & Rye to the purity and quality of ingredients. Consumers are able to view the lab results of the Magnesium in order to know exactly what they are getting in this supplement. We applaud this effort and wish other brands would follow suit.
Considering that there is only Magnesium in these tablets, we were extremely interested to find out about the type of Magnesium found here. Different types of Magnesium form as Magnesium combines with another atom or molecule. Magnesium is said to be chelated when it binds to another atom or molecule by 2 or more points. But what does this mean on a practical level? Chelated Magnesium is easily absorbed into the body which means your body can take this mineral and deliver it to the muscles to effectively prevent muscle spasms and leg cramps. Unfortunately, Magnesium Gluconate is not chelated and therefore not easily absorbed into the body for effective leg cramp relief.
Additionally, the daily dose is lower than we would have expected. Consumers are instructed to take one tablet per day with each tablet containing only 30 mg of Magnesium. When you consider that most leg cramp relief supplements contain hundreds of milligrams of Magnesium, this supplement becomes quite underwhelming.
While we would have liked to see additional ingredients such as B vitamins and clinically-proven herbs, we understood that this is primarily a Magnesium supplement. However, we would have expected to see an absorbing agent such as Piperine, which is a black pepper extract studied and proven to increase bioavailability. In the case of Magnesium which is known to have a hard time absorbing into the body and therefore many times will cause a laxative effect in users, the absence of an ingredient to increase absorption was a glaring omission.
Elm & Rye have the right idea for a supplement company, but we definitely feel that this supplement could be improved with a more bioavailable type of Magnesium as well as a higher daily dose. If these are things that don’t bother you, then keep reading to find out more.
Is Elm & Rye Magnesium Effective?
One of the best indicators of how well this will work is the feedback from people who have used it so we turned to actual customer reviews to see what people really think about it and how well (or not) it worked for them and whether they would recommend it. Unfortunately, we could not find any reviews of consumers who actually used this product. On Elm & Rye’s website there are 5 stars pictured next to the product however, there are no actual reviews. This was not exactly what we expected to find, but it wasn’t altogether shocking, perhaps this is because of the missing ingredients and low dose found in this formula.
Another indicator of the efficacy of a product is if it comes with a money-back guarantee. Happily, this manufacturer does offer full returns if you are not satisfied with this product. Unhappily, consumers only have 30 days in which to apply for a return. Sometimes it may take a month to know if a supplement is working, so we usually look for a grace period of longer than that.
Additionally, this company has a ‘subscribe and save’ option where consumers will automatically purchase this product each month unless they cancel by a certain day. While it is tempting to sign up for this program and save 20%, these type of auto-ship programs are notoriously difficult to cancel and we advise consumers to be cautious about not inadvertently signing up for them.
Is Elm & Rye Magnesium Safe?
In general, this product is marketed as natural and safe. However, we would definitely advise consulting with your health care provider before taking this product.
Summary
Elm & Rye is a new company in the supplement market. The principles of this company include being transparent, sustainable, responsible and using pure and high-quality ingredients. Consumers can view lab results of the ingredients found in each supplement. This company also stands out by using labels that are simple and to the point. There is no extravagance wasted and nothing flashy included on the bottle itself. These are the positive aspects that stood out to us as we reviewed this product.
Our main concern was if this Magnesium could be powerful enough to help people suffering from leg cramps and muscle spasms. Our research uncovered that Magnesium Gluconate, the type of Magnesium in this supplement, is not chelated and therefore not easily absorbable into the body. Additionally, the dose of Magnesium is only 30 mg which is extremely low compared to the hundreds of milligrams usually found in leg cramp relief supplements. We would have expected that a product containing one active ingredient would contain the very best possible version of that ingredient. In this case, we were mistaken.
We were hoping to find customer reviews either on the manufacturer’s website or on third-party sites, such as Amazon. Unfortunately, there was not even one review available to read. While this is natural with a new company, it is also not reassuring when you are a consumer laying out hard-earned money. This brings us to the cost of this product.
We were a bit surprised to see that a one-month supply of Elm & Rye Magnesium is $50. This is on the high-end for a 30 mg daily dose of Magnesium. There is not a lot of information on the manufacturer’s website and certainly nothing explaining why the cost doesn’t seem to match the tablets within the bottle.
While we were glad to see a money-back guarantee, we would have liked it to extend past 30 days as it can take that long in order to ascertain if a product is working. We also dislike their auto-ship option. Both these details insinuate that the manufacturer is trying to pull a fast one over consumers. When a manufacturer can confidently stand behind its products, there is no need for short return policies or programs that are difficult to cancel.
We like what we see so far about this company and feel that they are on the right path to true transparency and quality ingredients. We feel that this product was almost there but would need a few tweaks to reach our prime position.
