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Side Effects of Magnesium Stearate & Stearic Acid
Last Updated: Jan 28, 2015 | By Adriana Muntean
Side Effects of Magnesium Stearate & Stearic Acid
If you look on the bottle of your supplements at the bottom where it says Other Ingredients: Magnesium Stearate. you should think of replacing your sourses.
Magnesium stearate is a compound formed from the incorporation of stearic acid with a magnesium ion. What results is a compound that has lubricative properties. These properties are added to a variety of supplements in order to keep vitamins from sticking to one another during manufacturing as well as to prevent them from sticking to machinery. However, recent studies show that magnesium stearate can also cause some serious side effects to the body if taken in large doses.
Side Effects
This innocuous additive is found in 95 percent of supplements on the market today. As of late, this additive is also being called a toxin. To better explain its dangers, you have to understand exactly what magnesium stearate does and where it is found in supplements. There is also confusion on the differences between magnesium stearate and stearic acid.
Magnesium stearate is often found as a combined product of stearic acid and according to That's Fit, it is made by the hydrogenation of cottonseed or palm oil. Cottonseed oil has the highest content of pesticide residues of all commercial oils, and it coats the nutrients that are found in supplements. Therefore it also delays the absorption of these nutrients by the intestines. In large doses, magnesium stearate damages the skin and causes liver toxicity.
Stearic acid, combined with magnesium forms the stearate; the acid is found in nature in many of the foods that are widely consumed such as poultry, fish, meat, eggs, butter, milk products, grains, cocoa, coconut and many others.
Magnesium stearate is also used to bind sugar in hard candies like mints, and is a common ingredient in baby formulas. In pure powder form, the substance can be a dust explosion hazard, although this issue is effectively insignificant beyond the manufacturing plants using it.
Magnesium stearate is manufactured from both animal and vegetable oils. Some nutritional supplements specify that the magnesium stearate used is sourced from vegetables.[citation needed]
Magnesium stearate is a major component of "bathtub rings." When produced by soap and hard water, magnesium stearate and calcium stearate both form a white solid insoluble in water, and are collectively known as "soap scum."
