So ZMA has Zinc, Magnesium and Vitamin B6 in it. I can get Zinc and Magnesium tablets seperately for super cheap. I was planning to take 400mg Magnesium and 25mg Zinc before bed. Is there something I will be missing by not having any Vitamin B6 with it, like in the ZMA tablet?
Not really. Vitamin B6 is abundant in plenty of other supplements. And that’s from someone who firmly believes in the T-boost of ZMA!
That said, watch out for the form your Zn and Mg come in. For example, if said tablets are made with calcium (which is very likely if they’re dirt cheap), that messes up what you get out of them by orders of magnitude.
I’d buy me some ZMA if I were you.
Vitamin B6 is a coenzyme for protein and amino acid metabolism. so basically its role in ZMA is to enhance the absorption and utilization of zinc and magnesium
[quote]Serd wrote:
Vitamin B6 is a coenzyme for protein and amino acid metabolism. so basically its role in ZMA is to enhance the absorption and utilization of zinc and magnesium[/quote]
I stand corrected.
the minerals are also chelated to an amino acid for better absorption. The Zn, Mg and Ca all compete with each other. effectively cancelling each other out. By bonding them to an amino acid you change how the are absorbed into the body. The amino acid effectively drags both minerals across without interaction. If this is the case though i am not sure why they suggest you dont take it with Ca, as they are now using different mechanisms. Maybe its a precaution, i dont know.
If you are going the cheap route make sure you calculate how much Mg/Zn you would actually be taking and compare it to ZMA. Also check the label. Dont chose inorganic salts like MG oxide, etc.