The simplest way to make magnesium citrate taste better is to chill it in the refrigerator for several hours before drinking it. Cold temperatures dull your taste buds and reduce the salty, slightly metallic flavor that makes the liquid so unpleasant. Beyond chilling, you can use a straw, mix it with compatible drinks, or adjust your drinking technique to get through the full dose with less grimacing.
Chill It Well in Advance
This is the single most effective trick, and it’s the one hospitals recommend. Brigham and Women’s Hospital specifically advises chilling magnesium citrate ahead of time to improve the taste. Put the bottle in the back of the refrigerator (the coldest spot) at least 8 to 12 hours before you need to drink it. Some people even place it in the freezer for 30 to 45 minutes before drinking, pulling it out just before it starts to get slushy.
Cold liquids suppress your ability to detect bitter and salty flavors. Room-temperature magnesium citrate tastes significantly worse than a thoroughly chilled bottle. If you only do one thing on this list, make it this one.
Use a Straw to Bypass Your Tongue
Drinking through a straw placed toward the back of your mouth sends the liquid past most of your taste buds. A wide straw works best since you can take larger sips and finish faster. Some people also find that pinching their nose while drinking reduces the flavor even further, since smell accounts for a large portion of how you perceive taste.
Chase It With Something Strong
Have a strong-flavored clear liquid ready to drink immediately after each sip. Lemon-lime sports drinks, ginger ale, and lemonade all work well as chasers. The goal is to replace the lingering aftertaste before it settles in. Take a sip of magnesium citrate, then immediately follow it with a gulp of your chaser. Repeat until you’re done.
You can also suck on a lemon or lime wedge between sips. The sharp acidity overrides the metallic taste quickly.
Mix It With a Clear Drink
If you’re not on a restricted prep diet, mixing magnesium citrate with a flavored clear liquid can dilute the taste considerably. Lemon-lime soda, white grape juice, or flavored water all pair well with the citrus-flavored versions. The carbonation in soda can help mask the texture and flavor, though it may increase bloating.
If you’re preparing for a colonoscopy, stick to approved clear liquids only. VA Medical Centers list flavored waters, powdered drink mixes like Kool-Aid, and sports drinks as acceptable clear liquids during prep. Avoid anything red, purple, or orange, as these dyes can stain the lining of your colon and be mistaken for blood or other abnormalities during the procedure. Clear yellow, green, or white liquids are your safest options for mixing.
Choose the Right Flavor
Magnesium citrate typically comes in lemon, lime, and cherry flavors. Most people find the lemon or lime versions far more tolerable than cherry. The citrus flavors blend more naturally with the inherent tartness of citrate, while the cherry version tends to taste more artificial and medicinal. If you haven’t bought your bottle yet, go with lemon or lime.
Drink It Quickly in Portions
Sipping slowly over a long period means you taste it more times. A better approach is to break the dose into several large gulps with short pauses between them. Pour your portion into a glass rather than drinking from the bottle, so you can see your progress and mentally track how much is left. Knowing you’re almost done makes the last few swallows easier.
Some people pour their full dose into a few smaller cups. Finishing three small cups feels more manageable than staring down one large glass, even though the total volume is identical.
Tricks That Work for Repeat Drinkers
People who’ve been through colonoscopy prep more than once tend to converge on a specific routine: chill the bottle overnight, pour it over a small amount of ice, drink through a straw while pinching your nose, and chase every sip with cold ginger ale. Layering multiple techniques together makes a bigger difference than relying on any single one.
Keeping your chaser colder than the magnesium citrate itself also helps. If your chaser is lukewarm, it won’t clear the aftertaste nearly as well. Have both liquids ice-cold and ready to go before you start, so you can power through without interruption.
One final detail worth knowing: once you open a bottle of magnesium citrate, it begins to lose its carbonation and effectiveness. Drink it within 24 hours of opening and don’t save a half-finished bottle for later. Getting it down in one session, using whichever combination of these techniques works for you, is always better than dragging the process out.