What the homepage covers briefly gets more room here: the biochemical background on copper and magnesium, reference values for both minerals, and answers to questions that come up often.
Before a slice of bread or a spoonful of lentils turns into usable cell energy, it passes through several breakdown stages, each one ending with a small amount of ATP. Most of that yield only shows up once things reach the mitochondria, where two enzyme complexes running one after another do the actual work. Copper and magnesium are both involved at exactly these two complexes — at different points, with different jobs, and each with its own, separately reviewed EU claim.
The next two sections introduce each claim on its own. Neither wording describes a joint contribution from the two minerals.
Copper is needed only in small amounts, but it has to arrive regularly through food, since the body can't produce it on its own. Part of it makes its way to the mitochondria, where it becomes locked into an enzyme called cytochrome c oxidase.
Cytochrome c oxidase sits at the tail end of a chain made up of several enzyme complexes that relay electrons, one station to the next. At that final station, the enzyme takes hold of these electrons and passes them on to oxygen, which turns into water in the process. Two copper centers inside the enzyme take part directly in that handoff; take them away, and the whole last step slows down measurably — along with the energy yield of the entire chain.
| Food | Copper content (guide value per 100 g) |
|---|---|
| Beef liver | ≈ 5 mg |
| Cocoa powder | ≈ 2.3 mg |
| Cashews | ≈ 2.2 mg |
| Lentils, cooked | ≈ 0.25 mg |
For food labeling, the EU sets 1 mg of copper a day as the reference value for adults. How much a given food actually contributes shifts further with origin and preparation; the table above is meant as a rough guide, not the lab-tested value of any specific product.
In the body, magnesium is mostly present in bound form and, like copper, needs a steady, ongoing supply from food. Inside the mitochondria, it shows up at a different spot on the same membrane: ATP synthase, the enzyme that completes the actual formation of ATP.
The flow of hydrogen ions built up by earlier steps in the chain drives a rotating mechanism inside ATP synthase. At the catalytic head of that mechanism, a phosphate group gets attached to an ADP molecule. That bond only forms when a magnesium ion sits in the same spot and counteracts the negative charge of the phosphate groups involved enough for the geometry to line up — a pattern that repeats across numerous phosphate-handling enzymes.
| Food | Magnesium per 100 g (guide value) |
|---|---|
| Pumpkin seeds | ≈ 535 mg |
| Almonds | ≈ 270 mg |
| Whole-grain oats | ≈ 135 mg |
| Spinach, cooked | ≈ 87 mg |
For magnesium, that reference value sits at 375 mg per day. Here too: growing conditions, soil, and preparation all shift the actual content of any single food, so the table only serves as a rough point of reference.
No. In the small intestine, the two mostly rely on different absorption routes. At amounts in line with their respective reference values, getting both through diet together is considered unproblematic. With high-dose single supplements, a quick check with a pharmacy is worth it if you're unsure.
The term covers the entire sequence of reactions a cell uses to turn nutrients from food into ATP. The two enzymes described on this page — cytochrome c oxidase and ATP synthase — sit among the last links in that sequence, right inside the mitochondria.
Both sit in the same mitochondrial membrane and work in sequence: one hands off electrons to oxygen at the end of the electron chain, the other uses the resulting ion flow to build ATP. Being close together physically doesn't add up to a shared claim, though — copper and magnesium remain two legally separate, individually reviewed cases.
Not directly. What's written here places a legally reviewed claim in its scientific context — an individual assessment from a doctor's office is unaffected by that and is never replaced by this text at any point.
Access includes this page in full length, the reference tables for copper and magnesium, and the complete wording of both EU claims.
The claims on this page summarize a scientifically reviewed connection, authorized across the EU under Regulation (EU) No 432/2012. They are no substitute for a complete, varied diet, and they never take the place of an individual medical assessment. Anyone with a health condition, taking medication, or pregnant should check with a medical practice or pharmacy first, before making dietary supplements part of their routine.
The stated recommended intake is an upper limit, not a target to exceed. Keep supplements away from children. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
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