Orotates are mineral salts of orotic acid used by plants and animals to make DNA and RNA. Hans Nieper, a physician and dabbler in offbeat theories of gravitation, used orotates clinically before 1980 until his death in 1998. He thought that orotate salts, being neutrally charged, pass easily through cell membranes. In effect, orotate ferries the mineral atoms into cells and tissues, producing higher concentrations.

Nieper promoted orotates as treatments for nearly every ailment imaginable and was consequently ignored; most of his medical claims were never rigorously tested. But in certain applications - such as athletic performance - where his ideas have recently received scientific scrutiny, they have been found to work. Nieper may have been on the right track after all.

Magnesium orotate is used by competitive athletes to increase endurance. It is also used to treat symptoms of magnesium deficiency, including diabetes, hypertension, dementia, and osteoporosis, and to treat migraines, asthma, chronic lung disease, heart attacks, arrhythmias, blood vessel stiffness, atherosclerosis, and high blood pressure.