You will see Boron on the periodic table of chemical elements with the symbol B and an atomic number 5. The proper pronunciation is (BOR-on). Unknown to many, boron is consumed globally via fiberglass in insulation and structural materials. However, people also take boron in the form of medicine and supplements for bone, muscle, brain, and testosterone health. From a scientific standpoint, boron is hard to study in its pure form, and samples of it are often mixed with a small amount of carbon.

Below is good information about what it does, why it’s so unique, and how to include it into your daily diet.

Is Boron known by a brand name or other names?

Boron comes from the name Borax, which is the mineral from which it was isolated from.

Boron can be seen listed as:

• Acide Borique
• Anhydride Borique
• Atomic number 5, B (chemical symbol)
• B (symbole chimique)
• Borate
• Borate de Sodium
• Borates
• Bore
• Boric Acid
• Boric Anhydride
• Boric Tartrate
• Boro
• Numéro Atomique 5
• Sodium Borate

Boron is a mineral and therefore changes names as its chemical state changes.

What is Boron?

As stated above, boron is an element that exists both here on earth and in the solar system. It was first recognized by Sir Humphry Davy, Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac, and Louis Jacques Thénard, in 1808.

Boron stays stable at room temperature but will burn when introduced to higher temperatures. Interestingly, it is the lightest element.

Between 1870 and 1920, it was used as a food preservative. However, today, chemists turn boron into an edible element that benefits people for a wide range of medical needs.

How Much Boron Should Be Taken Daily?

A low intake of boron is 0.2 mg/d, and a good diet has approximately 1 to 2 mg/d.

The maximum dose is 20 mg a day for adults over the age of 19.

Studies show11.6 mg of boron results in a significant increase in plasma. Incredibly, increasing plasma helps transport vital nutrients, vitamins, and proteins throughout your entire body.

Are Boron supplements safe, or is Boron harmful to humans?

Boron is 100% safe if you stay within the recommended dosage per day. As with any vitamin or supplement, going overboard leads to side effects or possible poisoning if you take it in large amounts.

How Do You Get Boron In Your Diet?

To get the proper amount of Boron in your diet, you must be certain to consume an abundant amount of fruits, vegetables, and nuts.

A few examples of Boron rich foods include:

• Apples
• Coffee
• Dried beans
• Milk
• Potatoes
• Avocados
• Apricots
• Almonds
• Hazelnuts
• Red grapes

A plant-rich diet provides 1.5 to 3 mg/d of boron. However, meat, fish, and dairy are poor sources of boron. Interestingly, milk and coffee provide about 12% of boron intake for those living in the United States. This percentage takes into consideration that Americans don’t have a well-rounded diet of fruits, nuts, and veggies.

Does Boron Make You Gain Weight?

No, in fact, it appears to do the exact opposite. A study with boron in its form of borax or boric acid uses data focusing on rats with diabetes. This study includes body weight, metabolism, and inflammatory markers in the blood in relation to glycemia, cholesterol, triglyceride, insulin, IL-6, and C-reactive protein levels, visceral fat, and body weight. A conclusion from the study shows that boric acid helps with decreasing body weight, insulin, and IL-6 levels. Moreover, these results encourage further studies using boron as a metabolic regulator to help with bodyweight

What Does Boron Do To The Body?

Amazingly, boron has many benefits for the body. In fact, recent research theorizes that it is essential in humans, animals, and plant life with regard to evolution.

Builds Strong Bones

Studies show that boron is an essential trace mineral for building strong bones. In 1985, the USDA took postmenopausal women who were on a low-boron diet in which they took 3 mg/d of boron during two 28-day trials.

The difference between the two trials was surrounding magnesium. In one, it was low, and the other was normal. When taking boron supplements, a women’s daily urinary excretion of calcium was reduced by a total of 44%.

The trials show a decrease in calcium loss resulting from boron supplementation at 52 mg per day when the women were low in magnesium vs. 22 mg/d when magnesium levels were sufficient.

Osteogenesis is directly related to boron. In fact, one study concludes that low boron intakes result in poor bone health. Therefore, low boron intake is a relevant nutritional concern. Boron supplements also work to prevent calcium loss and bone demineralization. In addition, a person lacking boron is prone to bone illnesses, especially older women.

Improves Thinking Skills

Electrical activity in both animals and humans shows boron depletion from the diet via boric acid results in lower brain activity. This adversely affects the brain’s motor speed, dexterity, attention, and short-term memory.

Studies on both healthy men and women over 40-70 days, shows that low levels of boron intake directly affect brain function and cognitive performance in a negative way. Furthermore, three separate investigations done on healthy men and women shows that adding just 3.25 mg of boron to a diet aids in memory, hand-eye coordination, and overall balance.

Helps Athletic Performance

The knowledge of human athletes and nutrition is increasing dramatically. This is also true for the study of the diet with supplementation of specific nutrients. Recent studies show that supplements increase the concentration of plasma regarding steroid hormones and testosterone.

On two studies with adult male rats, an elevation of endogenous steroid hormones as a result of boron supplementation suggests that boron can be used as a harmless substance for athletes without any lingering side effects.

Beneficial in Wound Healing

Wound healing with boron dates back to 1990. It is a dangerous thing to deal with due to the toxicity that occurs with open wounds. However, the positive outcome of the study is one of the most prominent.

In the years 1997-1998, 31 patients in a surgical ICU unit were subjected to a 3 percent boric acid solution after standard wound treatment failure. The case-control study with 12 of these patients shows that after wound granulation, they were able to return to a regular care unit. These 12 patients achieved this about three times more rapidly than those receiving conventional antiseptics. While this is a considerable advancement in the medical field, the danger of toxicity is real so its important to consult with your medical professionals before using boron on open wounds.

Borons Anticancer Effects

Many things are classified as carcinogens, which are things that can cause cancer or cancer forming cells. Boron possesses anticarcinogenic properties that might benefit those battling cancer.

Research shows that those who consume a diet rich in boron have a lower risk of several types of cancer, including:

• Prostate
• Breast
• Cervical
• Lung

Why is Boron Used in Cancer Treatment?

In the last few years, research has shown boron can help those with inoperable cancer by disrupting the growth and mutation of cancer cells.

Boron in Connection to Prostate Cancer

The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted a study that shows 52% less risk in men whose diets include more than 1.8 mg a day of boron in comparison to men who consume less than 0.9 mg a day. With a study producing positive results for over half its participants, it is a no brainer that those trying to improve their prostate cancer might want to take boron daily.

In another study, boron shows a reduction in the size of prostate cancer tumors in mice. The same study also shows a significant reduction in growth like tumor tissue. In this specific study, two groups of 10 mice were given 1.7, 9.0 mg boron/kg/d of boric acid. The control group was only assigned water, and the tumors were measured weekly for an eight week period. Exposure to the boron in both low and high doses shrunk the tumor size by 25-38%.

Boron’s Effect on Cervical Cancer

Cervical cancer is the second most prominent cancer in women worldwide. Turkey is the only place where cervical cancer ranks 9th, which is 2 to 5 times lower when compared to European and North American statistics. There is a wide range of variables that contribute to this, but research shows that Turkey’s nutrient soil contains high amounts of boron. Interestingly, data collected from 33 healthcare centers totaling 140,334 patients, show the prevalence of cervical cancer at 1.8%.

Most cervical cancer stems from the HPV virus. However, boron interferes with the HPV life cycle, stumping the mutation and growth of the HPV cancer cells.

In one study, 107 incidences of adverse cytological findings in cervical smears were evaluated for a total of 1059 women. Both status who were living in boron-rich (472 women intake of 8.41 mg/d) and boron-poor (587 women intake of 1.26 mg/d) regions in Turkey. In the boron-poor area, 15 women were found with cytopathological findings vs. zero found within the boron-rich area.

Boron’s Effect On Lung Cancer

Boron affects lung cancer in a similar way that HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) does. A ten-year study conducted at the University of Texas on the joint effects of boron intake and HRT regarding lung cancer risk. Boron intake was inversely correlated with lung cancer in women and was worsened when boron intake was low, and zero HRT was done. Decreased boron intake was directly associated with increased odds of lung cancer corresponding to a 39%, 64%, and 95% increase by reducing quartile of intake. This total theory affects women who are postmenopausal and are cigarette smokers. The study concludes that increasing boron intake with HRT treatment reduces the growing carcinogens inside the lungs.

Boron Treatment for Multiple Myeloma and Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma

In recent years and today, boron supplements are in use as therapeutic agents to help with cancer, viruses, bacteria, and fungal illnesses. Boron based compounds are currently in the clinical trial phase. However, they show promise that they might work with better efficiency and potency than current pharmaceutical drugs.

Does Boron Increase Estrogen or Testoterone?

Yes, and this fact is proven in a 2015 study. This study shows that taking boron for a week straight brought these results:

• Increase in the metabolism of the total testosterone in your body and changed it to free testosteroneTrusted Source, which helps sexual functions
• Increase of free testosterone levels by nearly 25%
• Reduction of the amount of estradiol by half
• Reduction of inflammation(interleukin and C-reactive proteins) by more than half
• Allows more free testosterone to bind with proteins in the blood, which can have even more benefits as you age

What’s more, increasing estrogen helps women dealing with osteoarthritis, arthritis, and overall bone health.

Conclusion

It is important to note that boron effects were not shown in any of the above studies to be beneficial when taking less than 3mg per day. For people who take boron for overall health or therapeutic properties, the dose is important. Additionally, the recommended dose for 18 or older is 20 mg per day.

Consumption methods are dependent on the results you want. Also, it is in use in many forms, including pharmaceuticals but also naturally from a daily diet.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Products discussed are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.