Boron is a dietary mineral that may increase levels of testosterone in your body, and at relatively low doses compared to most supplements. It can be found in a variety of foods and drinks that you are likely to find in your home, such as avocado, parsley, apple juice, cherries and even ice cream.
Unfortunately, it is not present in these foods at quantities that might help you boost your free testosterone levels significantly. An avocado, for example, contains the most boron at about 1.1mg per whole fruit.
Studies have shown that results for testosterone increase start as low as 3mg of Boron, but that would still require eating 3 avocados, or a lot of the other sources of the mineral. If you start washing avocados down with apple juice and ice cream, you might make more problems for yourself.
Therefore, it leaves you with the supplementing option. Again, 5mg of boron - the currently accepted effective dose - is not a huge amount, but not many supplement manufacturers have caught on yet.
Another good case for supplementation is that boron is very well absorbed from the intestines. Capsules, which typically break down in the intestines, are therefore an excellent transport vehicle for it.
We’ll take a look at the health benefits next.
Does Boron Boost Testosterone For Real?
Yes. Sort of. Maybe. Sometimes. Probably…..okay?
Alright, you probably want something more concrete to go on. That won’t happen in this article at this time because there’s too many mixed signals coming out of the scientific people to give a definitive answer.
In short: it’s safe to take 5mg to 10mg per day, and there are no downsides, and there is likely to be some positive impact on your testosterone levels. Whether it’s a significant impact seems to be about 50-50, according to the research (
source).
In one study it appeared to increase free testosterone but not total testosterone (
source). That’s good because free testosterone is the stuff that we can use more effectively. This is probably due to a reduction in SHBG (Sex Hormone Binding Globulin), the agent that binds to testosterone and renders it effectively useless.
From rat studies, it looks like boron accumulation in the testes increases testosterone levels as well. However, it seems timing and dosage are factors in efficacy.
Basically, more studies are needed to confirm interaction with humans, but it’s looking good for boron.
What are the Other Potential Benefits of Boron?
As with most ingredients, boron isn’t a one trick pony. It has other health benefits, some of which aren’t really understood. And yet, it is not an essential micronutrient.
Boron may decrease the likelihood of kidney stones (Ed: from a repeat kidney stone sufferer, that is music to the ears).
Perhaps the most important additional benefit to humans in general is the minerals ability to increase the bioactivity of Vitamin D3, which is possibly the most under-appreciated and underused vitamin in the world. Given that one of Vitamin D's benefits is testosterone optimization, this alone makes it incredibly valuable.
Boron may also decrease joint inflammation and reduce symptoms of osteoarthritis.
Any Negative Side Effects?
Boron at the dosages mentioned in this article (between 3mg and 6mg per day) does not have side effects. Up to 20mg per day has been tested and deemed safe.
In massive doses, such as 5000mg for babies and toddlers, and around 15000mg for adults can be dangerous and perhaps deadly. Like most supplements, dosage matters, but it doesn’t take a genius to understand the difference between 5mg and 5000mg.
Conclusions and Recommendations
If you find a supplement - we would stick to a decent testosterone booster with multiple ingredients in it - that contains about 5mg daily doses of boron, you may be a solid responder and experience the benefits.
For such a small dose, you can’t really lose with boron. It is in food, yes, but even in food it doesn’t quite have the 5mg dose you really need. Saying that, if you eat an avocado a day then you are at least getting about 1.1mg.