News in Nutrition
Boron, Mineral Surprise
by Dr John Whitcomb
Boron, Mineral Surprise
References: Science Direct, Wikipedia,
Ever heard of boron? Not a very common mineral in mammals. In fact,
it's considered an "ultra trace"
mineral. Produced by spallation and supernovae, it is not an
abundant mineral, but is present in
many soils in a trace level. There is no obvious known animal use
for it as making rats deficient
has been a challenge requiring ultra pure diets. Rats then get lousy
skin and fur. It's very light
in weight and makes extremely hard crystals, allowing it to be used
as an industrial abrasive and in
high tech magnets and super strong fibers.
Imagine my surprise when I find that it has a surprising role in
humans. It is one of the most
effective known tools to reduce sex hormone binding globulin. It
also may play a surprising role in
osteoporosis and arthritis. In parts of the world where intake of
boron is less than a mg a day, the
incidence of arthritis is 50-70%. In those parts of the world where
boron intake is 3-10 mg a day,
arthritis is around 0-10%. That's just epidemiology, and we don't
have good human studies with
arthritis.
We do have a study showing boron's effect on SHBG. SHBG is Sex
Hormone Binding Globulin. It is the
protein tasked with transporting estrogen and testosterone around
the body. Hormones are based on
cholesterol, a fat, and fat doesn't dissolve in water. SHBG allows
them to be transported in water.
It binds about 99% of the hormones, leading only 1% in the
bioavailable or free form. The way birth
control pills work is to dramatically increase SHBG, thereby binding
virtually all free estrogen and
testosterone. The problem arises when you stop the pill, SHBG may
not go back to normal.
In fact, SHBG's continuing to be high may be a problem with men too.
Continued high SHBG leads to
very tiny levels of free testosterone. Lowering SHBG may be part of
how we raise the level of the
hormones we depend on for good health, testosterone and estrogen.
In this study, 10 mg of boron was given to eight healthy men for a
week. In that short time period,
their blood boron increased and their free testosterone increased
dramatically by 29%, mostly due to
a drop in SHBG. Interestingly enough, CRP, the main mediator of
inflammation, dropped dramatically
as well. This is a terribly short study, with a tiny number of
participants, but it opens a door to
think about the benefit of boron. Then, I look at the ingredients in
my most effective bone builder,
Pro Bono, and I see 2.5 mg of boron daily. The literature on boron
and calcium and bone metabolism
is thin, but it suggests we do better when we have more.
www. What will work for me. I had no idea that boron played such a
big role in general health. I'm
sort of fascinated that this arcane, micro mineral might be so
useful. I'm determined to follow this
further. Between lowering CRP, lowering SHBG, raising testosterone,
lowering calcium excretion, we
might have a whole host of reasons to consider this spallated
mineral to be a little superstar. And
it's fun to learn the term spallation. I'm adding boron to my list
of minerals to use for arthritis,
inflammation and SHBG management.
Pop Quiz
1. Boron is a critical element for human health. T or F
Trick question. We don't really know. It's a micro trace element
with no known mechanism of action
but with many small studies showing beneficial effects.
2. Sex Hormone Binding Globulin rises dramatically with boron. T or F
False. It drops. That is good. Make for higher free testosterone.
3. Birth Control Pills may lead to a permanent elevation of SHBG. T or F
True. That leads to less muscle, less immune function, less libido.
4. Spallation is the creation of minerals by cosmic rays. T or F
True. Boron, beryllium, aluminium, neon, iodine among others are
formed this way. Also describes how
to make flint arrowheads.
5. A good dose of boron is well provided in most vitamins. T or F
Well, we don't know. Boron is included at 150 mcg in Centrum. May
not be enough for optimal effects.
Dr John Whitcomb | October 31, 2016 at 12:15 pm
