Boron is an element found naturally in leafy green vegetables like kale and spinach. It can also be found in grains, prunes, raisins, noncitrus fruits, and nuts.
A person’s daily diet typically contains 1.5 to 3 milligrams (mg) of boron. The five most common sources of boron in a person’s daily diet are:
- dried beans
Boron helps your body metabolize key vitamins and minerals, has a key role in bone health, and it also affects estrogen and testosterone levels.
There’s no established dietary recommendation for boron in terms of daily value. A boron deficiency also hasn’t been proven to cause any diseases.
Small studies have indicated that boron may play a role in brain function. Early studies in the 1990s showed promise for human supplementation with boron.
For example, one 1994 study published in the journal
These encouraging results didn’t spur a boron research boom.
Now boron-related research studies are mostly limited to those performed on laboratory rats. Although researchers know that boron plays a role in many human functions, its status as a minor mineral means there aren’t many recent human trials regarding boron’s benefits on the brain.
Boron can aid in keeping your bones strong along with possibly improving brain function.
Boron is known to play a role in extending the half-life of vitamin D and estrogen.
The half-life is the amount of time it takes for a substance to break down to half its starting amount. Scientists aren’t exactly sure how boron does this. But it could be important for bone health in several ways.
First, vitamin D is essential for bone health because it enhances your body’s ability to absorb calcium. Calcium is a mineral responsible for making bones strong. Boron could help enhance bone health by increasing how long vitamin D works in your body.
According to an article in
Estrogen is another hormone that plays a role in bone health. It protects against bone loss that can lead to osteoporosis. This is a condition that can make bones weak and brittle in both men and women. By extending the amount of time estrogen is present in the body, boron may help to maintain healthy bones.
While boron supplements have been considered as a possible treatment for people with arthritis, more clinical evidence is needed to support this claim.
When it comes to taking supplements, too much of a good thing can sometimes be a bad thing. Taking excess amounts of supplements can make it harder for your body to filter out the extra it doesn’t need. There’s no specific daily dose recommended for boron.
According to the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine, the upper limits that should be taken in daily are:
|Age||Daily upper limit dose|
|children ages 1 to 3||3 mg|
|children ages 4 to 8||6 mg|
|children ages 9 to 13||11 mg|
|teenagers ages 14 to 18||17 mg|
|adults ages 19 and up||20 mg|
Boron is considered safe for most people, but large amounts can be harmful. There also isn’t data regarding a safe level for children younger than 1 year old. Its safety hasn’t been studied in pregnant women.
It’s important that you talk with your doctor before taking supplements. It’s unlikely that boron supplements are necessary. Most experts recommend increasing intake through dietary sources like fruits and vegetables before considering supplements.
If you don’t want to take additional boron supplements, eating foods that contain boron, like prunes, raisins, dried apricots, or avocados, can help increase boron levels.