Boron Osteoporosis, Osteopenia

Boron Osteoporosis,  Osteopenia.   - Here is a trace mineral that is essential for bone building.  

Some supplements sold for 'stronger bones' only contain calcium. Others contain Vitamin D and vitamin K which are also important for bone building. But you want to be sure that your supplement contains boron OR that you are getting enough of this mineral in your daily food intake.

Research: Boron Osteoporosis, Osteopenia , arthritis and cognitive function

Arthritis  Back in 1963 researchers in North Yorkshire, England found that it was a safe and effective treatment for some forms of arthritis. They also found that boron supplementation not only alleviated arthritic pain and the discomfort of arthritis but that there was lower boron concentrations in "femur, heads, bones and synovial fluid "of people with arthritis than from those who did not have arthritis.

These researchers also found that those who used boron supplements had much harder bones than those who did not use such supplements! When they did comparative geographic studies they found that where boron intake in the daily diet is low (1.0 mg or less,) the incidence of arthritis ranges between 20 t0 70% but in  areas where dietary intake is 3 to 10 mg per day, the incidence of arthritis is 0 to 10%! ( The researchers did not extend this last study to the incidence of clinical bone density in the geographic areas but there are now other studies on the topic of born Osteoporosis and Osteopenia.)

Bone density. In 1993 the British Journal of Nutrition published a study " The influence of a low-boron diet and boron supplementation on bone, major mineral and sex steroid metabolism in post menopausal women.".

This study states that an "increase in dietary intake of B from 0.25 to 3.25 mg/d has been reported to increase plasma oestradiol and testosterone and decrease urinary Calcium excretion in post menopausal women." Of particular interest to us is that they found that low boron was associated with elevated urinary calcium excretion. If you recall one of the reasons why we are advised to avoid or seriously cut back our caffeine consumption is because caffeine increases the excretion of calcium in the urine. Now we know that low boron intake could do the same thing.

Another study was published in 2001 in the Journal of Animal Science It examined the "effects of dietary boron on growth performance, bone mechanical properties, and calcium and phosphorus metabolism in pigs. It concluded that boron supplements increased both "growth and bone strength".

And how does this mineral work to build bone? The U.S. Department of agriculture conducted an experiment in which post menopausal women took 3 mg of boron a day. The results showed it reduced excretion of calcium in the urine by 44% and that boron activates estrogen and vitamin D!

Cognitive function. An article published in a 1994 article about  investigating cognitive function and boron intake. The the functional role of boron, brain electrophysiology and cognitive performance were assessed in response to dietary manipulation of boron (approximately 0.25 versus approximately 3.25 mg boron/2000 kcal/day) in three studies with healthy older men and women. . .

Performance (e.g., response time) on various cognitive and psychomotor tasks also showed an effect of dietary boron. When contrasted with the high boron intake, low dietary boron resulted in significantly poorer performance (p < 0.05) on tasks emphasizing manual dexterity (studies II and III); eye-hand coordination (study II); attention (all studies); perception (study III); encoding and short-term memory (all studies); and long-term memory (study I).

Collectively, the data from these three studies indicate that boron may play a role in human brain function and cognitive performance, and provide additional evidence that boron is an essential nutrient for humans.

There are other studies about Boron Osteoporosis, Osteopenia etc. but these give you an indication of why this mineral is important for those wanting to build strong ones as well as those who want help for their arthritis.

Nutritional sources of boron.

Boron is found in fruits and vegetables. Most nutritionists say that eating at least 2 fruits and 2 vegetables a day, is necessary to get sufficient boron. Of course the soil in which the fruits and vegetables are grown needs to have sufficient amounts of this important trace mineral for it to get into the food. If you eat an all organically grown diet, you are likely to get enough - unless the produce comes from an area of the country that is deficient in this important mineral. The U.S National Institute of Health says that "total daily boron intake in normal human diets ranges from 2.1–4.3 mg boron/kg body weight (bw)/day."

Special note: I found one comment noting that boron might increase estrogen activity and so women who have had breast cancer or are at high risk for breast cancer, should be especially certain to consult their health care provider about taking boron. I have found no studies about this risk...but I always want to alert you to any thing at all that I have seen. As you know I can not and will not give medical advice on any aspect of health.

Finding good boron supplements

Most people will who are concerned about Boron Osteoporosis, Osteopenia are taking a calcium supplement. But you need boron too. One of the reasons I used Advacal Ultra is that it includes boron and the other things found important to good bone health.

Advacal is lactose free. At first I had some concern about the use of Oyster shell but I called the manufacturer and they said that tests show the there are no discernible contaminants.

You can get yours by clicking: Shop Advacal

There are also supplements that contain only boron on the market Some people who are using Boron Osteoporosis or Arthritis supplements prefer these.

 Boron at Amazon.com Boron Osteoporosis supplements