Thursday, October 25, 2012

Supplemental Boron for Osteoporosis

Boron is an essential trace mineral that encourages cell growth, improves glucose utilization, and stimulates bone formation. The bone building attributes of boron stem from its ability to enhance the actions of vitamin D and estrogen. Boron helps strengthen collagen, increase calcium, phosphorus and magnesium concentrations in bone, and stimulates osteogenic cell activity in the bone marrow. The end effect is a dramatic improvement in bone stiffness and strength.

Unfortunately, most people don't get enough boron in their diets. This makes supplementing with boron necessary if you are to achieve optimal bone health and especially if your bone density is low. A typical daily diet provides only about 1 mg of boron. This is not enough for optimal bone health. You need at least 3 to 5 mg/day but intakes of 10 mg and more don't seem to provide any additional benefit. The body has tight homeostatic control over the blood plasma levels of this element and when blood reaches a certain level of saturation (typically achieved with intakes of less than 10 mg/day), the body simply excretes the rest through the urine. Prolonged excessive intake of boron can be toxic.

Many nutritional supplements for bone health (including our own OsteoSustain) contain 3 mg of boron. I recommend combining OsteoSustain with bone-healthy foods (such as dried plums) that are naturally rich in boron. This will bring your daily intake to an optimal level of 6 to 8 mg/day. Any more than 10 mg/day of boron is not helpful and excessive intake is detrimental.

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