THE BENEFITS OF SUPPLEMENTING WITH BORON
If
you are a weight lifter over the age of 30 you may remember one of the first natural supplements marketed as a testosterone booster, the mineral boron. Back in the early 90′s Boron was a popular supplement for men looking to increase muscle mass but because of the popular emergence of steroids and other powerful anabolic drugs Boron did not get that much attention.
Recent study findings are starting to increase interest for this mineral once again. Dr. Forrest Nielson found that replenishment of Boron through a fortified diet resulted in a number of effects that are associated with promoting health. When physiological stress is present or the diet is deficient in calcium, magnesium, vitamin D, or copper, then Boron may play an important role in protecting against certain health challenges.
Health Effects of Boron
One specific study done on Boron researched how boron affects calcium, vitamin D, and Estrogen. The study done on post-menopausal women who were low in estrogen found that daily supplementation of Boron helped decreased the amount of calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium in the urine, which suggested that less bone loss was taking place. What was also found was an increase in testosterone and estrogen one of the key components for bone density.
Two other studies done on both male and females found the same results. These studies suggest that Boron supplementation may be able to help increase sex hormone status and improve bone density in both males and females.
Boron Supplementation in Men
Another
study done in the Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology found other results supporting Boron Supplementation. The evidence found that Boron is easily absorbed into the body, in fact they found that Boron has an 84% oral bioavailability. Even in just a few hours Boron concentration doubled after blood tests were taken. After just a week of Boron supplementation there was an increase of 32 times the initial reading.
The results of the study indicated that Boron supplementation significantly decreased sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), along with markers CRP and TNF which are markers used to determine inflammation. Blood serum cortisol levels were also lower which is a hormone released during stress that can cause several health problems, such as heart disease.
After seven days of supplementing blood tests found that Boron supplementation may also be able to help increase testosterone activity. The blood results found a significant increase in free testosterone with significant reduction in estradiol and inflammatory markers. The changes resulted in significantly higher levels of testosterone activity and androgen dominance.
These findings would be exceedingly desirable for weightlifters and men in general. Being able to increase anabolic signaling of testosterone through increased free bioavialable testosterone, while at the same time reducing the fat-accruing effect of estradiol and reducing the potentially dangerous effects of inflammation, could allow for accelerated fat loss and muscle building. Inflammation is also known to slow down muscle building and recovery which is another reason Boron may help with body physique.
Conclusion
As more studies continue to be done on this mineral its popularity may increase for weightlifters once again. The results for Boron already advocate for its potential benefit in both men and women. The top selling multi-vitamin on BestSupplements.com is Vitapril. Vitapril contains clinical studied levels of Boron along with several other vitamins and minerals that are able to enhance health and performance. To find out more about Vitapril Click Here.