Boron is a trace mineral that helps maintain healthy bone and joint function.
National Academy of Science -- News -- Boron
Boron is necessary for the prevention of postmenopausal osteoporosis.
OVERVIEW
Boron is a trace mineral that helps maintain healthy bone and joint function. Boron is involved in calcium and magnesium metabolism and, therefore might prevent bone loss associated with osteoporosis (Kirschmann, 1996).
METHOD OF ACTION
Boron helps maintain healthy bones. Several studies have shown that boron assists in improving absorption and utilization of the calcium and magnesium (Feinstein, 1996). Boron is best if taken with a well balanced vitamin and mineral supplement including calcium, magnesium, and riboflavin (vitamin B2) (Hendler, 1991).
Boron is essential for the utilization of vitamin D, which enhances the absorption of calcium. Recent research demonstrates that boron may be essential in the conversion of vitamin D to its active form (Murray, 1996).
PROPERTIES & USES
The primary use of boron in the body is for the efficient absorption of calcium, and thus, boron is essential for healthy bones. Boron is useful for women suffering from postmenopausal osteoporosis. A study involving postmenopausal women who supplemented their diet with 3 milligrams of boron daily resulted in reduced calcium excretion by 44 percent and dramatically increased the levels of beta-estradiol, the most biologically active estrogen.
Boron supplementation may also be useful for arthritis. Several studies show that boron may provide relief for patients suffering from osteoarthrtits, juvenile arthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis (Murray, 1996).
It may also be beneficial for ischemic heart disease and other types of cardiovascular disease (Kirschmann, 1996).
CONSEQUENCE OF DEFIECIENCY
Inadequate intake of boron causes bone changes similar to those seen in osteoporosis. Boron deficiency results in decreased blood levels of calcium and calcitonin and increases urinary excretion of calcium and magnesium levels. Boron deficiency also causes decreased serum concentrations of estrogen and testosterone, all of which are associated with calcium loss and bone demineralization (Murray, 1996; Somer, 1995).
SAFETY ISSUES
Boron is extremely safe when taken at the recommended dosages of 3 to 9 milligrams daily. If extremely high dosages are used (greater than 500 milligrams per day), nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea may occur (Murray, 1996).
RECOMMENDED DIETARY ALLOWANCES
There is no official RDA for boron. A dosage of 1.5 to 3.0 daily milligrams is safe and adequate (Murray, 1996).
FOOD SOURCES
Fresh fruits and vegetables are the main dietary sources of boron. The estimated average daily intake for Americans is between 1.7 and 7 milligrams daily. A diet high in fresh fruits and vegetables is known to offer significant protection against osteoporosis and osteoarthritis (Murray, 1996).
REFERENCES
Garrison, R & Somer, E. The Nutrition Desk Reference. New Canaan, CN: Keats Publishing, 1995.
Hendler, S. The Doctor’s Vitamin and Mineral Encyclopedia. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1990.
Janson, M. The Vitamin Revolution. Greenville, NH: Arcadia Press, 1996.
Kirschmann, G & J, Nutrition Almanac 4th ed. New York: McGraw Hill, 1996.
Murray, M. Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine. 2nd ed. Rocklin, CA: Prima Publishing, 1998.
Murray, M. Encyclopedia of Nutritional Supplements. Rocklin, CA: Prima Publishing, 1996.
Recommended Dietary Allowances 10th ed. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 1989.
Somer, E. The Essential Guide to Vitamins and Minerals. New York: HarperCollins, 1995.
Werbach, M. Healing Through Nutrition. New York: HarperCollins, 1993.
Werbach, M. Nutritional Influences on Illness. 2nd ed. Tarzana CA: Third Line Press, 1993.
Arsenic, Boron, Nickel, Silicon, and Vanadium. Although there is some evidence suggesting a beneficial role for these elements in animal and human health, not enough data exist to define with certainty what their specific roles may be. Therefore, recommended intake levels were not established. However, based on adverse effects noted in animal studies, tolerable upper intake levels were set for boron at 20 milligrams per day; for vanadium at 1.8 milligrams per day; and for nickel at 1 milligram per day. Arsenic in chemical forms is a known toxic element, but not enough data exist on chronic intakes at lower levels from food and supplements to set a UL. Data also were lacking upon which to base a UL for silicon.
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Boron was discovered by Joseph-Louis Gay-Lussac and Louis-Jaques Thénard, French chemists, and independently by Sir Humphry Davy, a British chemist, in 1808. They all isolated boron by combing boric acid (H3BO3) with potassium. Today, boron is obtained by heating borax (Na2B4O7·10H2O) with carbon, although other methods are used if high-purity boron is required. Boron is used in pyrotechnics and flares to produce a green color. Boron has also been used in some rockets as an ignition source. Boron-10, one of the naturally occurring isotopes of boron, is a good absorber of neutrons and is used in the control rods of nuclear reactors, as a radiation shield and as a neutron detector. Boron filaments are used in the aerospace industry because of their high-strength and lightweight. Boron forms several commercially important compounds. The most important boron compound is sodium borate pentahydrate (Na2B4O7·5H2O). Large amounts of this compound are used in the manufacture of fiberglass insulation and sodium perborate bleach. The second most important compound is boric acid (H3BO3), which is used to manufacture textile fiberglass and is used in cellulose insulation as a flame retardant. Sodium borate decahydrate (Na2B4O7·10H2O), better known as borax, is the third most important boron compound. Borax is used in laundry products and as a mild antiseptic. Borax is also a key ingredient in a substance known as Oobleck, a strange material 6th grade students experiment with while participating in Jefferson Lab's BEAMS program. Other boron compounds are used to make borosilicate glasses, enamels for covering steel and as a potential medicine for treating arthritis. |
| Ionization Energy: | 8.298 eV | |
| Electron Shell Configuration: |
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This page is maintained by Steve Gagnon.
Environmental Health Perspectives 102, Supplement 7, November 1994
John N. Dupre, Michael J. Keenan, Maren Hegsted, and Andrea M. Brudevold
School of Human Ecology, Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Abstract
Although boron has long been known to be a required
nutrient for plants, it was not until recently that there
was any suggestion of a nutritional requirement for
animals and humans. Addition of boron to the diet of
vitamin D-deficient chicks indicated that boron may play
a role in animal nutrition. Studies with rats have
demonstrated that supplemental dietary boron has most
marked effects when the diet is deficient in known
nutrients. We observed higher apparent-balance values of
calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus for rats fed a vitamin
D-deprived diet with dietary supplemental boron (2.72 ppm),
than for rats fed the same diet without added boron (0.16
ppm). The treatment group with dietary supplemental boron
demonstrated a high degree of variability in response to
boron. We hypothesize that relatively large and variable
vitamin D stores in weanling rats from a colony
supplemented with 3000 IU vitamin D/kg diet accounted for
the observed variable response. A recent, unpublished
study using weanling rats from a low-vitamin D colony
appears to support this hypothesis. -- Environ Health
Perspect 102(Suppl. 7):55-58 (1994).
Key words: boron, vitamin D, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, apparent balance, plasma calcium
This paper was presented at the International Symposium on Health Effects of Boron and Its Compounds held 16-17 September 1992 at the University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California.
Approved for publication by the director of the Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Stations as manuscript no. 93-25-7013.
Address correspondence to Michael J. Keenan, School of Human Ecology, Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803. Telephone (504) 388-1708. Fax (504) 388-2697.
[Table of Contents] [Full Article] [Citation in PubMed]
Last Update: November 7, 1998
Environmental Health Perspectives 102, Supplement 7, November 1994
Curtiss D. Hunt
United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Grand Forks, North Dakota
Abstract
This review summarizes evidence that supports working
hypotheses for the roles of boron in animal model
systems. It is well established that vascular plants,
diatoms, and some species of marine algal flagellates
have acquired an absolute requirement for boron, although
the primary role of boron in plants remains unknown.
Recent research findings suggest that physiologic amounts
of supplemental dietary boron (PSB) affect a wide range
of metabolic parameters in the chick and rat model
systems. Much of the current interest in boron animal
nutrition began with the initial finding that PSB
stimulates growth in cholecalciferol (vitamin D3)-deficient
chicks, but does not markedly affect growth in chicks
receiving adequate vitamin D3 nutriture. The
finding suggests that boron affects some aspect of
vitamin D3 metabolism or is synergistic with
vitamin D3 in influencing growth. Vitamin D3
regulates energy substrate utilization, and current
research findings indicate that dietary boron modifies
that regulatory function. The concentration of
circulating glucose, the most thoroughly investigated
metabolite to date, responds to PSB, especially during
concomitant vitamin D3 deficiency. In chicks,
PSB substantially alleviated or corrected vitamin D3
deficiency-induced elevations in plasma glucose
concentrations. The influence of vitamin D3 on
cartilage and bone mineralization is mediated in part
through its role as a regulator of energy substrate
utilization; calcification is an energy-intensive
process. There is considerable evidence that dietary
boron alleviates perturbations in mineral metabolism that
are characteristic of vitamin D3 deficiency.
In rachitic chicks, PSB alleviated distortion of the
marrow sprouts of the proximal tibial epiphysial plate, a
distortion characteristic of vitamin D3
deficiency. In ovo injections of boron or
1,25-(OH)2-vitamin D3 reduced the
abnormal height of the growth plate of 1-day-old chicks
hatched from vitamin D3-deficient eggs. Also,
in vitamin D-deficient rats, PSB improved the apparent
absorption and retention of calcium and phosphorus, and
increased femur magnesium concentrations. Current
findings lend support to the hypothesis that boron
alleviates the symptoms of vitamin D3-deficiency
by enhancing utilization or sparing minimal supplies of
an active vitamin D3 metabolite. Also, boron
and vitamin D3 have the same overall effect on
the local utilization of energy substrates. A corollary
of the hypothesis is that some of the effects of dietary
boron will be overshadowed by the effects of adequate
amounts of dietary vitamin D3. -- Environ
Health Perspect 102(Suppl 7):35-43 (1994).
Key words: boron, vitamin D3, boron analysis, rats, chickens, energy substrate utilization, glucose, growth cartilage, mineral metabolism, calcium, magnesium, boron, homeostasis
This paper was presented at the International Symposium on Health Effects of Boron and Its Compounds held 16-17 September 1992 at the University of California, Irvine, California.
Address correspondence to Dr. C. D. Hunt, USDA, ARS, GFHNRC, PO Box 9034, UND Station, Grand Forks, ND 58202-9034. Telephone (701) 795-8423; Fax (701)795-8395.
Food Sources: Fruits and vegetables.
Adult Female ( RDA ): No RDA
Types Available: Boron aspartate and boron citrate.
Beneficial Effects: Boron is a trace nutrient. But many Americans may not be getting enough in their diets. Boron is necessary for the prevention of postmenopausal osteoporosis. It probably does this by activating vitamin D and estrogen. One study showed that postmenopausal women who took 3mg. of boron a day decreased the amount of calcium lost in their urine and increased their estrogen levels. Larger studies of boron's effects in the menopause are needed.
Dosage: 3-9 mg a day.
Precautions: Boron is safe at recommended levels.
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