Boron is getting some love from Mic the Vegan. Looks over some studies, seems a pretty good idea to up your boron intake. Special note for kidney transplants (@LaraPo). FWIW, I’ve been supplementing with daily 3mg boron for ages, but since my surgery, I upped it to 6mg/day for bone health and wound healing.
Boron: New Vegan Study and Carnivore Diet Warning (via Mic the Vegan)
The presented video advances the thesis that boron (atomic number 5) is a critically overlooked ultratrace element whose dietary omission—particularly within exclusionary regimens like the carnivore diet—poses systemic physiological risks. The speaker centers the argument on a 2026 cross-sectional investigation from the University of Freiburg comparing long-term vegans, lacto-ovo-vegetarians, and omnivores. The study demonstrated that vegans had significantly elevated 24-hour urinary boron excretion (median ~1560 mcg/day vs. ~919 mcg/day in omnivores), reflecting higher intake driven by plant-exclusive nutrition (e.g., legumes, nuts, avocados, and fruits).
From this premise, the speaker extrapolates broad clinical utility, asserting that dietary or supplemental boron lowers all-cause mortality in renal transplant recipients by 50%, mitigates prostate, lung, and cervical cancer risk, modulates steroidogenesis (increasing free testosterone and modulating estradiol), suppresses systemic inflammatory cytokines (TNF-alpha, IL-6, hs-CRP), alleviates dysmenorrhea and osteoarthritis symptoms, enhances bone mineral density via calcium retention, modulates NAD+ catabolism via CD38 inhibition, and accelerates wound healing.
The biological plausibility of boron as a bioactive metalloid is well-supported in biochemical literature; it forms stable diester complexes with cis-hydroxyl-containing molecules, directly influencing ribose-containing cofactors (NAD+, SAMe), steroid hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), and inflammatory cascades (e.g., downregulating NF-kB and the NLRP3 inflammasome). However, the speaker commits severe translational and inferential leaps. The dramatic mortality and oncological benefits cited stem entirely from observational, cross-sectional, or prospective cohort epidemiology, where dietary boron acts predominantly as a confounding surrogate biomarker for total unrefined plant-food intake, dietary fiber, and healthy-user bias. Mechanistic claims regarding apoptosis, antimetastatic activity, and NAD+ preservation rely heavily on preclinical in vitro models employing supraphysiological concentrations that cannot be achieved via diet. While small, randomized controlled trials (Level B) corroborate transient elevations in free testosterone (via competitive SHBG displacement at 6–10 mg/day) and modest reductions in inflammatory biomarkers, claims asserting therapeutic efficacy against COVID-19 or bone density rescue remain underpowered and confounded.
| Claim from Video | Speaker’s Evidence | Scientific Reality (Current Data) | Evidence Grade (A–E) | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Urinary boron is 70% higher in vegans vs. omnivores | Weighed diet and 24-hr urine data from Freiburg study | Confirmed. Cross-sectional trial demonstrated median urinary excretion of 1560 vs. 919 mcg/day (Storz et al., 2026). Reflects high plant-matter flux. | Level C | Strong Support |
| Boron intake cuts kidney transplant mortality by 50% | Observational study on kidney transplant recipients | Prospective cohort (n=632) observed hazard ratios ~0.50 across extreme quartiles (van Ballegooijen et al., 2022). Boron is an unadjusted surrogate for healthy plant-based diets and higher GFR. Causality unproven. | Level C | Plausible (Confounded) |
| Dietary boron reduces prostate cancer risk by 54% | NHANES/epidemiological case-control studies | Cross-sectional NHANES III analysis identified inverse association (Cui et al., 2004). Heavily confounded by total lycopene, fiber, and general fruit/vegetable intake. Prospective RCT confirmation absent. | Level C | Speculative |
| Boron inhibits cancer metastasis and lowers PSA | In vitro and cell culture studies | In vitro cell models show boric acid inhibits store-operated calcium entry and impairs migratory cellular cascades (Barranco & Eckhert, 2004). Requires millimolar concentrations unachievable in human tissue in vivo. | Level D | Translational Gap |
| Boron deficiency alters human EEG and impairs cognition | Human depletion studies (0.25 mg/day) | Controlled metabolic ward experiments showed changes in EEG power spectra and psychomotor slowing during severe restriction (Penland, 1994). Clinical relevance in free-living populations is uncertain. | Level B | Plausible |
| Boron improves clinical outcomes in COVID-19 patients | Double-blind RCT in COVID-19 hospital patients | Pilot trial (n=40) using 10 mg/day boron citrate showed improved SpO2 and lower CRP/IL-1b (Darvishi et al., 2022). Severely limited by tiny sample size; requires replication. | Level B | Speculative |
| Boron alleviates menstrual pain duration and severity | Triple-blind placebo-controlled RCT in 113 women | Validated. 10 mg/day boron during the luteal/menstrual phase significantly attenuated pain scores via down-regulation of cyclooxygenase products (Nikkhah et al., 2015). | Level B | Strong Support |
| Boron supplementation significantly increases testosterone | Human trial with 10 mg/day dosing | Acute supplementation (10 mg/day for 1–4 weeks) reduces SHBG, yielding modest increases in free testosterone (Naghii et al., 2011). Dietary levels (1–3 mg) do not replicate this effect. | Level B | Plausible (Dose-Dependent) |
| Boron reduces urinary calcium excretion by 44% | USDA postmenopausal depletion-repletion study | Seminal study in 12 postmenopausal women on a low-magnesium, low-boron diet supplemented with 3 mg/day (Nielsen et al., 1987). Validated under metabolic ward conditions, but long-term fracture prevention data is absent. | Level B | Plausible |
| Boron directly prevents osteoarthritis symptoms | Clinical trials in older adults | Small, legacy trials show symptom improvements at 6 mg/day (Scorei et al., 2011). Calcium fructoborate complexes show mild chondroprotection, but large-scale modern phase III trials are absent. | Level B | Speculative |
| Boron elevates NAD+ levels via enzymatic inhibition | In vitro cellular and mechanistic aging assays | Borate diesters inhibit cyclic ADP-ribose hydrolase (CD38) in cell-free assays. Translational efficacy to increase cellular NAD+ concentrations in human tissues remains completely unverified in vivo. | Level D | Translational Gap |
| The carnivore diet causes systemic boron deficiency | Theoretical deduction based on animal tissue analysis | Muscle meats contain negligible boron (<0.05 mg/100g). Long-term zero-carb adherents operate at chronic intake below 0.3 mg/day, but frank clinical pathology directly isolating boron deficiency in this group remains undocumented. | Level E | Plausible / Safety Warning |
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Most of the boron supplements tend not to be citrate or glycinate. I don’t think that matters, however.
I have been thinking about boron, however. I have been taking 3mg a day, but not on days when I fast (which can be 3 days a week). Hence I might either take 6mg a day or take it as part of my fasting supplement stack.
Interesting. I take 3 mg of Swanson Boron (a mix citrate, aspartate, glycinate) daily. Probably won’t buy more when my supply runs out in several months. I’ve been slowly paring my supplement stack as my supplies run out. Want to get down to no more than 5.
Boron strikes me like Lithium something that is not actually essential unlike Molybdenum, Chromium and Selenium that are essential, but is quite significant. I think I have made a mistake in allowing my boron to go below 3mg per day.
Obviously it depends upon your local diet. Some people get enough Boron in food.
It seems like there is a bit of a signal in the noise here regarding the potential benefits of boron - especially in the context of borons presence in whole foods.
I had not heard of “ultratrace” minerals previous to this article, only “trace” minerals. Dietary wise I am getting quite a bit through food intake, so I think my bases are covered there. I can certainly understand why someone might be interested in supplemental doses of boron.
Though, like many things in the supplement space, this isn’t likely to play a significant factor in the success/failure of various health outcomes.
I am not sure I would distinguish between “ultratrace” and trace and I am not sure I would put Boron in the ultra category.
There have been discussions about whether other elements are essential. You could say there are trace elements that are not essential and those that are.
I spent some time a while ago trying to pin down what elements might be useful. That is when I decided Strontium was not useful (although not necessarily bad).
The supplement I use for Boron is in fact Sodium tetraborate decahydrate AKA Borax although they don’t make that clear on the label.
However, you can overdose on Boron.
Essential is an interesting concept. I mean both water and thiamine are essential, but the lack of water will kill you faster. But what about thiamine vs vitamin E, or to get to minerals, calcium vs sodium vs iodine vs molybdenum. I mean depending on your age the deficit of essential elements in the diet will hit you differently at 3mo old vs 30yo old.
Something like boron might not be essential on the same level as sodium. But what if a boron deficiency results in subtle health problems with bones or the vascular system, which while not killing you in the short term like a lack of sodium, takes off 10-20 years off your lifespan/healthspan. More to the point, and the crux of what the video raised, it’s not about a complete lack of boron, but simply a suboptimal amount of boron (same can be said about any nutrient!) which leads to a compromised healthspan and perhaps lifespan. You may not even associate various more or less subtle health and functionality issues with chronic suboptimal boron (or X) intake. Aches and pains in your joints - arthritis as a consequence of low boron - subpar immune function - brain health and other issues - you might put down to aging or other causes.
My approach to supplements is to divide them into two classes. One, functional and the second neutriceuticals. The functional are dietary components which the deficiency of compromises the functioning of the organism - no matter whether rapidly, like sodium, or very slowly like boron. The second, the neutriceuticals intervene directly into physiological processes to enhance healthspan, such as garlic extracts (allicin) for CV health. Remember, a supplement like red rice yeast was just an herbal supplement until we isolated the active statin ingredient and all of a sudden we call it a medical drug by prescription and not an over the counter supplement. And it clearly can affect CV health, perhaps prevent a heart attack in some individuals, but it’s not a functional dietary element like calcium or manganese. It’s not in any way essential - but certainly can affect healthspan.
Therefore merely looking at boron along the axis of “essential or not” doesn’t capture its full impact on health. Whichever bucket you put boron in, essential, functional, neutriceutical (btw. very often an essential element at an appropriate dose suddenly turns into a neutriceutical drug like niacin - just a vitamin or suddenly a drug), boron is worth paying attention to in your dietary/supplement regimen. You might be getting too little without supplementing or seriously reformulating your diet - look at vitamin D, it’s easy to get too little from your diet. Boron is no different - it just doesn’t have the publicity of vitamin D and extensive research. But it might have quite serious impact on your health. As a normie who is planning a long health decline and then dropping dead at the statistical population average, you might not care. But as a biohacker your ambition is to optimise and enhance. Back in the earlier times we frequently suffered from deficiencies we had no idea about - iodine, vitamin D, vitamin C etc., and only “mad” biohackers of the era tried to eat lime to prevent scurvy. Today, those are old hat - but we have new hats like boron which again are laughed at by normies, but biohackers are more forward looking. In any case, I’m sticking with my supplemental boron, but hey, to each their own. YMMV.
Its a question of comparing say Molybdenum and Boron. There are four human enzymes that require Molybdenum and none requiring Boron. Molybednum is essential. Boron is not.