What Is the Scientific Evidence for Boron?
Osteoarthritis In areas of the world where people eat relatively high amounts of boron—between 3 and 10 mg per day—the incidence of osteoarthritis is below 10%. 6 However, in regions where there is less boron in the diet—1 mg or less per day—the incidence of arthritis is much higher. In addition, the joints of people with osteoarthritis have been found to contain less boron than people without the condition. These observations have given rise to the hypothesis that boron supplements might be helpful for people who already have arthritis symptoms. However, the only direct evidence that it works comes from one highly preliminary study reported in 1990. 7 Osteoporosis In one small study, 13 postmenopausal women were first fed a diet that provided 0.25 mg of boron for 119 days; then they were fed the same diet with a boron supplement of 3 mg daily for 48 days. 9 The results revealed that boron supplementation reduced the amount of calcium lost in the urine. This suggests (but certainly doe
