Boron for free testosterone and DHT

Boron is one of the go-to supplements for increasing free testosterone.

In this article, I’m going to share with you the additional hormonal (DHT, estradiol, etc.) benefits of boron.

Boron on free testosterone

Boron is most frequently used to boost free T and rightfully so. 10mg boron for 7 days nearly doubled free T in this study (R). However, the “healthy” men used in this study had very low T to begin with (260ng/dl).

Boron increases total and free testosterone, but increases free T to a great extent.

This helps to improve the total to free T ratio, which will ultimately make you feel more androgenic. pic.twitter.com/9yOaVjoqv5

— Hans Amato (@HansAmato) July 14, 2023

Boron on DHT

Roughly 10% of free testosterone converts to DHT, so the more free T you have, the more can convert to DHT.

Since boron increases NADPH as well (which is the cofactor for 5AR), it should stimulate DHT production as well.

10mg boron was able to boost DHT from 66 to 79ng/dL. It’s very interesting that their DHT was that high despite testosterone being very low at 260ng/dl before and 332ng/dl after the study (R).

Boron might be able to directly increase DHT, since it increases free T as well as NADPH (cofactor for 5AR).

In this study, boron increased DHT more than free T, which might indicate that it stimulates 5AR. pic.twitter.com/hiujxWlLqj

— Hans Amato (@HansAmato) July 14, 2023

Boron on total testosterone

Most people use boron to increase free testosterone, but it can actually increase total testosterone a little bit too. This study found that 10mg boron (as sodium tetraborate) increased testosterone by an average of 60ng/dl (R).

Not everyone got a boost in T, but 62.5% of the participants did get a boost.

Not too bad if you ask me.

Boron increased serum levels of testosterone (T) significantly (P < 0.05) when compared with CNT group (R) boron as boric acid at 400 mg/kg diet in rams improved testicular functions

Boron on estradiol

Some people have heard that boron might be a problem since some studies have shown boron can increase estradiol.

But boron has an estrogen-balancing effect. Check this out.

10mg boron for 4 weeks increased estradiol from 51.9±21.4 (14.1pg/ml) to 73.9±22.2 pmol/L (20.1pg/ml). That’s just a 6-point increase and estradiol is still at the lower end of the reference range (R).

Another study found that 10mg boron for 7 days lowered estradiol from 35 to 25pg/ml (R).

It would seem that boron moves estradiol into the 20-25pg/ml range, right where I like to see it.

Plus, in the last study, they had a horrible testosterone-to-estradiol ratio starting with 7.26 (260ng/dl T to 35pg/ml E2), which then improved to 13.28 (332ng/dl T and 25pg/ml E2). Nearly doubling.

And last but not least, boron supplementation nearly doubled the testosterone to estradiol ratio. pic.twitter.com/kYf0CCib2W

— Hans Amato (@HansAmato) July 13, 2023

Other benefits

Boron:

• Is essential for the growth and maintenance of bone as it helps with calcium and magnesium retention (R)
• greatly improves wound healing
• Beneficially impacts the body’s use of estrogen, testosterone, and vitamin D
• Boosts magnesium absorption
• Reduces levels of inflammatory biomarkers, such as high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and tumor necrosis factor μ (TNF-μ)
• Raises levels of antioxidant enzymes, such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, and glutathione peroxidase
• Protects against pesticide-induced oxidative stress and heavy-metal toxicity
• Improves the brain’s electrical activity, cognitive performance, and short-term memory for elders
• Influences the formation and activity of key biomolecules, such as S-adenosyl methionine (SAM-e) and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD⁺)
• Has demonstrated preventive and therapeutic effects in a number of cancers, such as prostate, cervical, and lung cancers, and multiple and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
• May help ameliorate the adverse effects of traditional chemotherapeutic agents
• Improve joint discomfort (as calcium fructoborate) (R)
• Might increase free T3 (R)

Best sources

Best source of boron?

No, it's not prunes or raisins.
It's caviar!

Raisins has a meager 25 mcg/g whereas caviar has 5430mcg/g🤯🤯🤯

Before anyone freaks about about the PUFA, 2g of caviar which has 10mg boron and only 0.3g PUFA. Nothing to worry about. pic.twitter.com/yKTW5jNTcy

— Hans Amato (@HansAmato) July 13, 2023

Summary

You don’t need to supplement boron to be an Alpha Energy Male, but if your SHBG and estradiol are a bit high and your free T and DHT a bit low, then boron might help.

If you’re preparing for a sex marathon, then perhaps oysters and caviar should be on the menu.