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Boron
Boron is the chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol B
and atomic number 5. A trivalent metalloid element, boron occurs abundantly
in the ore borax.
Recent research supports the use of boron for the promotion of bone and
joint health. Please refer to our article on
arthritis diets.
Also, findings to date suggest that boron and calcium actions are inter-related .
The main sources of boron in the diet are:
- drinking water (which varies considerably between geographical locations)
- fruits, vegetables, legumes (also dependent on location)
On a wet weight basis, fruits, vegetables, legumes and nuts
contain much more boron than grains, breads, and cereals. Animal
products (meats, poultry, fish, etc.) contain very little boron,
but milk and dairy products are major contributors to total boron
intake because of the large quantities consumed.
From the site
http://www.gfhnrc.ars.usda.gov/pubs/1994/pub0930.html we glean the following.
Penland JG. Dietary boron, brain function, and cognitive performance.
Environ Health Perspect 102(suppl 7):65-72, 1994.
Although the trace element boron has yet to be recognized as an essential nutrient
for humans, recent findings from animal and human studies suggest that
boron may be important for mineral metabolism and membrane function. To
further investigate the functional role of boron in humans, measures of brain
function (the electroencephalogram or EEG) and performance on several mental and motor
tasks were collected from healthy older men and women fed ~0.25 and ~0.35 mg
boron/2000 kcal/day. When compared to high boron intake, low dietary boron
resulted in changes in the EEG similar to those found in cases of general malnutrition
and heavy metal toxicity. Performance measures (e.g., response time) also showed an
effect of dietary boron. When compared to high boron intake, low dietary boron resulted in
poorer performance on tasks emphasizing manual dexterity, eye-hand coordination,
attention, encoding and short-term memory. Collectively, the results of these three
studies indicate that boron may play a role in human brain function and mental and
motor performance, and provide additional evidence that boron is an
essential nutrient for humans.
And, from
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20010414/fob1.asp we find that:
"It's hard to ignore the body's need for major nutrients — proteins,
vitamins, and even fats — but most people give no thought to the diet's
large cast of bit players. These include trace minerals, such as boron.
However, because large amounts of boron can be toxic, (the study) recommends aiming for
no more than 2 to 3 mg/day. A glass of wine, a handful of peanuts, and a
serving of noncitrus fruit—each offers close to 0.5 mg boron. In
fact, the data shows, it's because U.S. adults eat so few fruits and nuts that
their boron intake tends to be low.
A study mentioned on the
site
http://www.gfhnrc.ars.usda.gov/scientist/chunt.html explains how
Dr. Hunt and
colleagues completed the analysis of boron content of 234 foods
known to constitute 80% of the typical American diet. These analyses
confirmed that fruits, vegetables and legumes are major sources of boron,
with peanuts having the highest boron content. This study also indicated
that boron consumption declines nearly four fold between infancy and
adulthood, when body weights are taken into account, a finding that may
relate to increased bone disorders with age.
A search on Google also finds sites that talk about the importance of boron to
fruit growth, specifically grapes. Wine can thus be a source of boron.
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