Nearly everyone knows that vitamin D is important to human health--from supporting bones and teeth to strengthening immune function, regulating hormones and more. Vitamin D helps the body absorb and utilize calcium, but for most people, it can’t do this on its own. It needs a little help from some friends in the vitamin and mineral world. We call these cofactors, and without their presence and assistance, your body might not be able to effectively utilize and receive the benefits of vitamin D!
Some may already know about the relationship between K2 and vitamin D, which is why we sell a Vegan D3+K2 formulation. K2 works alongside vitamin D to help drive calcium away from soft tissues and move it to bones and teeth where it’s needed most.
If you’ve put two and two together when it comes to the relationship between vitamin D and magnesium, consider yourself a near-expert! Magnesium, which is responsible for over 300 bodily functions, is also instrumental in helping vitamin D’s absorption and proper utility. Vitamin D needs ample amounts of magnesium to be utilized effectively, and it will pull it from your bones and teeth, if needed, resulting in a magnesium deficiency if you supplement with vitamin D (particularly in high amounts) without also considering magnesium. In addition, vitamin D levels might actually tank instead of properly increasing, which can be frustrating to someone taking 10,000 IU of vitamin D per day and seeing their vitamin D levels plummet a few months down the road when they check their levels.
Aside from magnesium and vitamin K, other cofactors work with vitamin D that might not be as well-known, particularly in terms of them influencing vitamin D absorption. These include optimal levels of vitamin A, zinc and boron. Zinc and vitamin A link with vitamin D in a “lock and key” format, switching on cellular activity. Think of zinc as the outlet in the wall and vitamin A as the electrical current.
And Boron? Boron is your charger. It extends the half life of vitamin D. The longer the half life, the more vitamin D is available to be absorbed by your system. This translates to optimal bone health, cardiovascular health, immune function and more.
The research also proves Boron’s ability to increase vitamin D levels. Supplementing with boron in addition to vitamin D increased vitamin D production by 39% within 2 months.
Interestingly, there is a link between low levels of vitamin D and low levels of boron in that one doesn’t seem to exist without the other. If you’re low in vitamin D, chances are, you’re also low in boron, so it’s a safe bet that you need to add some boron in your life. The same goes for low boron levels--you’ll likely find that your vitamin D is low, as well. You may have a greater chance of increasing your vitamin D levels by supplementing with both as well as magnesium.
Boron also increases magnesium’s ability to be absorbed more efficiently by your body. Due to our soil not being as nutrient dense as it once was, even consuming high magnesium foods may not be enough magnesium to take on the challenges our bodies face daily with properly absorbing nutrients and detoxifying the system. Supplementation with highly bioavailable forms of magnesium are essential for proper utility of vitamin D, which are enhanced with the presence of boron.
Interestingly, despite the research, Boron continues to fly under the radar of the medical community. The Institute of Medicine has not set a recommended daily value for boron in spite of its systemic benefits.
Taking more vitamin D in an attempt to increase levels may not be the straight answer. Many factors affect the absorption of vitamin D, and more won’t necessarily increase the body’s ability to absorb the vitamin. Getting outdoors in sunlight helps, however, not everyone can convert vitamin D from sunlight into its active form.
Aging, for example, reduces one’s ability to convert UVB light into vitamin D. This is important to know since vitamin D is vital for healthy aging. A deficiency of vitamin D is associated with many age-related conditions, such as osteoporosis, hip fractures, cardiovascular disease, arthritis and poor immune function.
The absorption and utility of vitamin D is influenced by the health of your digestive tract. This includes gut mucosa, acid levels, pancreatic secretions, bile and the health of your intestines. Various gut illnesses can impact vitamin D absorption, such as Crohn’s, Celiac Disease, Leaky Gut Syndrome and ulcerative colitis.
Let’s not forget the health of your kidneys and liver, which also play a role in optimal vitamin D absorption and utility. When the liver is sluggish and doesn’t produce enough bile, vitamin D absorption may be affected due to incomplete vitamin D metabolism. Kidney disease can also lower vitamin D levels, particularly in end-stage renal dysfunction.
If you’re currently taking prescription medications, you might want to check your vitamin D levels. Pharmaceuticals that affect enzyme function can influence the conversion of vitamin D via the liver and kidneys and lower vitamin D levels as well as interfere with the body’s absorption of vitamin D. These include antibiotics, antifungal medications, anti-cancer drugs, HIV drugs and anti-inflammatory medications, such as corticosteroids.
In spite of these and other obstacles which may block optimal absorption of vitamin D and increase your levels, supplementing with boron has both animal and human research backing its ability to enhance vitamin D metabolism. And it’s not just vitamin D--boron is a winner when it comes to nutrient metabolism of calcium, phosphorus and molybdenum, which also play a role in overall health, particularly in supporting bone health.
In animal studies where chickens were given 3 mg daily of boron, the supplement increased their growth, providing for greater cell maturation and proper growth of long bones. In this study, various factors were also manipulated including supplementing with moderate levels of vitamin D and magnesium as well as no magnesium but including boron only. The arm of the study with no boron but moderate amounts of vitamin D showed that chickens had issues with decreased bone density and delayed calcification of cartilage. These findings suggest that boron is instrumental in cell maturation and bone growth.
Supplementing with boron also reduces the effects experienced with vitamin D deficiency, according to research in rats. Boron helps with upregulation of 25-hydroxyvitamin D. These findings may be pertinent in humans, particularly with individuals who have difficulty with vitamin D upregulation as well as those who don’t traditionally receive much sunlight, such as those living in colder climates with long winters.
In humans, the relationship between boron, magnesium, calcium and vitamin D has been substantiated by research. Boron helps the body metabolize key vitamins and minerals, such as magnesium, calcium and vitamin D, which all play a huge role in skeletal health. If your body doesn’t get enough boron, magnesium cannot be fully absorbed. Without magnesium, vitamin D cannot be properly absorbed and utilized. Calcium excretion through urine also will increase, meaning that the calcium is not going to your bones and teeth where it’s needed. This can be very bad news for your bones. The good news is that proper supplementation with boron can reverse these issues within a month.
In fact, 3 mg of boron a day was able to reduce calcium loss by 44% in a study of women with adequate magnesium levels, and this occurred in just 28 days. Those with low levels of magnesium in the study also had a reduction of calcium loss, however, it was half as much as those with adequate magnesium levels in the study. This shows the close connection that boron has with magnesium and calcium, which also influences vitamin D, and therefore impacts multiple systems.
Our Bio Boron is now available on Amazon in the 5 mg strength. We will be launching our Bio Boron on our website soon. Bio Boron will eventually be available in three strengths: 5 mg, 10 mg and 30 mg. It is recommended that everyone begin this supplement “low and slow” with our 5 mg strength to reduce the potential for experiencing detox symptoms.
Have any questions? Feel free to reach out to our customer service department for additional information. You may email us at info@purethera.com or give us a call: 888-655-4648 (M-F, 9-5 PM, MST).
Sources:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15504575/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4712861/
https://www.bioceuticals.com.au/mobile/article/all/vitamin-d-and-its-helper-nutrients
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11798292/https://oatext.com/Boron-action-in-bone-health.php
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11798292/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7889882/