PLASMA BORON AND THE EFFECTS OF BORON SUPPLEMENTATION IN MALES

Recently, a proliferation of athletic supplements has been marketed to uting boron as an ergogenic aid capable of increasing testosterone. Th e effect of boron supplementation was investigated in male bodybuilder s. Ten male bodybuilders (aged 20 to 26) were given a 2.5-mg boron sup plement, while nine male bodybuilders (aged 21 to 27) were given a pla cebo for 7 weeks. Plasma total and free testosterone, plasma boron, le an body mass, and strength measurements were determined on day 1 and d ay 49 of the study. A microwave digestion procedure followed by induct ively coupled argon plasma spectroscopy was used for boron determinati on. Twelve subjects had boron values at or above the detection limit w ith median value of 25 ng/ml (16 ng/ml lower quartile and 33 ng/ml upp er quartile). Of the ten subjects receiving boron supplements, six had an increase in their plasma boron. Analysis of variance indicated no significant effect of boron supplementation on any of the other depend ent variables. Both groups demonstrated significant increases in total testosterone (p<0.01), lean body mass (p<0.01), and one repetition ma ximum (RM) squat (p<0.001) and one RM bench press (p<0.01). The findin gs suggest that 7 weeks of bodybuilding can increase total testosteron e, lean body mass. and strength in lesser-trained bodybuilders, but bo ron supplementation affects these variables not at all.