(Bloodwork) Boron - a low dose TRT equivalent? Abnormally High Free Testosterone after 2 weeks of Boron
TLDR: Boron 12mg daily Mon-Fri increased Free Testosterone beyond the upper limit of the lab reference interval within two weeks.
I wanted to make this post to further add to the growing anecdotal evidence of Boron for Free Testosterone.
All the bloodwork photos are from blood drawn on 12 May 2026, whereas Boron supplementation started on 27 April 2026. Unfortunately, I do not have baseline, pre-Boron bloodwork, but I speculate that my Free Testosterone was at most normal due to my subjective perception of low daily energy levels, mood, drive etc.
Baseline stats/supplements pre-Boron:
~90kg, 35y, ~23 FFMI, strength training nearly daily (quick high intensity sessions in my mini home gym)
Non-strict Keto Diet (protein 180gr-200gr daily, net carbs below 60-80 from clean sources: milk, yogurt, raspberries etc.)
Supplements pre-Boron (from Now, HSN Spain, Vilgain): Magnesium Glycinate, Vitamin D3 + K2, Omega-3, Zinc Picolinate + Copper Glycinate, Creatine, Citrulline Malate, Ashwagandha, Panax Ginseng, Fenugreek.
Due to various symptoms, I suspected I had low testosterone or at best normal, even with the supplements I was taking (some of them have evidence for testosterone).
Enter Boron:
Protocol was 12 mg daily Monday to Friday: 3mg at breakfast, 3mg at lunch, 6mg before bed. Weekend was off. A cheap pill organizer made tracking this very easy.
- Arrived on 27 April 2026, took 6mg at lunch then 6mg before bed. I was in an uncharacteristically good mood at around 22 o'clock (Boron, in the "famous" Naghii 1 week study, starts significantly increasing Free Testosterone even 6 hours after the first dose).
- On day 2, 28 April 2026, the first objective metric: my max reps in chin-ups and dips increased by around 20%. I always train to failure and this was a literal overnight increase of 20%.
- On day 3, 29 April 2026, while subjective, I felt incredibly calm. Like my stress levels and mental fortitude were vastly better.
- On 12 May 2026, I tested my Free Testosterone levels, as well as my other hormones. Everything was normal, with the exception of Free Testosterone which was above the reference level (18.25 vs 17.5 the upper limit of the reference interval).
- Somewhat subjective, but I think my muscle mass has further increased while my fat mass decreased. I have been in a caloric deficit for some time (I'm now actually around 89kg), but since Boron it seems body recomposition has been further optimized.
- Strength seems to have further increased even though I am in a caloric deficit.
Overall, I think Boron, an incredibly cheap supplement, should be considered before low-dose TRT therapy. It is extremely cheap (I pay around 4.3 euros / 5 usd for 1 month of 12mg daily MON-FRI), side effects are minimal (personally, I didn't experience any) and very easy to take (pill form, no injections, use a cheap pill organizer to easily cycle and split doses during the day). I've never been on TRT/steroids, but if my Free Testosterone was very low, I may have considered a dose that would bring me to normal, normal-high. Fortunately, Boron, for my n=1 case, seems to have worked extremely well.
Bonus: is there a conspiracy against Boron? Why aren't there more academic studies to back Boron? Two potential explanations:
- Because it is very cheap, there is no "incentive" to actually research this supplement. But this doesn't explain the lack of academic research, which technically doesn't care about profit lines.
- Because it is very cheap and might be an actual, strong alternative to TRT therapy (expensive, requires regular bloodwork, might require other expensive add-on drugs to manage TRT side-effects), pharmaceutical conglomerates are actively suppressing Boron research.
My best evidence for active suppression of Boron research, beyond the significantly suspicious lack of research, is this study:
Plasma boron and the effects of boron supplementation in males - PubMed
In this study: "...but boron supplementation affects these variables not at all.".
However, I would argue that the authors might have actively tried to make it look like Boron doesn't work.
The authors decided to use a 2.5mg dose of Boron (the equivalent of 4 apples per day, certainly a very low-dose even compared to previous studies) on young male bodybuilders, i.e. men with significantly higher body weight, higher lean mass, and higher physiological needs. Their choice of dosage and sample traits (i.e. young trained males which might already have high testosterone levels, near what is achievable naturally) makes me believe that they wanted to find that Boron doesn't work.
And even in this study, while not reaching statistical significance, Free Testosterone increased from 17.3 to 19.9 (a 15% increase) in the Boron group vs from 19.5 to 20.86 (a 7% increase) in the control group. Total testosterone increased from 5.4 to 7.2 (a 33% increase) in the Boron group vs from 5.4 to 6.5 (a 20% increase) in the control group. There are some other anecdotal reports on Reddit that Boron might also increase Total Testosterone. I don't know if my Total Testosterone was also increased by Boron as I don't have the baseline, pre-Boron value.
Happy to answer any questions.
