Three papers on boron, starting with a 2022 review:

“Boron-containing compounds (BCC) have effects in the metabolism of living organisms. Information regarding effects and interaction of these compounds was compiled, and potential applications for treating human metabolic disorders was suggested.

Dietary boron supplementation affects metabolism of calcium, magnesium, triglycerides, glucose, amino acids, reactive oxygen, nitrogen species, and hormones such as 17β-estradiol, calcitonin, and 25-hydroxy-cholecalciferol. When food is boron-deprived, there are adverse effects like depressed growth, reduced serum steroid hormone concentrations, changes in plasma and organ calcium and magnesium concentrations, plasma alkaline phosphatase, and bone calcification on animal biological functions.

Exploration of basic BCC as metabolism regulators is expanding. Although mechanisms of action are uncertain, limitation of damage induced by reactive species, inflammatory modulation, or activities on some enzymes and membrane transporters are often related to reported effects.

An increasing number of new BCC are emerging as potential tools for prevention, diagnosis, and therapy of metabolism maladies such as diabetes, metabolic syndrome, osteoporosis, cardiovascular, and liver diseases. For those innovative BCC, mechanisms of action are often clear.”

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12011-022-03346-9 “Boron‑Containing Compounds for Prevention, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Human Metabolic Disorders” (not freely available) Thanks to Dr. Marvin A Soriano-Ursúa for providing a link to a freely available document.

A second paper was a 2021 human study:

“In our elderly population-based sample, a boron-rich diet appeared to be characterized by high intakes of plant foods presumed to be healthy, low intakes of plant foods presumed to be less healthy, and low intakes of all kinds of animal foods.

Higher plasma boron concentrations were related to lower BMI and circulating concentrations of CRP. Plasma boron concentrations were associated with age, phosphate, and plasma lipid metabolism, and showed seasonal variations.

Human intervention studies are warranted to derive causal relationships of circulating and dietary boron with human health and metabolism. Robust databases on boron content of foods are needed to facilitate investigation of dietary boron intake in human studies.

Clarification of the non-/essentiality of trace element boron for human health will form the basis to derive recommendations for a dietary boron intake being sufficient to exert boron’s proposed beneficial physiological roles.”

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00394-021-02730-w “Plasma boron concentrations in the general population: a cross-sectional analysis of cardio-metabolic and dietary correlates”

As noted in this study, public agencies don’t consider dietary boron content important enough to include in public databases. My daily boron dietary intake estimated from published private databases is:

• Walnuts, 1.63 mg x (28.3 g / 100 g) = .5 mg
• Red kidney beans, 1.4 mg x (12 g / 100 g) = .2 mg
• Chickpeas, 0.71 mg x (40 g / 100 g) = .3 mg
• Celery, 0.5 mg x (72 g / 100 g) = .4 mg
• Carrots, 0.3 mg x ( 76 g / 100 g) = .3 mg
• Coffee .07 mg x 3 cups = .2 mg

2 mg boron daily dietary total

A third paper was a 2022 rodent study:

“Sodium pentaborate pentahydrate (NaB) 1 and 2 mg elemental B/kg supplementation induces the anagen phase in rats via Wnt-1, β-catenin, VEGF, PDGF, and TGF-β1 signaling pathways, which are important molecular mechanisms involved in hair growth.

NaB 4 mg B/kg suppresses these pathways and adversely affects hair growth.”

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0946672X22000876 “Sodium pentaborate pentahydrate promotes hair growth through the Wnt/β-catenin pathway and growth factors” (not freely available)

A human equivalent of this study’s rat 1 mg elemental boron intake is (1 mg x .162) x 70 kg = 11 mg.