A small little pinch of original BORAX per day is all you need. Been doing it for years, and the only side effect is it seems to have really helped the arthritis in my fingers/hands.
For the minuscule amounts that are used, there should not be any taste if it's placed in a sufficient amount of any type of liquid like water, juice, coffee, etc.
Is that the natural taste of it? I was just curious 😉 because it does put me in mind of powdered detergent. I’m working my nerve up to doing it. It took me several years of reading and watching everything I could about Chlorine dioxide bestie trying it. The propaganda is scary out there!! However what pushed me to it at last was your documentary and Lindsey Wagner. Of all the testimonies I saw and read she was the one individual I could actually look up to see if she was still alive. She was not only alive but thriving!! Thank you for all your hard work and research. You and a couple of others in your field are the only reason I don’t detest the medical establishment. You all gave me hope that there are some who got into this business to actually help and not for the paycheck!!
I started using a small pinch in my morning coffee. A bit larger pinch was toooooo much! I take boron capsules [5mg] with my therapeutic supplements for osteo , which are working well. I have RA in my hands but I use nicotine patches to eliminate the pain. But I would like to cure it. I think I have to do something else for that outcome.
I will share that I have seen reports from people where they did not see benefit until they were taking up to 1/2 teaspoon of borax. I think some people would probably have a difficult time with this due to digestive issues. But for those that it works for, it does seem to work well.
One of my admins actually did an experiment and stopped taking his 1/5 teaspoon (750 mg) of borax per day and his arthritis pain started coming back. Here is the conversation that we had.
Testimony:
"I started taking it because of the arthritic pain in my feet and ankles. Some days, the pain was so severe that I could barely walk in the evening. This occurred in the summer of 2019.
After doing some online research, I came across Borax. I didn’t look up detailed dosage recommendations; I simply started taking it. I got severe headaches the first two days, so I reduced the dose to a small pinch per day and increased it gradually.
After three weeks, the pain disappeared completely.
Fearing that the pain might return, I stuck to a daily dose of around 750 mg of borax.
Over the years, I have found that the pain returns if I go more than five or six days without taking borax.
If I stop taking it for a day or two every once in a while, it doesn't have any negative effects.
I haven’t yet taken the time to find the exact sweet spot."
Thank you!!!!! I have read a lot about DMSO and do have some and some nice smelling cream. It has not really helped topically like the nicotine but the creme works at times when I have some pain in my wrist and thumb. My husband has used the creme on a painful elbow after working hard and it worked well for him too.
My name, Lincoln Lover, comes from my love of history and all the reading I have done, especially on Lincoln. When I discovered all about him, I felt great admiration for him and his character of integrity. That's it!!
Yes, it does help at times when the pain leaks through when I am using a nicotine patch. I use a great DMSO creme I found on Amazon. It smells good too! Just a little rubbed into the skin relieves pain. Thank you.
I recently began taking a dropper full of boron in my coffee in the morning, and after not having dreams for many years, I now have memorable dreams every night. I’m grateful for that alone
Boron very plausibly could modulate dreaming by changing cortical excitation, neurotransmission, and hormone-mineral networks that affect sleep architecture and REM expression. We do not have direct human data showing “boron = more dreams,” but your report is a very interesting personal effect. So my explanation is mechanistic inference built on known boron–brain effects plus what we know about dreaming neurobiology. Thank you for sharing that.🙏🏻
Very interesting. While I have boron capsules, I finally found the borax. I add what is probably a half pinch, if that, to my morning coffee and my dreams have been more intense after a few days, meaning I remember them waking up.
Pretty sure they meant borax. Boron, is not readily available elemental form and usually is in the form of a Salt or a boron amino acid chelate like boron glycinate.
Consuming water is safe- consuming the wrong dose may not be. Sugar, candy, milk just about too much of anything is bad. We all know
Borax is safer to consume compared to salt and baking soda. All 3 are natural, alkaline and anti germs.
I take a pinch od Borax in 4oz water every now and then. For maintenance and testosterone boost. Boron has been removed from our did supply via glyphosate in crops. Supplementation is necessary. Don't wait until you have health problems.
I started adding to my morning coffee about two weeks ago. First two days were with small measuring spoon, about 1/8 teaspoon. Seeing another Curious Outlier Substack I realized this was significantly too much, but no adverse effects. Bought and started using a milligram scale and now do 60-70 mg borax daily. Seeing improvement in knee arthritis already and my stubborn lower back arthritis is also improving.
Are you referring 1/8th of a teaspoon of already dissolved and diluted amount of borax in a certain volume of liquid or are you referring to an 1/8th of a teaspoon of the raw borax powder?
Are you referring 1/8th of a teaspoon of already dissolved and diluted amount of borax in a certain volume of liquid or are you referring to an 1/8th of a teaspoon of the raw borax powder?
After receiving my milligram scale I weighed out the 1/8 teaspoon dose that I took for a couple days. It is about 350 mg. So, roughly double the 20 mg UL for elemental boron. But given the info in this essay, it is still a long way from a harmful dose. Since receiving the scale I took 60-70 mg borax powder daily. After reading the essay I have bumped it up to 100 mg (12 mg elemental borax) starting today. I am already seeing almost complete relief of my arthritis knee pain as well as a big reduction in my lower back arthritis pain.
Mine came from Amazon. It IS Chinese and IS battery. I have no standards to compare against, so can’t attest to accuracy. But it IS repeatable. And given the very conservative dosage guidelines, I suppose that repeatable may acceptable.
It is less toxic than salt, so why all the concern? I scanned the whole thing above and never saw the exact amount recommended, which you should have included at the beginning of the article in a summary. That is borax, not boron. Is more than a quarter teaspoon too much? If so, it's more toxic than salt. I don't get it. None of us here are interested in all this detail. We all appreciate you, but this thing is just too technical.
A level quarter teaspoon of household borax powder is roughly 0.9–1.0 grams, which is about 900–1,000 milligrams of borax. That quarter teaspoon would provide around 100–115 milligrams of elemental boron.
A typical normal person needs a 3-20 mg of elemental boron per day. 20 mg elemental boron would work out to just over 200 mg of borax daily. That would be 1/20 of a teaspoon of borax.
I know of several people that consume half a teaspoon per day and it's the only way that they can get relief from their arthritis. They have stated they haven't had any adverse effects.
I do agree with this I would like to know in plain straightforward English what is the maximum amount we should take in a day I think what I got was 2 mg from the article, but I’d like to know, for instance what’s the maximum I should put in my coffee in the morning? I do appreciate all of the intense descriptions in the post.
A standard protocol is to dissolve one teaspoon of pure borax powder in one liter of purified water, creating a stock solution.
From this stock solution, one teaspoon (approximately 5ml) is added to water or other beverage for daily consumption, providing approximately 3-5mg of boron per serving.
The therapeutic window for boron supplementation ranges from 3mg to 20mg daily, with benefits observed at 6-12mg daily for arthritis and bone health applications.
Starting with lower doses and gradually increasing allows the body to adapt to the mineral's effects on calcium metabolism and hormone regulation.
It seems to me like that is just an extra step for something as easy as taking a pinch and throwing it in your coffee or whatever else you want to take it with.
Yes, I understand. While some people can tolerate 'a pinch' of pure powder in a beverage, others may experience gastric distress. So if you are sensitive, it might be a good idea to put the 1 tsp in a liter of water and dose from there.
If you have an iron stomach (like me), a pinch in your coffee would be fine!
ECOpioneer BORAX BORON is different than BORAX as ARM & HAMMER synthetic milling is not clean like BOBS RED MILL Bicarb, how these are made, processed is the KEY, USP-NF GRADE HIGHEST QUALITY: Prescribed for Life USP-NF Grade Pure Borax Powder is the highest grade quality borax availableas well.
20 Mule Team borax is a natural mineral that is mined from the ground in the California desert, then cleaned, crystallized, dried, and ground into a powder.
20 Mule Team Borax is mined from the Mojave Desert region in Boron, California. This has historically been considered among the purest deposits globally, with documented boron content of 14.9% and heavy metal concentrations below detectable limits.
20 Mule Team Borax, despite being marketed primarily for laundry use, has been analyzed by independent laboratories and found to contain no anti-caking agents or artificial additives when purchased in its pure form.
Laboratory analysis reveals 99.9% purity with no detectable heavy metals, making it one of the most accessible sources for informed consumers.
However, users must verify they purchase the traditional pure product and not newer formulations with added fragrances or cleaning agents.
Some may prefer an explicitly labeled food-grade or pharmaceutical-grade product, and there are plenty of brands available.
Where can you provide me with the laboratory analysis of the 20 mule team borax? I would really like to have this documented. I found purity documentation only on the we archive website and not on anything that was certified.
I aksed Lumo, an AI, to search. The response is long, but the gist is 20 Mule Team ~99%+ (consumer grade limits) as opposed to Technical/Industrial grade can exceed 99.5%+ or vary by specification. Multiple SDS files explicitly list "20 Mule Team Borax" as the product identifier (RS Number 381685) that was tested. Lumo found this from I believe the Safety Data Sheet (SDS) Summary for 20 Mule Team Borax. Lumo is free.
what if you want to get a boron supplement rather than taking a pinch of borax daily in your coffee? I am not against the borax but I am dealing with members of my family who would be quite skeptical of using a "laundry booster" in their morning coffee.
Also, I have read that it can cause a Herxheimer reaction (increased pain) in arthritis upon taking if you are low in magnesium in particular. Anyone have thoughts on this?
You sure can. There are several. Typically, they come in the form of an amino acid chelate like boron glycinate or a borate ester like calcium fructoborate.
I found out that I'm one of the only people in the entire world that can't take boron. It's genetically determined. I have a highly non-functional boron transporter gene mutation. I'm one of 30 known people in the last 50 years with this problem. The tiniest amount causes extreme kidney pain, yet it's like rain on parched Earth to my inflamed joints. I cannot absorb a mineral I desperately need! I would much rather have won a cash lottery with those kind of statistics, frankly. You are wise to keep in mind that not everyone can take it despite their body screaming for it.
To my knowledge, there is no well defined boron transporter gene mutations in humans. Have you tried using a amino acid chelate of boron ester like calcium fructoborate or amino acid chelate like boron glycinate? It may be worth it to try if you have not tried that.
SLC4A11 is a well-characterized sodium-borate cotransporter — this is documented in peer-reviewed literature, not fringe speculation. It was reclassified from its original annotation precisely because its boron transport function was established experimentally. I carry three homozygous variants in SLC4A11, which is also the gene responsible for Harboyan syndrome (corneal dystrophy + sensorineural hearing loss + renal involvement — all three of which I have).
The chelation suggestion misunderstands the problem. My issue isn't absorption — it's that a dysfunctional transporter delivers boron poorly regardless of the form it arrives in, and may actually worsen symptoms at threshold doses by overwhelming impaired transport capacity. I've documented four independent rechallenge episodes with consistent dose-dependent responses. That's not anecdote, that's a controlled observation.
On the broader point: rare variants and complex polymorphisms have no established standard of care. That means there is no systematic mechanism for catching people who are actively being harmed. Nobody is counting the morbidity. Nobody is counting the mortality. The patients who fall into that gap are effectively treated as acceptable statistical losses — not out of malice, just arithmetic. But when you are that statistic, the arithmetic feels quite different. I know this because I nearly died. My homocysteine was sky high for a lifetime before anyone paid attention. It was my background as a compounding pharmacist that gave me the framework to diagnose and rescue myself from a much more well-known SNP shared by far more people (MTHFR). Most people in that situation don't have that. They just deteriorate, and everyone calls it aging.
Definitely wasn't trying to dismiss what you stated. It's just that there are so many things that they say are genetically determined and there's nothing you can do about it and I've seen that proved out to be not true.
Thank you! I fight like the dickens every day to be diagnosed and treated properly, doing the research and trying to educate my healthcare professionals--knowing exactly what's going on and looking my doctors straight in the eye while they dismiss me. It truly is an extraordinarily distressing experience.
I've done a quick DDG search and did a search of your Stack...are there any studies/indications that boron plays any role, positive or negative, in hypo-tension?
I've read that daily magnesium intake above 350mg may be detrimental, especially en re hypotension. Taking that with a grain of salt considering sources. But, is there interaction between boron and magnesium in the body?
I read info from Dr Rex Newnham a few years ago regarding borax. He recommends a teaspoon mixed in a litre of water and then a teaspoon of that liquid every day. Pretty sure he recommended 1/8tg tspn for severe cases. According to your info, this is too high?
I went to see Dr Jorges Flechas and had boron blood levels checked among other things. I had no detectable level. He prescribed 75 mg/day. I asked him could I take borax as the Borax Conspiracy recommended. He said yes, but preferred that I take the standardized pill. I think it was because of the dose he wanted me to take. I did and have had no issues. At lower doses I would not hesitate to use 20 mule team borax.
I'm trying it in my morning cocoa/mushroom/maca/fiber drink. The drink includes a little instant coffee as well. I suspect that boron will form complexes with the polyphenols in the cocoa. Based on recent comments to your recent substack posts, I decided to use 1/16 tsp of baking soda and 1/32 tsp of the borax. Seems about right.
I'm a little confused. I recently viewed a video embedded in one of the articles that directed men to take 1/4 teaspoon of Borax diluted in 1 liter of water daily, for five days on, and two days off. Women were directed to take 1/8 of a teaspoon in a liter of water. Where the confusion lies is 1/4 teaspoon rounded equals approximately 1 g. Borax, which according to this article equal approximately 113 mg of elemental boron. Stating that a daily dose should be anywhere from 26 mg 180 mg of borax per day which translates into 3 mg 20 mg of elemental boron, the two different sets of instructions appear to be in conflict. Curious Outlier, can you clarify the confusion?
The video you watched is providing you with data that is based on animal (NOAEL) no observed adverse effect levels without any of the toxicology safety factors added to the equation.
When toxicology methods are performed, toxicologist always add safety factors to the equation when there are known significant negative side effects in animal studies. The doses of 1/4 teaspoon borax are still below the negative side effects seen in animals and may be fine for many people, but because that is unknown toxicologists apply safety factors.
Since there are known limits above which harm can be caused in animals, the safety factors are applied.
We do know that benefits to human health are seen with boron supplementation greater than 3 mg and up to about 10 mg per day of boron in whatever form you choose.
Since the benefits of taking the lower doses are well documented, and known to be safe. That was why I used the numbers I did.
I personally think the safe limits are higher than the 20 mg UL, but currently any guess that I make above that 20 mg UL is just an educated guess. If I had to make an educated guess I would say that if you want to go above that level, then you would need to really pay attention to how you feel and if you are seeing benefits or any negative effects.
Once I start seeing testimonials roll in for higher doses and no one talking about negative side effects I will definitely report on that. Do I think that higher doses are OK? I think so and I sometimes take two or three pinches rather than just one pinch of borax.
Do I think that you can get significant benefit from just a pinch? Yes.
I had just started taking borax at the 1/4 teaspoon (1 g)) per day diluted in a quart of water. I did that for five days on, and two days off. Today starts the next round of five days on. I have not started dosing today. I felt no ill effects and seem to have more energy, clarity, strength. Perhaps that was placebo. I wasn't thrilled with the flavor it imparted to the water so I'm considering today to make a more powerful stock solution, I believe it was 5 g in a liter, and 1 tablespoon twice a day. I will review the video for that formula, and do some simple math to confirm the dose.
What are the negative side effects to be aware of?
Do you also recommend dosing for five days and resting for two days before resuming?
Perhaps I will lower my daily dose from 1 g/day to 500 mg or 750 mg until more testimonials signal 1 g doses are ok.
I think it would be wise to start lower and just make sure that you're not having any side effects and then work up to a comfortable amount. You can mix it in any liquid to mask the flavor.
There are a lot of people that take a quarter teaspoon per day diluted in a quart of water.
Here are the most common side effects that you could watch for:
Headache and general malaise are common when first starting due to the body detoxing. Boron does help detox pathways so the increased detox sometimes causes temporary Herxheimer reactions. It happens, you can temporarily reduce the amount that you're taking by half.
I don't think it matters. You can take it every day if you're taking the lower amount. If you're gonna take those higher doses, then I would take a couple of days off a week.
A small little pinch of original BORAX per day is all you need. Been doing it for years, and the only side effect is it seems to have really helped the arthritis in my fingers/hands.
Thanks I was wondering how much I should put in my coffee in the morning.
Tastes like soap!
For the minuscule amounts that are used, there should not be any taste if it's placed in a sufficient amount of any type of liquid like water, juice, coffee, etc.
Is that the natural taste of it? I was just curious 😉 because it does put me in mind of powdered detergent. I’m working my nerve up to doing it. It took me several years of reading and watching everything I could about Chlorine dioxide bestie trying it. The propaganda is scary out there!! However what pushed me to it at last was your documentary and Lindsey Wagner. Of all the testimonies I saw and read she was the one individual I could actually look up to see if she was still alive. She was not only alive but thriving!! Thank you for all your hard work and research. You and a couple of others in your field are the only reason I don’t detest the medical establishment. You all gave me hope that there are some who got into this business to actually help and not for the paycheck!!
Thanks for your encouraging words, Kate!🙏🏻
That is the natural taste of it when it has been mined from the ground, then cleaned, crystallized, dried, and ground into a powder.
I mix it with water and I cannot taste it.
That's why I mix it with coffee or juice.
I started using a small pinch in my morning coffee. A bit larger pinch was toooooo much! I take boron capsules [5mg] with my therapeutic supplements for osteo , which are working well. I have RA in my hands but I use nicotine patches to eliminate the pain. But I would like to cure it. I think I have to do something else for that outcome.
I will share that I have seen reports from people where they did not see benefit until they were taking up to 1/2 teaspoon of borax. I think some people would probably have a difficult time with this due to digestive issues. But for those that it works for, it does seem to work well.
One of my admins actually did an experiment and stopped taking his 1/5 teaspoon (750 mg) of borax per day and his arthritis pain started coming back. Here is the conversation that we had.
Testimony:
"I started taking it because of the arthritic pain in my feet and ankles. Some days, the pain was so severe that I could barely walk in the evening. This occurred in the summer of 2019.
After doing some online research, I came across Borax. I didn’t look up detailed dosage recommendations; I simply started taking it. I got severe headaches the first two days, so I reduced the dose to a small pinch per day and increased it gradually.
After three weeks, the pain disappeared completely.
Fearing that the pain might return, I stuck to a daily dose of around 750 mg of borax.
Over the years, I have found that the pain returns if I go more than five or six days without taking borax.
If I stop taking it for a day or two every once in a while, it doesn't have any negative effects.
I haven’t yet taken the time to find the exact sweet spot."
I think I could carefully increase over time, maybe!
I did a quick search. These may be of interest to you. Love that movie Lincoln Lawyer. Is that where your screen handle is from?
https://www.midwesterndoctor.com/p/dmso-is-a-miraculous-therapy-for
https://www.midwesterndoctor.com/p/the-remarkable-history-and-safety
https://www.midwesterndoctor.com/p/how-dmso-treats-incurable-autoimmune
https://www.midwesterndoctor.com/p/the-evidence-putting-light-inside
Thank you!!!!! I have read a lot about DMSO and do have some and some nice smelling cream. It has not really helped topically like the nicotine but the creme works at times when I have some pain in my wrist and thumb. My husband has used the creme on a painful elbow after working hard and it worked well for him too.
My name, Lincoln Lover, comes from my love of history and all the reading I have done, especially on Lincoln. When I discovered all about him, I felt great admiration for him and his character of integrity. That's it!!
I like that Lincoln, too. 👍
Have you tried applying DMSO?
Yes, it does help at times when the pain leaks through when I am using a nicotine patch. I use a great DMSO creme I found on Amazon. It smells good too! Just a little rubbed into the skin relieves pain. Thank you.
A pinch of 20 Mule Team in my freshly ground morning cuppa java hasn't harmed me any. At least not yet.
68 years old. Unjabbed. On zero prescriptions. So far so good. 😉
Thank you for being curious, outlier. ❤️
I recently began taking a dropper full of boron in my coffee in the morning, and after not having dreams for many years, I now have memorable dreams every night. I’m grateful for that alone
Boron very plausibly could modulate dreaming by changing cortical excitation, neurotransmission, and hormone-mineral networks that affect sleep architecture and REM expression. We do not have direct human data showing “boron = more dreams,” but your report is a very interesting personal effect. So my explanation is mechanistic inference built on known boron–brain effects plus what we know about dreaming neurobiology. Thank you for sharing that.🙏🏻
Very interesting. While I have boron capsules, I finally found the borax. I add what is probably a half pinch, if that, to my morning coffee and my dreams have been more intense after a few days, meaning I remember them waking up.
Do you mean, borax or boron?
Pretty sure they meant borax. Boron, is not readily available elemental form and usually is in the form of a Salt or a boron amino acid chelate like boron glycinate.
https://a.co/d/09oUVWDa
This is what I am talking about
Boron
https://a.co/d/09oUVWDa
Consuming water is safe- consuming the wrong dose may not be. Sugar, candy, milk just about too much of anything is bad. We all know
Borax is safer to consume compared to salt and baking soda. All 3 are natural, alkaline and anti germs.
I take a pinch od Borax in 4oz water every now and then. For maintenance and testosterone boost. Boron has been removed from our did supply via glyphosate in crops. Supplementation is necessary. Don't wait until you have health problems.
💯
I started adding to my morning coffee about two weeks ago. First two days were with small measuring spoon, about 1/8 teaspoon. Seeing another Curious Outlier Substack I realized this was significantly too much, but no adverse effects. Bought and started using a milligram scale and now do 60-70 mg borax daily. Seeing improvement in knee arthritis already and my stubborn lower back arthritis is also improving.
Are you referring 1/8th of a teaspoon of already dissolved and diluted amount of borax in a certain volume of liquid or are you referring to an 1/8th of a teaspoon of the raw borax powder?
It was 1/8 teaspoon of raw borax. Definitely too much. But no problems noted.
That question was directed at Jaye. Sorry about that.
Thanks for sharing your testimonial! Let us know how it goes over the next few months.
How much would that be in terms of teaspoon? I have also been adding 1/8 tspn of borax though haven’t had any side effects
Are you referring 1/8th of a teaspoon of already dissolved and diluted amount of borax in a certain volume of liquid or are you referring to an 1/8th of a teaspoon of the raw borax powder?
After receiving my milligram scale I weighed out the 1/8 teaspoon dose that I took for a couple days. It is about 350 mg. So, roughly double the 20 mg UL for elemental boron. But given the info in this essay, it is still a long way from a harmful dose. Since receiving the scale I took 60-70 mg borax powder daily. After reading the essay I have bumped it up to 100 mg (12 mg elemental borax) starting today. I am already seeing almost complete relief of my arthritis knee pain as well as a big reduction in my lower back arthritis pain.
KK
Been looking for a scale. Looking for accuracy, non-chinese, non-battery reliant. Pls share your thoughts.
Mine came from Amazon. It IS Chinese and IS battery. I have no standards to compare against, so can’t attest to accuracy. But it IS repeatable. And given the very conservative dosage guidelines, I suppose that repeatable may acceptable.
Thanks for responding.
It is less toxic than salt, so why all the concern? I scanned the whole thing above and never saw the exact amount recommended, which you should have included at the beginning of the article in a summary. That is borax, not boron. Is more than a quarter teaspoon too much? If so, it's more toxic than salt. I don't get it. None of us here are interested in all this detail. We all appreciate you, but this thing is just too technical.
A level quarter teaspoon of household borax powder is roughly 0.9–1.0 grams, which is about 900–1,000 milligrams of borax. That quarter teaspoon would provide around 100–115 milligrams of elemental boron.
A typical normal person needs a 3-20 mg of elemental boron per day. 20 mg elemental boron would work out to just over 200 mg of borax daily. That would be 1/20 of a teaspoon of borax.
I know of several people that consume half a teaspoon per day and it's the only way that they can get relief from their arthritis. They have stated they haven't had any adverse effects.
I went right to comments. I do appreciate some like the minutiae considering the comments made. I’m more of a bullet points gal, Robert.
I do agree with this I would like to know in plain straightforward English what is the maximum amount we should take in a day I think what I got was 2 mg from the article, but I’d like to know, for instance what’s the maximum I should put in my coffee in the morning? I do appreciate all of the intense descriptions in the post.
A standard protocol is to dissolve one teaspoon of pure borax powder in one liter of purified water, creating a stock solution.
From this stock solution, one teaspoon (approximately 5ml) is added to water or other beverage for daily consumption, providing approximately 3-5mg of boron per serving.
The therapeutic window for boron supplementation ranges from 3mg to 20mg daily, with benefits observed at 6-12mg daily for arthritis and bone health applications.
Starting with lower doses and gradually increasing allows the body to adapt to the mineral's effects on calcium metabolism and hormone regulation.
It seems to me like that is just an extra step for something as easy as taking a pinch and throwing it in your coffee or whatever else you want to take it with.
Yes, I understand. While some people can tolerate 'a pinch' of pure powder in a beverage, others may experience gastric distress. So if you are sensitive, it might be a good idea to put the 1 tsp in a liter of water and dose from there.
If you have an iron stomach (like me), a pinch in your coffee would be fine!
Yup.
I forget if I have to take something throughout the day. In coffee, in the morning. One and done. Different strokes. If it works for you—great!
I'm interested in all the details. 🤷♀️
Why so cranky Robert? You (and your interviewees) can be VERY long winded.
And your articles: Repetitive.
I appreciate the technicalities in CO's drops but if you don't by all means: Scroll!
ECOpioneer BORAX BORON is different than BORAX as ARM & HAMMER synthetic milling is not clean like BOBS RED MILL Bicarb, how these are made, processed is the KEY, USP-NF GRADE HIGHEST QUALITY: Prescribed for Life USP-NF Grade Pure Borax Powder is the highest grade quality borax availableas well.
20 Mule Team borax is a natural mineral that is mined from the ground in the California desert, then cleaned, crystallized, dried, and ground into a powder.
💯
20 Mule Team Borax is mined from the Mojave Desert region in Boron, California. This has historically been considered among the purest deposits globally, with documented boron content of 14.9% and heavy metal concentrations below detectable limits.
20 Mule Team Borax, despite being marketed primarily for laundry use, has been analyzed by independent laboratories and found to contain no anti-caking agents or artificial additives when purchased in its pure form.
Laboratory analysis reveals 99.9% purity with no detectable heavy metals, making it one of the most accessible sources for informed consumers.
However, users must verify they purchase the traditional pure product and not newer formulations with added fragrances or cleaning agents.
Some may prefer an explicitly labeled food-grade or pharmaceutical-grade product, and there are plenty of brands available.
Where can you provide me with the laboratory analysis of the 20 mule team borax? I would really like to have this documented. I found purity documentation only on the we archive website and not on anything that was certified.
I aksed Lumo, an AI, to search. The response is long, but the gist is 20 Mule Team ~99%+ (consumer grade limits) as opposed to Technical/Industrial grade can exceed 99.5%+ or vary by specification. Multiple SDS files explicitly list "20 Mule Team Borax" as the product identifier (RS Number 381685) that was tested. Lumo found this from I believe the Safety Data Sheet (SDS) Summary for 20 Mule Team Borax. Lumo is free.
Sounds right!
Sure, they are in the company’s Materials Safety Data Sheets for all years. 99.5 - 99.9% purity tested.
what if you want to get a boron supplement rather than taking a pinch of borax daily in your coffee? I am not against the borax but I am dealing with members of my family who would be quite skeptical of using a "laundry booster" in their morning coffee.
Also, I have read that it can cause a Herxheimer reaction (increased pain) in arthritis upon taking if you are low in magnesium in particular. Anyone have thoughts on this?
You sure can. There are several. Typically, they come in the form of an amino acid chelate like boron glycinate or a borate ester like calcium fructoborate.
Thank you!
Thanks for making me laugh. You'd think I was wearing a tin foil body suit. I meet many skeptics. True believers in Rockefeller medicine. lol.
I wish you success with your alternate plan.
C O has some of the best advice. I have adopted his approach of low and slow to anything new. Zero herx from anything to date.
Thank you! Also glad I could give you a good laugh! 🤣
I found out that I'm one of the only people in the entire world that can't take boron. It's genetically determined. I have a highly non-functional boron transporter gene mutation. I'm one of 30 known people in the last 50 years with this problem. The tiniest amount causes extreme kidney pain, yet it's like rain on parched Earth to my inflamed joints. I cannot absorb a mineral I desperately need! I would much rather have won a cash lottery with those kind of statistics, frankly. You are wise to keep in mind that not everyone can take it despite their body screaming for it.
To my knowledge, there is no well defined boron transporter gene mutations in humans. Have you tried using a amino acid chelate of boron ester like calcium fructoborate or amino acid chelate like boron glycinate? It may be worth it to try if you have not tried that.
SLC4A11 is a well-characterized sodium-borate cotransporter — this is documented in peer-reviewed literature, not fringe speculation. It was reclassified from its original annotation precisely because its boron transport function was established experimentally. I carry three homozygous variants in SLC4A11, which is also the gene responsible for Harboyan syndrome (corneal dystrophy + sensorineural hearing loss + renal involvement — all three of which I have).
The chelation suggestion misunderstands the problem. My issue isn't absorption — it's that a dysfunctional transporter delivers boron poorly regardless of the form it arrives in, and may actually worsen symptoms at threshold doses by overwhelming impaired transport capacity. I've documented four independent rechallenge episodes with consistent dose-dependent responses. That's not anecdote, that's a controlled observation.
On the broader point: rare variants and complex polymorphisms have no established standard of care. That means there is no systematic mechanism for catching people who are actively being harmed. Nobody is counting the morbidity. Nobody is counting the mortality. The patients who fall into that gap are effectively treated as acceptable statistical losses — not out of malice, just arithmetic. But when you are that statistic, the arithmetic feels quite different. I know this because I nearly died. My homocysteine was sky high for a lifetime before anyone paid attention. It was my background as a compounding pharmacist that gave me the framework to diagnose and rescue myself from a much more well-known SNP shared by far more people (MTHFR). Most people in that situation don't have that. They just deteriorate, and everyone calls it aging.
Definitely wasn't trying to dismiss what you stated. It's just that there are so many things that they say are genetically determined and there's nothing you can do about it and I've seen that proved out to be not true.
I am sincerely sorry to hear this. I wish you all the best!
Thank you! I fight like the dickens every day to be diagnosed and treated properly, doing the research and trying to educate my healthcare professionals--knowing exactly what's going on and looking my doctors straight in the eye while they dismiss me. It truly is an extraordinarily distressing experience.
CO- two questions:
I've done a quick DDG search and did a search of your Stack...are there any studies/indications that boron plays any role, positive or negative, in hypo-tension?
I've read that daily magnesium intake above 350mg may be detrimental, especially en re hypotension. Taking that with a grain of salt considering sources. But, is there interaction between boron and magnesium in the body?
I have not come across anything that stated either positive or negative regarding hypotension.
Thanks. Another potential investigative avenue to downgrade for now.
C.,
Where are testimonials best given?
I read info from Dr Rex Newnham a few years ago regarding borax. He recommends a teaspoon mixed in a litre of water and then a teaspoon of that liquid every day. Pretty sure he recommended 1/8tg tspn for severe cases. According to your info, this is too high?
I went to see Dr Jorges Flechas and had boron blood levels checked among other things. I had no detectable level. He prescribed 75 mg/day. I asked him could I take borax as the Borax Conspiracy recommended. He said yes, but preferred that I take the standardized pill. I think it was because of the dose he wanted me to take. I did and have had no issues. At lower doses I would not hesitate to use 20 mule team borax.
Very helpful. Thank you!
I'm trying it in my morning cocoa/mushroom/maca/fiber drink. The drink includes a little instant coffee as well. I suspect that boron will form complexes with the polyphenols in the cocoa. Based on recent comments to your recent substack posts, I decided to use 1/16 tsp of baking soda and 1/32 tsp of the borax. Seems about right.
I'm a little confused. I recently viewed a video embedded in one of the articles that directed men to take 1/4 teaspoon of Borax diluted in 1 liter of water daily, for five days on, and two days off. Women were directed to take 1/8 of a teaspoon in a liter of water. Where the confusion lies is 1/4 teaspoon rounded equals approximately 1 g. Borax, which according to this article equal approximately 113 mg of elemental boron. Stating that a daily dose should be anywhere from 26 mg 180 mg of borax per day which translates into 3 mg 20 mg of elemental boron, the two different sets of instructions appear to be in conflict. Curious Outlier, can you clarify the confusion?
I can clear up the confusion.
The video you watched is providing you with data that is based on animal (NOAEL) no observed adverse effect levels without any of the toxicology safety factors added to the equation.
When toxicology methods are performed, toxicologist always add safety factors to the equation when there are known significant negative side effects in animal studies. The doses of 1/4 teaspoon borax are still below the negative side effects seen in animals and may be fine for many people, but because that is unknown toxicologists apply safety factors.
Since there are known limits above which harm can be caused in animals, the safety factors are applied.
We do know that benefits to human health are seen with boron supplementation greater than 3 mg and up to about 10 mg per day of boron in whatever form you choose.
Since the benefits of taking the lower doses are well documented, and known to be safe. That was why I used the numbers I did.
I personally think the safe limits are higher than the 20 mg UL, but currently any guess that I make above that 20 mg UL is just an educated guess. If I had to make an educated guess I would say that if you want to go above that level, then you would need to really pay attention to how you feel and if you are seeing benefits or any negative effects.
Once I start seeing testimonials roll in for higher doses and no one talking about negative side effects I will definitely report on that. Do I think that higher doses are OK? I think so and I sometimes take two or three pinches rather than just one pinch of borax.
Do I think that you can get significant benefit from just a pinch? Yes.
I hope that helps.
Thank you, Curious!
I had just started taking borax at the 1/4 teaspoon (1 g)) per day diluted in a quart of water. I did that for five days on, and two days off. Today starts the next round of five days on. I have not started dosing today. I felt no ill effects and seem to have more energy, clarity, strength. Perhaps that was placebo. I wasn't thrilled with the flavor it imparted to the water so I'm considering today to make a more powerful stock solution, I believe it was 5 g in a liter, and 1 tablespoon twice a day. I will review the video for that formula, and do some simple math to confirm the dose.
What are the negative side effects to be aware of?
Do you also recommend dosing for five days and resting for two days before resuming?
Perhaps I will lower my daily dose from 1 g/day to 500 mg or 750 mg until more testimonials signal 1 g doses are ok.
Thank you for your kind reply!
I think it would be wise to start lower and just make sure that you're not having any side effects and then work up to a comfortable amount. You can mix it in any liquid to mask the flavor.
There are a lot of people that take a quarter teaspoon per day diluted in a quart of water.
Here are the most common side effects that you could watch for:
gastrointestinal upset (nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea)
Headache and general malaise are common when first starting due to the body detoxing. Boron does help detox pathways so the increased detox sometimes causes temporary Herxheimer reactions. It happens, you can temporarily reduce the amount that you're taking by half.
And please, the important question of five days on and two days off… Is that recommended? Many thanks dear Curious!
I don't think it matters. You can take it every day if you're taking the lower amount. If you're gonna take those higher doses, then I would take a couple of days off a week.
But how much is 26-180 mg? A teaspoon, a tablespoon?
1/20th of a teaspoon ≈ 200 mg borax ≈ 23 mg boron.
Thank you very kindly.