Ask the Coach” is the column in which Wolfgang Unsöld answers your questions. The book of the same name was published by Riva Verlag and Available right here on Amazon.
Question: I recently came across an interview from a sports medicine doctor. He recommends 5 glasses of red wine per week for his top triathletes. A main argument for him is the boron content, which is said to be beneficial to regeneration. What is it? Simon H
WU: I see it as "looking at the world through a straw". Wine has certain advantages , which I will go into here . In this connection with boron, however, it should be noted that there is more in wine than just boron. On the one hand, sugar, which is often not, and alcohol, which is almost never conducive to regeneration. I am familiar with the topic of boron and testosterone and the associated regeneration and the associated studies.
However, the point here is that more boron does not automatically mean more testosterone/recovery, it only does under certain circumstances, in my view only deficiency. I do not recommend or use separate boron supplementation. Conversely, this does not mean that I am an opponent of them. However, I see a whole range of other measures that bring more and more reliable optimization of the testosterone level and regeneration.
Also recommend some foods that are rich in boron. And they usually contain a multiple of what red wine contains, such as:
100g cucumber = 3.6mg boron100g raisins = 2.8mg boron
100g plums = 2.7mg boron
100g almonds = 2.8mg boron 100g hazelnuts = 2.7mg boron
100g beetroot = 2.1mg boron 100g Brazil nuts = 1.7mg boron 100g walnuts = 1.6mg boron 100g cash nuts = 1.2mg boron
100g celery = 1.1mg boron
100g avocado = 1.0mg boron
100ml red wine = 0.9mg boron
100g apricot = 0.5mg boron
100g carrot = 0.3mg boron
100g cauliflower = 0.2mg boron
100g tomato = 0.1mg boron
It should also be noted that the most cited study (2) measured the increase in testosterone after a very short period of one week at a dosage of just over 10mg of boron.
Good luck with the intake of boron through the diet !
Sources:
1. lex.referata.com
2. Comparative effects of daily and weekly boron supplementation on plasma steroid hormones and proinflammatory cytokines . – J Trace Elem Med Biol. 2011 Jan;25(1):54-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jtemb.2010.10.001. Epub 2010 Dec 3.
Image: The testosterone molecule.