Borax: Unlocking the Health Benefits of a Natural Compound

Ted and many others here including myself have mentioned Borax as a very effective arthritis remedy that is readily available and is dirt cheap. Borax is just over 11% boron so if you use Borax at the doses that Ted has previously mentioned of 1/8th teaspoon for smaller people and 1/4th teaspoon for larger people, you will be getting about 55mg or 110mg of boron respectively.

For me it takes the larger dose to completely control arthritis, but each person is different and starting lower and working your way up makes good sense......why use more than you need to get the desired health benefit. Dr. Rex Newnham, Ph.D., D.O., N.D, who discovered and popularized the use of Borax and boron in the 1960's said that some people found benefit with as little as 10 mg per day and for people who's condition was more severe and or of longer duration, it could take more Borax or boron and it could take up to 3 or 4 months to get the full benefit.

Studies on boron show that it offers many health benefits to people that goes well beyond just arthritis and osteoporosis, two common uses for it. Below is a short abstract from PubMed that lists some of those health benefits of which there are more than what is listed.

For those who are concerned about the safety of Borax and boron, as you should be, there is an abstract below the first one that explains this in clear language and Ted's dosing does not even come close!

Art

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26770156

Integr Med (Encinitas). 2015 Aug;14(4):35-48.

Nothing Boring About Boron.

Abstract

The trace mineral boron is a micronutrient with diverse and vitally important roles in metabolism that render it necessary for plant, animal, and human health, and as recent research suggests, possibly for the evolution of life on Earth. As the current article shows, boron has been proven to be an important trace mineral because it (1) is essential for the growth and maintenance of bone; (2) greatly improves wound healing; (3) beneficially impacts the body's use of estrogen, testosterone, and vitamin D; (4) boosts magnesium absorption; (5) reduces levels of inflammatory biomarkers, such as high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α); (6) raises levels of antioxidant enzymes, such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, and glutathione peroxidase; (7) protects against pesticide-induced oxidative stress and heavy-metal toxicity; (8) improves the brains electrical activity, cognitive performance, and short-term memory for elders; (9) influences the formation and activity of key biomolecules, such as S-adenosyl methionine (SAM-e) and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD(+)); (10) has demonstrated preventive and therapeutic effects in a number of cancers, such as prostate, cervical, and lung cancers, and multiple and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma; and (11) may help ameliorate the adverse effects of traditional chemotherapeutic agents. In none of the numerous studies conducted to date, however, do boron's beneficial effects appear at intakes > 3 mg/d. No estimated average requirements (EARs) or dietary reference intakes (DRIs) have been set for boron-only an upper intake level (UL) of 20 mg/d for individuals aged ≥ 18 y. The absence of studies showing harm in conjunction with the substantial number of articles showing benefits support the consideration of boron supplementation of 3 mg/d for any individual who is consuming a diet lacking in fruits and vegetables or who is at risk for or has osteopenia; osteoporosis; osteoarthritis (OA); or breast, prostate, or lung cancer.

PMID:

26770156

[PubMed]

PMCID:

PMC4712861

[Available on 2016-08-01]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10050929

Biol Trace Elem Res. 1998 Winter;66(1-3):343-57.

Comparative toxicology of borates.

Hubbard SA1.

Author information

Abstract

Inorganic borates, including boric acid, Na, ammonium, K, and Zn borates generally display low acute toxicity orally, dermally, and by inhalation. They are either not irritant or mild skin and eye irritants. Exceptions owing to physiochemical properties do occur. Longer-term toxicological studies have been reported mainly on boric acid or borax where the properties are generally similar on an equivalent boron (B) basis. The critical effects in several species are male reproductive toxicity and developmental toxicity. The doses that cause these effects are far higher than any levels to which the human population could be exposed. Humans would need to consume daily some 3.3 g of boric acid (or 5.0 g borax) to ingest the same dose level as the lowest animal NOAEL. No effects on fertility were seen in a population of workers exposed to borates or to a population exposed to high environmental borate levels. There is remarkable similarity in the toxicological effects of boric acid and borax across different species. Other inorganic borates that simply dissociate to boric acid are expected to display similar toxicity, whereas those that do not dissociate simply to boric acid may display a different toxicological profile.

PMID:

10050929

[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

For those who are nervous about using borax, it may interest them to learn that borax is used in most Bath Salts -- that's why I already had a package of the laundry borax, was because years ago I tried making Bath Salts, and the borax is one of the main ingredients.

I also learned that when I soaked in baths containing either borax or epsom salts, that I was prone to bouts of diarhhea -- so I stopped putting together Bath Salt Recipes -- I hadn't realized how readily I seem to absorb anything placed in hot bath water.

I'm pointing this out, because this past week I read someone somewhere online caution to never put any borax on one's skin because allegedly it's so absorbable -- but that doesn't make sense, because not only do most laundry detergents contain it, & thus our clothes have residues of it, it also is found in diaper rash formulas, and anybody who likes to add mineral salts to the bath tub has probably soaked in borax on many occasions.

Hello, I was wondering if you knew how much elemental boron is in one teaspoon of borax powder? Or how much boron is in 6 grams of borax powder? I'm a little confused about the math. If one teaspoon of borax powder is about 6 grams, then how can you get multiple 3 gram doses of boron in the water concentrate recipe? If you start out with only 6 grams of borax powder, then you probably wouldn't have more than 3 grams of boron in the quart of distilled water "concentrate". Thanks, Tim

The borax dosages that EC quoted from Ted are quite correct. Also bear in mind that borax has the same toxicity profile as common table salt. When you take the male dose of 250 mgs of borax(1/4 tspn) you are only actually ingesting about 113 mgs of boron -- and the woman's borax dosage(1/8 tspn) is ony about 55 mgs of boron.

To further help you to understand the dosages, usefulness and importance of Borax for our bodies, you should watch this video:

The Boron and Borax Miracle (Dr Jorge Flechas)

I've also been using Ted's male Borax Water dosages on a regular basis for about the last 11 years (since 2007) without any problems at all -- and I'm 68 y o.

Greetings, Earth Clinic. I have been taking the prescribed dose 1/4 teaspoon of Borax with 1litre of water now jst over three months with 5days on 2days off an have been religiously doing so. I have Advanced Osteoarthritis an have been a sufferer over 15yrs now I was 1st diagnosed 2003 at the age of 34. I have tried almost everything to help my condition over the years to no avail, an with 1 Hip Replacement in 2005.........2014 it's hit me again with my opposite hip, but I refuse to have a 2nd operation (Hip replacement).

I saw a Natreopath 6yrs ago who put me on a non dairy diet an to drink 2 cups of Clove Tea a day, I was to rub Tincture O Iodine on the bottoms ofmy feet an Drink plenty of Goats Milk, which is very expensive to buy now at $7.50 per litre, pain subsided to 55% now consuming dairy products again, but a small amount. Thus coming across Borax, the 1st cup I drunk within an hour my pain level reduced to 75% I couldn't believe it, I was in "disbelief" 5days later my Energy level increased 65% pain level at 40% 2 months later 90% painfree an 90% Energy.

I had weaned myself off all pharmaceuticals (Dyclothanac an Paracetamol) 2 weeks before starting the Borax course. I started to do light stretches to exercise my hip.

At 2months I've been 100% painfree an limping every 10 steps as appose to every step. I was feeling Brand New, it was a Miracle. A cold snap hit our Township, my pain come back niggling at 30% just whn I was feeling better.......Myself still taking the prescribed dose. My pains increased to 60% I put it down to the cold.......3months and Two weeks later my joints seem to be stiffening.

I've jst moved house, doing everything myself, with heavy lifting. My pain has increased to 90% I've been resting the past 2days yet feel almost like a Jellyfish........aching all over......I feel like I'm at S.O.S level.........I

s the Borax still working? I feel like my bones are weakening, an all my joints ache now at 90% an feel like the flesh wants to melt off my skeleton........I know you've said sip the Borax throughout the day but I've been drinking my 1litre within 2hours, is it possibly contributing to my decline? Bigger picture I know besides drinking Clove Tea, Borax has been the only other substance that I know of to be helping my Body........I have moved to a house which has no insulation an can feel the cold.......could this be another factor.........Yr Feedback would be Mostly Appreciated...........Regards

My husband has severe RA. Would not take Borax for the life of him. I started giving him a little more than 1/8th tsp in his hot chocolate about 5 days a week. I started this just shy of a month ago and he is so much worse than he ever has been. I can't tell him why, but I know that the symptoms will most likely be gone in a couple more months. But seeing him in pain like this is killing me... I am really scared the pain won't ever go away. He drinks coke everyday, it is like he is addicted to his soft drink... He drinks some water also, but has to have a couple cokes a day... He also has a severe heart condition.

For Taquir, I measured 1/8 teaspoon and 1/4 teaspoon amounts of 20 Mule Team Borax from the local grocery on a Precision Professional Digital Mini Scale ____ (This scale cost me about $30. retail in Florida, USA).

Since lumps in the Borax are compacted and Borax is a comparatively heavy substance, I mashed the lumps in the Borax powder loose before measuring (Clearly from the following measurements I must have missed a few tinies though). Since this Borax has about the same toxicity as table salt, I am sure the minute difference is negligible in effect.

My procedure was: Wack the lumps, fill the scoop, level off the scoop, then pour contents of the scoop into tare container and measure weight. The tare container was cleared of debris before each measurement.

Here are my measurement results:

• 1/4 teaspoon 20 Mule Team weighs .73 grams, or 730 milligrams
• 1/8 teaspoon 20 Mule Team weighs.34 grams, or 340 milligrams

So Bangkok Ted recommends 1/4 teaspoon Borax per litre of water for men, and 1/8 teaspoon Borax per litre of water for women.

Namaste, Linda

I read thru comments. It's “funny “ how many people can't educate themselves thru their own observations and symptoms. Of course, school medicine isn't helping either. To many doctors are 30-40 years behind todays knowledge. What is Borax? It's simple question. Detergent. It dissolve fats. Clean dirty fat from things. What are most dangerous toxins in human body? Don't ask doctors. Fat soluble. If you are lucky, you are going to store them in fat tissues. If not, organs and arteries. Liver is working hardest from 11 pm till 3 am. If you woke up and have heartburn, or can not get back to sleep, thats liver recycling old stored toxic fats. Ooops. I forget that I am not “ medicine man”. Take fiber and binders to stop recycling of toxins and lower Herxeimer reaction. Toxins are really corrosive, especially heavy metals( positiv charged/ different story). Turpentine? Solvent. MCT C8? Solvent.... When Herxing, don't take fish, krill oil, Vitamin D, sardines....

Sounds really good.

I had similar results with 1/4 teaspoon of borax in 1 litre of water too. But I was way too infected with parasites so I did the following to really attack the pesky things:

1. Applied tiger balm daily to twice a day to my whole body for many months(close to a year I believe), mixed with 20 to 40 drops of oil of oregano, 20-40 drops of clove oil, 20-40 drops of tea tree oil and 2 tablespoon of olive oil.

2 make another mixture of the above oils added to 1/4 cup of black-seed oil to take orally with a teaspoon once or twice a day, NO Tiger balm and tea tree oil in this mixture please.

3. Took 1 teaspoon to 2 tablespoons of charcoal in water to absorb toxins in my body.

This is really important since the parasites release a whole lot of toxins the body cannot easily remove naturally.

4. Boiled and took a mixture of parasite killing herbs like cloves, wormwood, golden seal root powder and walnut leaves.

Do this until your tongue turns pink, if your systemic infection was really bad. This might take months to years. Don't give up. Additionally, drink green vegetable juices at least once a day.

I don't understand the confusion in how much borax to take? I use an old glass ACV bottle = 32oz to this add a 'heaping' teaspoon of '20 mule-team' borax then fill with 'distilled' water, this formula is the borax CONCENTRATE! This should be 30mg of borax / 3.3mg of boron.

Shake the bottle to dissolve and then let rest in refrigerator overnight. Next morning take 1 teaspoon of the CONCENTRATE and add to whatever amount of water/liquid you want.

I have been taking, up to 3 doses a day, this for about 4 years, with occasional 'breaks' of 1 to 5 days a month, without side-effects or gastric distress.

When starting out used 1 teaspoon on 8oz 'well-water' once per day, followed this for 6 months prior to increasing to 2 then 3 dose per day. Now I just add 1 teaspoon of CONCENTRATE to about 2 ounces of 'well-water'.

If you don't have a good source of 'well-water', then I would use 'distilled' water, to make the CONCENTRATE.

The following website is what I based my CONCENTRATE on;

http://www.health-science-spirit.com/borax.htm

I hope this helps the confusion. Blessing and peace to all.

It's wonderful. I only use a pinch. No more hard agony menstrual cycles. Nails are so hard. Skin so clear.

If you are unsure how much boron you are receiving from borax (sodium tetraborate, sodium borate, sodium tetraborate or even disodium tetraborate).

Here is how you figure it out:

Borax is: Na2B4O7.10H20

The atomic weights are:

Na = 22.98976928, B = 10.81, O = 15.999, H = 1.008

Therefore:

(22,9897*2)+(10.81*4)+(15.999*1*10)+(1.008*2*10)=381.3625 approx.

Total Boron is 10.81*4=43.24

Boron factor is 43.24/381.3625 = .11338

Boron factor is .11338 so the boron percentage is 11.338%. So regardless of how much volume of borax you use you need to weigh it and multiply the total weight of borax by .11338, this give you how much boron you are receiving.

This brings back memories of high school chemistry. ;)

Updated dosage!!!!! Of borax per 8oz neti pot (in case you don't see my recent post): for lingering sinus issues.... am now using 1 teaspoon borax + 1/4 teaspoon sea salt in 8 oz neti, twice in each nostril daily.

After almost complete loss of both smell and taste, after 5 years of sinusitis.... fully restoring olfactory function is a pretty big deal...western medicine has nothing remotely as effective, with toxic pharmaceuticals, to be sure...

I am a 48 years old female in relative good health except for chronic pain due to repetitive stress injuries. I have been taking D Sodium Tetra Borate now pretty much daily since June when I found out the organic farmers in Haway were supplementing all living things to protect from radiation. I pretty much eyeball an 8 of a teaspoon using the handle of a spoon or a fork as a shovel, anyway this to say that therefore it's been now 3 months and I have absolutely no complaints. Immediately I started feeling better. I find the tap water * no fluoride where I am * tastes better with borax and is easier to drink. I quit for 3 days once and I swear my chronic pain got a lot worse. My lungs have never been happier and my sinusitis is gone. Seriously I feel it's doing me a great deal of good. The first day I took it sure I was a bit light headed and kind of sleepy but nothing unpleasant or anything and after the first week it no longer happened.

I am one of those people super sensitive to chemicals, I can't even take more than 400 mg of Ibuprofen in a given day, and cannot take it for more than 2 days without severe intestinal complications, same goes for a lot of what doctors prescribe, in fact I had to switch to making my own colloidal silver because antibiotics were just totally disrupting my body, I haven't touched an antibiotic since 1998. I also occasionally make chlorine dioxide for internal use * sodium chlorite mixed with citric acid = Cl2O * and can tolerate it also well :) hope this helps... do not dwell in hypochondria, seriously how can you trust people who condone things like Artane, Risperidol and Prozac to name a few??? and allow the sale of hydrogenated oils and fats for human consumption not that it would be ok to give it to animals...

Anyway, I will continue my experiment and listen to my body, because my body tells me everything, so if the situation changes I will come and update, I would like to find more info on the rate of elimination for example.

Hi Ted! God bless you for taking the time to help people with their health problems. I tried the borax on myself and feel soooo much better; my symptoms were/are similar to lupus, and Alzheimer's runs in my family. Since I tried the borax in water the other day (three days total, about 1/4 teaspoon per liter per day) I feel like my mind is much clearer and my stomach feels much lighter and more comfortable. My head used to feel very foggy, and I hurt all over. I also take 4,000mg or more ascorbic acid tablets and eat as many radishes as I can stomach. I was on Risperidone and Zoloft for two years and they didn't work nearly as well or as quickly. I feel 90% to 95% better and am absolutely amazed and delighted.

My question is, would you consider borax safe for cats? I would like to try adding it to my cat's water bowl. She's an indoor cat (used to live outside) who is 14 years old and doesn't have the energy or cheerfulness the other cats do.

I have plantar tumors in my insteps of both feet. They did fill the hollow of my foot until I started taking Borax orally a few months ago.

I had been taking pics of my feet off and on to see where they were at growth wise. I have already had elimination of pain and can now see the reduction in the size of the tumors. They get soft first then they sort of just melt away. I'm over 2 years into the growth of the tumors so I suspect it could take 3-6 yrs to get rid of them.

No skin off my back now that I'm not in pain!!

In reply to Jeanette (Québec, Canada),

You say that you mix one teaspoon of borax in a litre of water and then take only a half teaspoon of this mix per day. There are 405 one half teaspoon doses in your liter of borax solution or more than a year of daily servings. A teaspoon of borax on my digital scale is roughly 4 grams or 4,000 mg. Divide this number by 405, the number of servings from your one liter bottle of borax solution to find out what your daily dose of borax is. 4,000/405 = 9.8765 mg of borax per day. Borax is 11.3% boron which is thought to be a main active component that has the antiarthritic effects. So you would multiply your daily dose of borax, roughly 10 mg and multiply by .113 to find out how much boron you are getting per day. This comes out to 1.13 mg of boron per day.

Dr Rex Newnham who is thought to be one of the research pioneers who helped establish the effectiveness of boron for arthritis said that some people could get by with a maintenance dose as low as 6 mg of boron per day once they had achieved remission or great improvement.

Ted on the other hand recommended 1/4 teaspoon of borax for men and 1/8th teaspoon for women per day. Assuming an 1/8th teasppon of borax is 500 mg, you would multiply this number by .113 to see how much boron is in an 1/8th teaspoon. 500*.113 = 56.5 mg of boron per dose.

For myself, through trial and error, have determined that Ted's dose for men is my minimum effective dose at 1,000 m of borax or about 110 mg of boron per day.

Are you certain about the dose and bottle size you are taking to see benefit?

I ask because, had I read your post before others and decided to try borax at your dose or even double or triple your dose, I would have come to the conclusion that borax does not work for me. I wouldn't want someone to miss out on the potential benefits of borax because they used an ineffective dose for them. I fully agree with the idea of starting low to make sure you can tolerate borax or boron, but once tolerance is determined, proper dosing per individual is very important!

Art

ART,,,,,,,, glad you have chimed in on the dangers of distilled water. What folks need to understand is that distilled water is a powerful solvent because the hydrogen bonding has an affinity for all positive minerals. It will leach them out of your body. Not overnight, but over a period of time.

I have written about this years ago and got beat about the head and shoulders. Thanks for your input.

=======ORH=======

Diane, I take borax with sea-salted bottled spring water. I also ensure to sup Magnesium. Maybe borax just didn't work for you, or there are other things going on in your body that it was working on. Most people are deficient in iodine, perhaps this (lugols iodine) or kelp extract will make a difference in your health. Just a thought. Since improving my reproductive cycle with a pot of fresh garden tea every day (the goal was better health through easily absorbed nutrients, this was unexpected and very welcome), I am supplementing vitamin e, Magnesium, coconut oil, vitamin c and have just really started Iodine properly after receiving the tablets. I will be starting high dose iodine after reading some benefits, this is the adjustment phase and fortunately with clean diet I have had no ill effects, started 1/4 pill, 1/2 pill now one pill daily. On my next few days off work I will trial 50 mg a day, initially for monitoring purposes. From high dose Iodine I expect cysts, lumps, stones and worse to dissolve, to not feel cold all the time, and for the disappearance of many moles, which from my understanding are a result of internal fungus. My best advice to you is to keep reading, researching, you are sure to find what your body needs to heal. Oh also add some herbs to assist the liver, an overloaded liver can not cleanse your body of the toxins that accumulate whenever pathogens, fungus etc are attacked. This (dandelion) is in my daily tea. Best to you.

I want to comment on the borax as a face wash. I have been using borax now for a couple of weeks. After reading some of the comments, I wanted to start slow. I have to say, it works for me. My skin loves this stuff! My face is softer, smoother and brighter. I'm not at the ingesting stage yet because I can't wrap my head around drinking something that I wash my clothes with. Next, I'll try it in the bath. Thanks Earth Clinic. I get a lot of great natural remedies from this site.