Podbit · Huberman Lab
Vitamin D is a sterol hormone itself — repleting a deficiency directly optimizes testosterone. Boron at 5–12 mg/day acutely lowers SHBG, freeing up more testosterone, and may explain why testosterone reference ranges are dramatically higher in countries like Greece and Turkey.
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At 19:41 · chapter starts 19:01
Gillett broadens the supplement conversation to two often-overlooked compounds. First, vitamin D3 — technically a sterol hormone — which directly supports testosterone synthesis and bone mineralization; repleting a genuine deficiency reliably improves testosterone levels. Then boron, a trace mineral depleted from soils in most countries but naturally abundant in Greece and Turkey. At 5–12 mg/day it can acutely lower high SHBG, freeing up more testosterone to act on cells. The effect is not sustained indefinitely, but the geographic observation is striking: dates and raisins from boron-rich regions may carry more of the mineral, and Gillett theorizes this could partly explain why male testosterone reference ranges differ significantly by country.
Boron at 5–12 mg/day can acutely lower high SHBG, freeing up more testosterone; it may be one reason testosterone reference ranges are higher in Greece and Turkey.
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