17 Foods To Increase Platelets Count In Your Blood

Increasing your platelet count is necessary to keep your immune system and blood clotting functioning normally. Diet is essential if you’re looking for natural strategies to raise your platelet counts. By including specific foods in your daily meals, you will boost overall blood health and platelet production.

This article discusses 17 foods high in antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals—all proven to promote platelet synthesis.

What Causes Low Platelets?

Also known as thrombocytopenia, low platelet count in our body can be induced or triggered for varying reasons. While the normal range of blood platelets is between 150,000 and 450,000 per microliter of blood, anything less than 150,000 is harmful to the body.

People who suffer from thrombocytopenia tend to have difficulty coagulating their blood during injury.

The most common causes of low platelets in blood include:

• Viral infections

• Aplastic anemia

• Chemotherapy drugs

• Possible cancer in the bone marrow and lymph nodes

• Long-term alcohol toxicity

• Deficiency of Vitamin B12 and folic acid

People suffering from this condition must contact medical professionals immediately for proper treatment.

Understanding Platelets and Their Importance

Platelets are tiny, colorless cell fragments referred to as thrombocytes. They play a significant role in preventing excessive bleeding by clotting. After an injury in the blood vessel, the platelets go to that particular location and stick to each other, forming a clot to stop the bleeding. This process is very essential for wound healing and general hemostasis.

Thrombocytopenia, also called low platelet count, may be caused by different factors like viral infections, autoimmune diseases, some drugs, excessive drinking of alcohol, and bone marrow problems. Typical indications of low platelet count are easy bruising, bleeding that lasts much longer than usual after cuts, spontaneous bleeding from your gums or nose or in your urine or stools, and heavier than usual menstrual flow.

How Diet Affects Platelet Count

There are specific nutrients that significantly influence blood health and platelet generation. Iron, folate, vitamin K, vitamin B12, and omega-3 fatty acids are among the vitamins and minerals critical to platelet production and functioning. For instance, Vitamin B12 and folic acid play the role in the red blood cell synthesis and prevent anemia, commonly associated with low platelet count. Conversely, Vitamin K assists in blood clotting. Hemoglobin synthesis, which fosters overall blood health, necessitates iron.

Maintaining an adequate number of healthy platelets involves consuming a diet that provides these nutrients in sufficient amounts. Diverse fruits, vegetables, lean meats, and the whole grains guarantee that the body gets what it needs to produce plates, ensuring their upkeep. An all-around diet also improves wound healing and immune system enhancement, improving general health and wellness.

Foods That Increase Platelets in Blood

Diet plays a crucial role in the overall production and regulation of platelets in our blood. Here are some foods that increase platelets naturally.

1. Papaya

When it comes to discussing foods that increase platelets in your bloodstream, papaya is the best option. Doctors often advise people suffering from dengue to consume this fruit to restore their health.

Not just the fruit but even the consumption of the Carica papaya leaf (R) in the form of a concoction is quite beneficial in getting rid of the problems associated with lower platelet count.

The papaya leaves effectively boost the body’s overall platelet count.

What to do?

1. Crush the leaves into a mortar and pestle
2. Extract the juice
3. Consume two tablespoons of this every day

How often?

• Once daily

2. Pumpkin

Pumpkin is also a fantastic food to eat (R). It provides a tremendous boost with its excellent nutrition and is loaded with Vitamin A, a crucial factor in increasing the body’s overall platelet count.

Apart from that, it helps regulate proteins and their activities in our body, which further aids in increasing blood platelets naturally.

3. Pomegranate

Pomegranate is a storehouse of nutrients and health-boosting properties. If you are wondering about the what and whys, it is mainly because of its antioxidant (R), anti-inflammatory (R), and nutritious benefits, which help restore your platelet count to normal.

What to do?

1. Drink freshly extracted pomegranate juice
2. Alternatively, you can even add them to your food as a garnish

4. Green Leafy Vegetables

Vitamin K is a very beneficial factor that plays a key role during thermogenesis. The activation and formation of platelets are often linked to Vitamin K activity.

Green leafy vegetables, like spinach and kale, are loaded with vitamin K, which helps boost the platelet count in the body.

What to do?

• Consume green leafy vegetables daily, either in your daily diet or as snacks and salads

5. Wheatgrass

A study conducted in 2011 found that consuming wheatgrass is very beneficial for the overall process of platelet generation.

Owing to the fact that wheatgrass chlorophyll has a similar structure to hemoglobin, it is believed to assist in the production of red blood cells, hemoglobin, and, in turn, platelets.

What to do?

1. Extract the juice of a bunch of wheatgrasses
2. To half a glass of the juice, add a few drops of lemon juice
3. Drink this once every day

6. Vitamin C

Vitamin C and its beneficial antioxidant (R) property naturally increases platelets. 

What to do?

• Consume more sources of vitamin C in your diet, like lemons, oranges, berries, etc.

7. Carrots

Carrotts are another amazing food to increase platelets in the blood. Carrots and beetroots are loaded with iron and essential nutrients (R), making them an amazing treatment for patients suffering from anemia, which is often a common reason behind the lowered platelet count in the body.

Eating carrots helps supplement the body’s needs and, in turn, helps regulate platelet count.

What to do?

• Munch and snack on a bowl of carrots instead of something unhealthy

8. Fresh Milk

Milk contains all the major components necessary for the healthy production of platelets in our body.

It’s also loaded with calcium, iron, Folate, Vitamin D, and Vitamin K, which help supplement the body’s needs to produce healthy platelets.

What to do?

• Consume a glass of milk in the morning or a glass of warm milk with turmeric before going to bed at night

9. Foods rich in Folate

Consuming foods to increase platelets in blood is not as easy as it sounds. Several factors could be deficient in the body, contributing to lower platelet levels. If the condition is due to a lack of Folate (R) in the body, it is believed that enriching the body with folate-rich foods can effectively persuade the body.

What to do?

• Consume folate-rich foods like kidney beans, peanuts, etc.

10. Brussels Sprout

These small vegetables may not be favorites but their nutritious value is relatively high. They are a fantastic food for naturally increasing blood platelets (R).

Like fresh milk and green leafy vegetables, this is rich in Vitamin K, which is beneficial in the production of platelets in the body.

What to do?

1. Boil the Brussels sprouts and eat them as an accompaniment to a dish
2. You can also grill or bake them in the oven

11. Vitamin B12 rich foods

Vitamin B12 is a potent remedy for boosting platelet count in the blood. Lack or deficiency of Vitamin B12 in the body is often characterized by an altered immune system, which predominantly affects overall immunity.

What to do?

Increase the consumption of Vitamin B12 in your daily diet, such as boiled eggs, steak, cheese, etc.

12. Coconut Oil 

Next on the list of foods is coconut oil. A study found that the administration of coconut oil could successfully help activate platelet production in the body of the rhesus monkey.

It is believed that coconut oil’s presence of healthy medium-chain fatty acids and nutrients helps boost the overall number of platelets in the body.

What to do?

1. Consume coconut oil in your day-to-day cooking
2. Add one tablespoon to your daily morning smoothie

13. Lean proteins

Lean meats like chicken and turkey are an amazing source of vitamin B12 and zinc, which can boost the overall platelet count in the body. Even crabs and oysters are believed to be an amazing source of zinc, which further helps boost the overall rate of platelet production in the body.

What to do?

1. Consume lean proteins like chicken, turkey, etc.
2. Consume crabs and oysters.

14. Raisins

If you are wondering how dried grapes can boost platelet count, think again. The high iron content in the raisins is believed to be a natural health boost for people suffering from a lack of proper platelet levels in the body.

Patients suffering from anemia benefit quite a lot from the consumption of raisins.

What to do?

• Instead of something unhealthy, snack on raisins between meals to boost the platelet count.

15. Garlic

Garlic’s beneficial blood-purifying properties are believed to be crucial in amplifying the blood’s platelet production rate.

People believe it also has antimicrobial properties, which are essential for fighting off infections inside the body.

What to do?

• Consume 1-2 cloves of raw garlic in the morning.

16. Bovine Colostrum

While we did mention milk in the prior section, Bovine Colostrum is a particular variant of cow’s milk. It is the special milk collected from cows that they produce for a few days following birthing. Colostrum is the milk newborns get from their mothers and is also found in humans.

But when it comes to foods that increase platelets, bovine colostrums are actually topping the list.

Even a study (R) conducted back in 2017 found that colostrum contains certain proteins that have been associated with platelet activation and immune responses.

17. Melatonin

The correlation of melatonin with sleep is quite common, but what many people don’t know is that melatonin is also effective in boosting the overall levels of platelets in the blood.

Even with the approach taken, the research and the findings still need to be more conclusive, which is why more studies are required.

Additional Tips to Increase Platelet Count

Staying hydrated is necessary for optimal platelet function and blood health. Water makes the blood circulate effectively and enables new platelet production. Ensure to drink at least eight glass of water daily to keep the body hydrated.

Another way is to avoid alcohol and some other medications, as well as one has to do with their platelet count. When alcohol interferes with the production of the platelets in bone marrow, this leads to a decline in their number. There are some drugs, for example, which include aspirin and ibuprofen, among others, that disrupt the standard functionality of the platelets and thus should not be taken by people with low counts. Always consult your doctor before making changes to your medication.

Regular exercise benefits your overall circulation and increases platelet production. Low-intensity physical activities such as walking, swimming, or even yoga help maintain a healthy cardiovascular system that facilitates self-healing within one’s body. These lifestyle adjustments can raise levels of these cells in the body, resulting in adequate count when they are needed most at particular times in life.

When to Seek Medical Advice

Signs and symptoms of a dangerously low platelet count are critical to early treatment intervention. Some of the common symptoms are bruising easily or excessively, bleeding for long periods from minor cuts, spontaneous nosebleeds or gum bleeds, blood in your stools or urine, getting very heavy periods, or petechiae—those are those tiny red spots on your skin. More serious symptoms include unexplained fatigue or severe internal bleeding.

Speaking to a medical professional is essential if you suspect you have any of these low platelet count symptoms. They can administer tests, including a complete blood count (CBC), to confirm the condition and determine why you have a low platelet count. When the diagnosis is established, proper care can help manage the conditions that cause low platelet counts, like infections, bone marrow disorders, or autoimmune diseases.

How Will You Detect If Your Platelet Count Is Low?

Lower platelet count levels are often not sensed or understood until it’s too late. This is mainly because few people are well aware of the symptoms we should look out for.

By paying close attention, we can easily avoid the extensive side effects of a lower platelet count.

Some of the common symptoms one can look out for include:

• Petechiae which is nothing but the appearance of dark red spots all over the skin
• Persistent headaches, even after a minor and trivial injury
• Bruising quite easily
• Excessive bleeding with extended time for clotting of the blood
• You may notice spots of blood after brushing your teeth.

If you have been experiencing any of the above-mentioned sign and symptoms, it is important to consult a doctor immediately.

When it comes to discussing foods to increase platelets, the possibilities do skirt around the realms of what one should eat and what one should avoid. It is quite important to ensure that you don’t go overboard with the consumption because even the overdrive of supplements and nutrients can end up inflicting negative impacts on the body. Maintain a balanced diet, prioritizing the foods to boost platelets before anything else.