Comments on: White Blood Cells in Vegans

By: John

John — Tue, 02 Aug 2022 17:54:33 +0000

Brad, i agree with your observations, but IMHO you are in great shape at that leve. The lower the WBC the better IF you are healthy. Probably the only reason that lower than 3.5 is associated with high mortality is that these people already have a disease or cancer that lowers the count as compared to just low inflammation level for a person eating whole plant foods. The extremely low WBC is probably not the cause of the higher mortality, but a sign of illness. I rejoice at having the lower readings on WBC, and I haven’t died yet. If it were below 3 I would probably know already of an ailment that is responsible due to symptoms. But the lowest reading I ever had of 3.3 was while training for a triathlon 10 years ago and eating a lot more fruit and I was younger and healthier then than now. I don’t worry about WBC and actually hope I score 3.5 levels again this year! I’m almost 70 but health continues to improve. My daily regimen these days is about 1550 calories, no salt added, whole plant foods, mostly brown rice, legumes, sweet potato, tomatoes, peppers, oats, polenta, greens, and green tea. Occasionally, I binge on some nuts or peanuts, and the nuts seem to raise cholesterol a bit and probably WBC too, but not worried. haha!! Bottom line is that the values on lab tests showing 3.8 etc as LOW cause needless concern, and Greger observed the same thing. Low is good!! Observe the well being, my friend!

By: Russell

Russell — Tue, 02 Aug 2022 17:47:18 +0000

I wanted to ask whether the study carefully screened out participants with preexisting medical conditions (thyroid disorders, immune disorders, anemia, cancer, etc.) because obviously, unwell people may have already suffered from low WBC counts, skewing the results.

If they were healthy, the second question is whether there were common denominators in the deaths of those with low WBC counts. Infections would be the logical concern. But it would be interesting if many died of common cancers due to their low WBCs. Or perhaps another cause such as heart issues, which may not even be linked to this.

By: Brad

Brad — Tue, 02 Aug 2022 04:49:29 +0000

In reply to John.

Note that for under 3.5, the increased mortality risk was 3x worse than 3.5- 6. Based on the limited study data, being under 3.5 was worse than being at 10 in the study. So while being low is probably good, too low may be worse than too high.

Since green vegetables have an association with low WBC in one study, people trying to raise their WBC might try cutting back. I am experimenting with that now. I am at 3.7 on my last test, which is in the optimal zone. However, I would feel greater comfort at 4 since I have fallen below 3.5 at times.

Fasting will make one’s wbc fall like a rock. (I know that from personal experience and from the literature.) I would imagine the same thing would happen with caloric restriction.

By: John

John — Mon, 01 Aug 2022 21:25:24 +0000

Looks like some solid data and very interesting from Brad’s cited study. Naturally, it is concerning for very healthy people to show up “low” on a CBC on something, but again, low on the “normal” scale in the USA is often better as in with BMI or WBC As Buddha said the middle way is the path. And the data cited agrees. Over last 10 years my avg is 4.0 with lowest at 3.3. There is going to be some variation by nature of the testing protocol alone so best not to draw conclusions from a single test. But when someone tells you they think the high fat, high meat diet is giving them a higher WBC a stronger immune system they don’t understand that it is marker of inflammation and that the immune system is already stressed and overworked. Too low on WBC one might suspect cancer or something maybe and should check into it outside of that 3.4 range. But Brad’s data is reassuring. Bon appetit!

By: Brad

Brad — Mon, 01 Aug 2022 01:34:04 +0000

It seems to me that the lowest all cause mortality in perhaps the largest study on the topic was between 3.5 -4.5. I don’t know that it’s good idea to be under 3.5 based upon the increased mortality risk found in that study. The sample size under 3.5, however, was extremely small.

“Above the threshold of 3,500 WBC/mm3, the estimated mortality risk was 11% higher per each baseline additional increase of 1,000 WBC/mm3.”

“Participants with WBC 10,000 had 2-fold higher mortality (HR 2.12, 95% CI 1.45 to 3.08) compared with subjects with WBC 3,501 to 6,000. ”

“Participants with WBC 10,000 had 2-fold higher mortality (HR 2.12, 95% CI 1.45 to 3.08) compared with subjects with WBC 3,501 to 6,000.”

Ruggiero C, Metter EJ, Cherubini A, Maggio M, Sen R, Najjar SS, Windham GB, Ble A, Senin U, Ferrucci L. White blood cell count and mortality in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2007 May 8

By: Orlando

Orlando — Sun, 22 May 2022 21:13:13 +0000

In reply to Betsy Hudson. I had low white blood cells all my life. It however goes up and down since I became vegan. However it doesn't make me more vulnerable to infections as a vegan. As I matter of fact I am at least twice as healthy and have a lot more stamina since going plant based.

By: Russell Long

Russell Long — Sat, 21 May 2022 21:20:32 +0000

In reply to Betsy Hudson. Years later, Despite adding fish to my diet, I still hover slightly below below normal range. My diet is about 95% plants. Before adding fish, I was even lower. So the theory and research listed above makes a lot of sense.

By: Betsy Hudson

Betsy Hudson — Sat, 21 May 2022 03:26:40 +0000

In reply to Z. I was recently diagnosed with lower than normal WBC. I ,too, am a plant-based whole food consumer. My primary care physician is referring me to a blood specialist for the same concerns mentioned by my fellow repliers on this string. Being led to this article is an omen from God that my lifestyle changes (including exercise and spiritual meditation) have contributed to better health. I plan to add B12 to my diet, however, because research consistently shows that this vitamin is deficient in non omnivores.

By: Cin

Cin — Tue, 19 Apr 2022 08:21:03 +0000

I’m female, 45 I’ve been vegan for 12 years. I consume a lot of nutritional yeast, organic tofu, green Veggies and take a multivitamin supplement every now and then.
I did a complete blood work 1 year ago (including hormones) and it was all balanced except for the blood white cells, which was low, close to minimum range.
I’m healthy – I don’t have any healthy problem and I rarelly have cold or any other illness (got covid twice though, but recovered quickly). My periods are regular in painless – I don’t have PMS since added organic tofu in my daily meals.
I wonder if low white cells in healthy vegan is due to consuming less food that causes inflamation in the body

By: Orlando

Orlando — Tue, 14 Dec 2021 08:05:33 +0000

In reply to Innes Hope. I stopped eating animal products for four years now and the result is that my health has improved enormously. I was a mucus generator before I stopped eating meat. Now I have a cold rarely, and I am, to a great extent, mucus free and healthy. I have a low white blood cell count, but I had that as a heavy meat and dairy eater in the past as well! Despite having the same low white blood cell count of the past, my health has improved so much. Scientists should look into this subject more intensively. A plant based diet had been proven to be a much better option in my case, than eating meat