Vegetables contain key compounds that your immune system needs to thrive. A wide variety of vegetables might help boost your immune system by protecting and increasing your white blood cell count. Eat a rainbow spectrum of vegetables to get an assortment of immune-boosting plant chemicals.
Cruciferous Vegetables
Vegetables in the cruciferous group include broccoli, cauliflower and brussels sprouts. Cruciferous vegetables might help protect your white blood cells from damage. In a study published in March 2008 in "Molecular Nutrition and Food Research," white blood cells taken from people who ate brussels sprouts were exposed to clinically-induced damage. Eating brussels sprouts was found to protect the DNA of lymphocytes, or white blood cells, from damage.
Carrots
Carrots contain carotenoids, a plant chemical that might improve your immune health based on preliminary evidence from animal research. A study published in 2006 in the "Nigerian Journal of Physiological Sciences" found that carrot extract led to increases in lymphocyte percentages in the blood. Lymphocytes are a group of white blood cells including T cells, B cells and natural killer cells. B cells are responsible for producing the antigens, or compounds that can kill immune system invaders, and T cells help these B cells to develop. Natural killer cells release proteins that destroy tumors and infections.
Red Cabbage
Consider adding red cabbage to your diet if you want to boost your white blood cells. Anthocyanins from red cabbage have been found to have this ability, in a study published in 2009 in "Biometals." Anthocyanins are plant chemicals -- found in a variety of fruits and vegetables -- that are especially abundant in blueberries. In human lymphocytes, anthocyanins protected these cells from toxicity caused by exposure to the damaging element copper.
Garlic
Garlic is a vegetable that can potentially protect your white blood cell count. In a study published in September 2009 in the "Journal of Environmental Biology," garlic protected human white blood cells from genotoxicity in the lab. Genotoxicity can harm a cell because it involves changing of its genetic material, which can affect the integrity of the cell.
References
- "Molecular Nutrition and Food Research"; "Consumption of Brussels Sprouts Protects Peripheral Human Lymphocytes Against 2-Amino-1-Methyl-6-Phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP) and Oxidative DNA-Damage: Results of a Controlled Human Intervention Trial; Christine Hoelzl"; March 2008
- "Nigerian Journal of Physiological Sciences"; Comparative Effect of Carotenoid Complex from Golden Neo-Life Dynamic (GNLD) and Carrot Extracted Carotenoids on Immune Parameters in Albino WIstar Rats; V. S. Ekam et al.; 2006
- "Biometals"; Red Cabbage Anthocyanin Extract Alleviates Copper-Induced Cytological Disturbances in Plant Meristematic Tissue and Human Lymphocytes; Malgorzata M. Posmyk et al.; 2009
- "Journal of Environmental Biology"; Modulatory Effects of Garlic Extract Against the Cyclophosphamide Induced Genotoxicity in Human Lymphocytes in Vitro; B. Lakshmi Sowjanya et al.; September 2009
