The blood platelets in your body keep you from bleeding to death when you sustain a cut or laceration. These tiny, colorless entities stick together to form blood clots in the presence of oxygen. Your physician may advise you to take vitamin supplements or medications to boost blood platelet production, but there are foods you can include in your diet to increase platelets as well.
Liver
Include liver in your diet to improve the level of platelets in your blood. Liver is a good source of iron and protein, nutrients that positively influence blood platelet count. A 3.5 oz. serving of beef liver provides you with 29 g of protein and 6.5 mg of iron. Adults require 50 to 175 g of protein and 8 to 11 mg of iron in their diets each day to bolster platelet count. You also get small amounts of vitamin C and zinc -- these nutrients have also proven to increase blood platelets.
Brown Rice
The Platelet Disorder Support Association suggests consuming brown rice as a means of increasing your blood platelet levels. Eating brown rice instead of white rice helps you boost the nutritional value of the rice, which helps keep your blood platelets high. You get a small amount of protein in a cup of brown rice -- 4.5 g -- as well as 1 mg of iron and 1.2 mg of zinc, all of which influence platelet count.
Chicken
Eat chicken to improve blood platelet levels in your body. A 1-cup serving of chicken breast meat without the skin contains 43.3 g of protein. This lean poultry also contains a small quantity of iron: 1.4 mg. Because chicken is low in saturated fat, it can help reduce your risk of fatty buildup in your blood vessels, which can restrict blood flow and make blood platelets less effective. This portion of chicken also provides you with a small amount of zinc.
Dried Beans
When your blood platelet count is low, introduce more dried beans into your diet, including garbanzo beans, black beans, lentils and cannellini beans. A 1-cup portion of kidney beans, for instance, contains 43.3 g of protein and 15 mg of iron. You also get 35 mcg of vitamin K, 5.1 mg of zinc and 8.3 mg of vitamin C.
Oysters
Put oysters in your diet to help grow blood platelets. A 3-oz. serving of cooked oysters provides you with 66.8 mg of zinc, 9.7 g of protein and 7.8 mg of iron.
Citrus Fruit
The vitamin C in your diet ups your production of blood platelets, thereby influencing the effectiveness of your immune system. Eating citrus fruit is one of the best sources of vitamin C. One cup of orange sections, for instance, introduces 97.5 mg of this vitamin into your diet. Small quantities of protein, zinc and iron also come in oranges, making this fruit and others in the citrus family excellent choices for platelet activity.
References
- The Franklin Institute: Platelets: Sticky Situations
- Chemocare.com: Low Blood Counts
- "Journal of the National Medical Association"; Platelet Parameters in Women With Iron Deficiency Anemia; Gurhan Kadikoylu, et al.; March 2006
- USDA National Nutrient Database: Beef, Variety Meats and By-Products, Liver, Cooked, Braised
- MayoClinic.com; Healthy Diet: End the Guesswork With These Nutrition Guidelines; February 2011
- University of Maryland Medical Center; Iron; June 2009
