01Markers · Blood and iron
Red cells
Red blood cell count
The number of red blood cells in a set volume of blood. Red cells carry oxygen using hemoglobin.
- Measured in
- Blood (whole blood)
- Units
- million cells/µL, 10^12/L
- Also called
- erythrocyte count, RBC
- Iron
- Ashwagandha
- L-carnitine
- Zinc
- Creatine
- NAD+
- Ubiquinol (CoQ10)
- Omega-3
- Magnesium
- Berberine
- Collagen
- Finnish sauna
- HIIT
- L-theanine
- Lion's mane
- Melatonin
- Milk thistle
- NAC
- PQQ
- Red yeast rice
- Resveratrol
- Taurine
- Vitamin C
- Vitamin D3
- Vitamin E
- Vitamin K2
- Zone 2 cardio
AWhat moves Red cells
9 of 27 studied
Moves it3
Human studies found a change. The grade reflects the studies behind it, from A (strongest) to D.
IronRaisesGrade B
Iron raises red cells.
Human trials · Moderate effect · 0 studies linked
This result is graded, but no study is linked to it yet. Treat it as unconfirmed.
RBC increase lags Hb increase due to long erythrocyte lifespan (~120 days)
AshwagandhaRaisesGrade C
Ashwagandha raises red cells.
Human trials · 1 study linked
L-carnitineRaisesGrade C
L-carnitine raises red cells.
Human trials · Modest effect · 0 studies linked
This result is graded, but no study is linked to it yet. Treat it as unconfirmed.
23 studies in corpus; RBC count improvement parallels hemoglobin increase in dialysis populations. Effect secondary to improved erythropoiesis and erythrocyte membrane stability.
Studied, no change6
Studies looked and found no meaningful change. That is a result, not missing data.
ZincNo changeGrade B
Studies of Zinc found no change in red cells.
Human trials · 2 studies linked
CRITICAL SAFETY SIGNAL: High-dose zinc (>40 mg/d chronic) induces copper deficiency via intestinal metallothionein → sideroblastic anemia with reduced RBC count and hemoglobin. This is documented in case reports (osadchyi_2025) and the munk_2022 RCT. Monitoring RBC/CBC is warranted at high doses.
CreatineNo changeGrade B
Studies of Creatine found no change in red cells.
1 study linked
RBC count not significantly changed; nominal hemodilution from water retention may reduce concentration marginally but not to clinical significance
NAD+No changeGrade B
Studies of NAD+ found no change in red cells.
Human trials · 1 study linked
Grade corrected from A to B: single source RCT only.
Ubiquinol (CoQ10)No changeGrade C
Studies of Ubiquinol (CoQ10) found no change in red cells.
Human trials · 1 study linked
Omega-3No changeGrade C
Studies of Omega-3 found no change in red cells.
Small effect · 0 studies linked
This result is graded, but no study is linked to it yet. Treat it as unconfirmed.
Erythrocyte membrane composition changes (increased omega-3 index) without significant change in RBC count in standard supplementation trials.
MagnesiumNo changeGrade D
Studies of Magnesium found no change in red cells.
0 studies linked
This result is graded, but no study is linked to it yet. Treat it as unconfirmed.
Mg is not an erythropoietic factor. RBC count unaffected by supplementation.
Not studied18
No usable human study has measured Red cells with these. A gap is not a negative result: nobody has looked.
BerberineCollagenFinnish saunaHIITL-theanineLion's maneMelatoninMilk thistleNACPQQRed yeast riceResveratrolTaurineVitamin CVitamin D3Vitamin EVitamin K2Zone 2 cardio