How to increase white blood cell count?

Short-term practices discussed include sauna, exercise, cold exposure, and managing stress; these may affect white blood cell counts or immune-cell activity, but they are not a guaranteed way to treat a low count.

• 15-minute Finnish sauna: A single 15-minute session was reported to improve white blood cell profiles; another sauna study found increased leukocyte counts after sessions, with results varying by participants and protocol. 1 2
• Exercise: Brief, intense exercise can raise epinephrine and support short-term immune function. The discussion also notes that regular exercise can make a stronger stimulus necessary to produce an immune response. 3 4
• Cold exposure: Cold showers can move white blood cells from vessel walls into circulation, raising the measured blood count without increasing the total number of cells. Repeated cold exposure was also associated with trends toward increased immune-cell markers. 5 6
• Stress: Brief stress and the accompanying epinephrine increase may support immune function for a short period, while stress that stays high too long can hinder it. 7
• Expressive journaling: Writing about stressful or traumatic experiences was associated with greater T-lymphocyte activation in response to an immune challenge than neutral writing; greater disclosure was linked to stronger activation. 8