August 24th 2026
–
WellBeing Magazine
–
A 58-year-old woman presented to the clinic with an uncommon problem for her age. She had negotiated menopause with minimal symptoms and was healthy overall. She exercised regularly, ate largely organic food and took a general multi-B complex, vitamin E and a turmeric supplement purchased from discount chemists. Her diet was moderately low fat, low in animal proteins and, being intolerant to dairy and soy products, she mostly excluded these to avoid digestive symptoms. While she ate beans and chickpeas, she did not consume a lot of fermented foods or green leafy vegetables.
Healthwise she had the beginnings of arthritis and sometimes woke in the morning with a stiff lower back, but overall she slept well and felt she was healthy for her age.
However, one thing was bothering her — in the last few months, she was bruising much more than she used to and if she cut herself it took longer for the wound to stop bleeding. While this wasn’t a major issue at this stage, she wanted to know why and to correct it so it didn’t become a health issue. There was no known family history of this. She was not taking any pharmaceuticals (including no aspirin or blood thinners).
One of the predominant health problems today is chronic inflammation, generating stickier blood with increased problems with excess clotting, necessitating the daily ingestion of pharmaceuticals such as aspirin — so this was more unusual.
She had not been to a GP for years but she needed blood tests, so she was referred to one who would check her out. The tests recommended were a full blood count (FBC), biochemistry, coagulation studies, homocysteine, MTHFR genetic studies, C-reactive protein, vitamin D and folate, and active B12.
When she returned several weeks later, her test results were interesting. The FBC showed mildly low platelets and a couple of her coagulation measures were on the high end of normal. Homocysteine was higher than is healthy, the MTHFR studies showed a problem with folate management (despite it being just within normal range) and her liver function tests were higher than normal. Her vitamin D levels were on the lower end of normal range.
Low platelets can have many causes including low-grade but chronic infections, liver problems, autoimmune disease and low folate, among more serious conditions. However, as her blood tests were not indicating major illness, it was decided to alter her diet and supplements to see if the problem was easily corrected. Two important nutrients that help manage blood viscosity (thickness) are folate and vitamin K. Her low-fat diet (and no dairy or soy ferments) could have contributed to her being low in vitamin K2, and the testing indicated a problem with folate metabolism.
To correct these issues, she increased the vitamin K in her diet by increasing healthy fat intake (both K1 and K2 are fat-soluble nutrients and both are needed for correct blood clotting). She significantly increased her consumption of green leafy vegetables (a major source of K1). Kale, spinach, chard and dandelion greens, and broccoli and Brussels sprouts are particularly useful but need to be cooked with a little butter or olive oil.
These foods are excellent sources of folate, as are citrus fruits and kiwi fruit.
K2 is obtained more from animal foods such as fatty fish — sardines and herring. Plant foods need to be fermented with the correct bacteria. Unfortunately various dairy products and soy ferments are the highest sources of K2 (foods she is intolerant to), but organic or biodynamic eggs and fermented legumes such as black beans are useful, as are nuts and seeds.
To boost her levels, her supplements were reviewed and she was recommended a vitamin D3 and K2 supplement with food (to trigger fat digestion and metabolism) but not to take this with vitamin E — this competes for K2 metabolism as they share the same pathways.
A supplement containing methylation factors (folate, B12 and B6) was recommended to increase her folate (folic acid can impact negatively on the more biologically useful forms of folate) and lower homocysteine levels.
B12, folate, vitamin C and zinc increase platelet count. Papaya leaves are an old remedy to increase platelets when they are lowered by infections — so a herb mix containing this was prescribed along with nigella and St Mary’s Thistle to improve her liver function.
She found this regime manageable and gradually incorporated all the suggestions. After several months, her blood was retested and showed measurable improvement. Her symptoms were also improving, reducing her concerns.
This article is featured in WellBeing Magazine 223
The post Thrombocytopenia appeared first on WellBeing Magazine.
Read the full article here:
https://www.wellbeing.com.au/body/health/thrombocytopenia.html
