Key Takeaways:
- Red Blood Cell Support: Healthy red blood cell production depends on adequate nutrients and normal physiological signaling, not simply taking supplements to increase blood counts.
- Iron and Altitude: Iron status can affect hemoglobin production, while sustained altitude exposure can stimulate physiological responses involved in red blood cell production.
- Athletic Performance: Improving endurance depends on effective oxygen transport and utilization, making red blood cells one part of a larger performance system.
What actually works when figuring out how to increase red blood cells naturally? Athletes can support healthy red blood cell production through adequate nutrition, correction of nutrient deficiencies, consistent training, and physiological stimuli such as altitude exposure. The goal is not to push blood counts as high as possible, but to support the body's ability to produce healthy red blood cells and transport oxygen during demanding exercise.
At BRL Sports, we've focused on science-based performance nutrition since 2008, when our company was founded by bioengineers from the University of California San Diego. Our formulations are developed around ingredients and quantities supported by peer-reviewed research, with products third-party tested for quality, label accuracy, and banned substances. That research-first approach gives us a practical foundation for discussing blood health, oxygen transport, and endurance performance.
In this piece, we'll examine what research says about iron and endurance performance, altitude training and red blood cells, natural EPO signaling, and practical ways athletes can support their oxygen-carrying capacity.
What Actually Helps Increase Red Blood Cells Naturally?
Athletes can support healthy red blood cell production by maintaining adequate nutrient status and allowing the body to respond to training and changes in oxygen availability. Red blood cells are produced in bone marrow and contain hemoglobin, which transports oxygen from the lungs to working tissues.
Erythropoietin, or EPO, is a hormone produced primarily by the kidneys that signals bone marrow to increase red blood cell production when oxygen availability falls. What Is EPO? Natural Hormone for Endurance explains this process and why EPO is relevant to endurance physiology.
For athletes with normal blood values, however, a higher red blood cell count is not automatically better. The practical focus should be maintaining healthy blood formation and addressing factors that can limit it, such as inadequate nutrient availability. The next sections examine two specific factors with direct relevance to athletes: iron status and altitude exposure.
Iron and Endurance Performance: When Nutrition Makes a Difference
Iron supports hemoglobin production, making adequate iron status important for oxygen transport. When iron stores are low, athletes may experience reduced training capacity, fatigue, or impaired endurance, particularly if the deficiency progresses to iron-deficiency anemia.
Low Iron: Inadequate dietary intake, menstrual blood loss, gastrointestinal losses, and the demands of endurance training can contribute to low iron status. Athletes at higher risk may benefit from monitoring markers such as ferritin and hemoglobin with appropriate professional guidance.
Adequate Iron: Food sources include lean meat, seafood, legumes, leafy greens, and fortified foods. Pairing plant-based iron sources with vitamin C can improve non-heme iron absorption. Natural hemoglobin boosters are therefore better understood as nutrients that support normal hemoglobin production when the body has the resources and clinical need, rather than foods that push hemoglobin above healthy levels.
Supplementation: Iron supplements should address an identified need rather than be taken routinely for performance. More iron does not automatically improve iron and endurance performance when an athlete already has adequate stores, and unnecessary supplementation can carry risks.
Altitude Training and Red Blood Cells
Altitude training can stimulate red blood cell production because less oxygen is available at higher elevations. In response, the kidneys increase EPO signaling, which can stimulate bone marrow to produce more red blood cells. Altitude training red blood cells adaptations therefore depend on the body's response to sustained reductions in oxygen availability.
The relationship between EPO for Athletes: A Drug, a Natural Substance or Both helps distinguish the hormone the body produces naturally from prohibited synthetic forms. For athletes, this natural EPO response is one mechanism through which altitude exposure may influence blood formation.
The response is not immediate or identical for every athlete. EPO signaling can change relatively quickly, but meaningful hematological adaptation requires sufficient exposure and depends on factors such as altitude, duration, iron availability, and individual response.
How Athletes Can Support Oxygen Carrying Capacity
Oxygen carrying capacity training combines endurance conditioning with strategies that support the body's ability to transport and use oxygen efficiently. For athletes, the objective is not simply to maximize red blood cell numbers, but to support healthy blood formation alongside cardiovascular and muscular adaptations.
- Train consistently: Endurance training improves cardiovascular and muscular adaptations involved in oxygen delivery and utilization.
- Monitor blood health: Athletes with persistent fatigue or declining performance should consider appropriate testing rather than assuming they need more iron or blood-support supplements.
- Use targeted support when appropriate: EPO Boost Natural Blood Builder is formulated to support oxygen utilization, stamina, endurance, and recovery. BRL Sports also explains the intended athletic applications in How EPO Boost Makes You a Better Athlete.
- Support healthy iron status: Prohemia Blood Support Supplement is formulated to support red blood cell production, healthy iron levels, energy, and stamina.
The appropriate strategy depends on what may be limiting the athlete in the first place. Training supports oxygen-use adaptations, while nutrition and targeted supplementation can address specific needs. Neither should be treated as a shortcut for pushing red blood cell counts beyond a healthy range.
Final Thoughts
Learning how to increase red blood cells naturally starts with supporting normal physiology, not trying to maximize blood counts. Adequate iron status and appropriate altitude exposure can influence the processes involved in red blood cell and hemoglobin production.
For athletes, red blood cells are only one part of endurance performance. Consistent training, healthy blood formation, and effective oxygen utilization work together to support sustained exercise capacity.
Targeted nutritional support may complement these foundations when it addresses an athlete's specific needs, but it should not replace appropriate training, nutrition, recovery, or blood testing when a deficiency is suspected.
Frequently Asked Questions About How to Increase Red Blood Cells Naturally
Can dehydration make red blood cell levels appear higher?
Yes. Dehydration reduces plasma volume, which can temporarily increase measured hemoglobin, hematocrit, and red blood cell concentration without actually increasing red blood cell mass.
How can athletes tell if their red blood cell count is low?
A complete blood count (CBC) measures red blood cells, hemoglobin, hematocrit, and related markers. Additional testing may be needed to determine whether iron status or another factor is contributing to abnormal results.
Does blood donation affect endurance performance?
It can. Donating whole blood temporarily reduces red blood cell mass and hemoglobin, which may affect oxygen transport and endurance capacity until the body replaces the lost cells.
Can overtraining affect blood health?
Heavy training without adequate recovery or nutrition can contribute to conditions that affect blood and iron status. Persistent fatigue or an unexplained decline in performance warrants proper assessment rather than simply increasing supplements.
Do female endurance athletes need to monitor iron more closely?
Some female endurance athletes have a higher risk of iron deficiency because menstrual blood loss can add to training-related iron demands. Individual risk varies, so testing is more useful than assuming supplementation is necessary.
Can plant-based athletes maintain healthy red blood cell levels?
Yes. Plant-based athletes can support healthy blood formation with adequate iron, vitamin B12, folate, protein, and total energy intake. Because plant-based iron is generally absorbed less efficiently, careful meal planning can be especially important.
Can living at altitude permanently increase red blood cells?
Not necessarily. Hematological adaptations can diminish after returning to lower elevations because the reduced-oxygen stimulus is no longer present. How quickly this occurs varies between athletes.
Should athletes get blood tests before taking iron supplements?
Testing is advisable when iron deficiency is suspected. Ferritin, hemoglobin, and other relevant markers can help determine whether supplementation is appropriate and reduce the risk of taking unnecessary iron.
Sources:
- Sim, M., Garvican-Lewis, L. A., Cox, G. R., Govus, A., McKay, A. K. A., Stellingwerff, T., & Peeling, P. (2019). Iron considerations for the athlete: A narrative review. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 119(7), 1463–1478. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-019-04157-y
- Płoszczyca, K., Langfort, J., & Czuba, M. (2018). The effects of altitude training on erythropoietic response and hematological variables in adult athletes: A narrative review. Frontiers in Physiology, 9, 375. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2018.00375
- Chapman, R. F., Karlsen, T., Resaland, G. K., Ge, R.-L., Harber, M. P., Witkowski, S., Stray-Gundersen, J., & Levine, B. D. (2014). Defining the “dose” of altitude training: How high to live for optimal sea level performance enhancement. Journal of Applied Physiology, 116(6), 595–603. https://doi.org/10.1152/japplphysiol.00634.2013
