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Natural Killer Cell Content

Natural killer cells can have their population increased by nutritional supplements, which usually (but not always) results in an increase in activity.

Kamal Patel
Research analysis led by .
Reviewed by
Examine.com Team
Last Updated:

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Human Effect Matrix

The Human Effect Matrix looks at human studies (it excludes animal and in vitro studies) to tell you what supplements affect natural killer cell content.
Grade Level of Evidence
Robust research conducted with repeated double-blind clinical trials
Multiple studies where at least two are double-blind and placebo controlled
Single double-blind study or multiple cohort studies
Uncontrolled or observational studies only
Level of Evidence
? The amount of high quality evidence. The more evidence, the more we can trust the results.
Supplement Magnitude of effect
? The direction and size of the supplement's impact on each outcome. Some supplements can have an increasing effect, others have a decreasing effect, and others have no effect.
Consistency of research results
? Scientific research does not always agree. HIGH or VERY HIGH means that most of the scientific research agrees.
Notes
grade-b
Fish Oil
- High See all 3 studies
Although one increase in NK cell content has been noted after exercise, the two studies using similar doses at rest have failed to find a significant influence on NK cell content
grade-c
Eleutherococcus senticosus
Minor - See study
An increase has been noted, but there is insufficient evidence to assess the magnitude of increase or the reliability
grade-c
Garlic
Minor Very High See 2 studies
There is an increase in NK cell levels seen in both healthy controls as well as cancer patients, and this is thought to be due in part to both immunostimulatory and anti-immunosuppressive effects.

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grade-c
Holy Basil
 
grade-c
Colostrum
 
grade-c
Hesperidin
 
grade-c
Polypodium leucotomos
 
grade-c
Vitamin E
 
grade-d
Spirulina
 
grade-d
Blueberry
 
grade-d
Astaxanthin
 
grade-d
Trametes versicolor
 
grade-d
Vitamin C
 

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By becoming an Examine Plus member, you'll have access to all of the latest nutrition research on over 300 supplements across over 500 different health goals, outcomes, conditions, and more.

Things to Note

Also Known As

NK cell, natural killer cell

This page is regularly updated, to include the most recently available clinical trial evidence.

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This page features 0 references. All factual claims are followed by specifically-applicable references. Click here to see the full set of research information and references for Natural Killer Cell Content.

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