Your basophil value tells you how many basophils are in your blood, and for almost everyone that is almost nothing. Basophils are white blood cells, the rarest of the five kinds of immune cell in your blood count; they carry histamine and take part in allergic reactions in tissue. In adults 0 to 0.2 x10⁹/l is normal, whatever you weigh. In a weight-loss programme this is the value that moves least: from your baseline to your six-month check the range stays the same. A low or zero result is normal and needs nothing. If something does change lastingly, the explanation lies outside your programme, and other values in the same tube then tell you far more about your progress.
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Basophils are one of the five types of white blood cell, normally 0 to 2 percent of the total. The upper limit at the laboratories lies between 0.15 and 0.2 × 10^9/l.
See the value that applies to you:
Choose male or female — this range differs by sex.
Enter your age — this range changes with age.
This range also depends on context such as cycle phase or sample material; the highlighted rows apply to your group.
Source: NVKC — Nederlandse Vereniging voor Klinische Chemie en Laboratoriumgeneeskunde Reference population: Adults (NVKC)
Reference ranges may vary between laboratories. When you order a test, a BIG-registered doctor assesses your personal results in context. For treatment decisions, discuss your results with your GP.
Check your own value| Laboratory | Group | Reference value (10^9/l) | Relative scale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Star-shl | · Everyone | 0.00–0.15 10^9/l |
0 0.15
|
| Certe | · Male · 18 years and older | 0.0–0.2 10*9/L |
0 0.2
|
| Certe | · Female · 18 years and older | 0.0–0.2 10*9/L |
0 0.2
|
| Diagnostiek voor U | · Everyone · a limit, not a range | < 0.2 /nL |
0.2
|
Source: Star-shl
Source: Certe
Source: Diagnostiek voor U
Each value as the laboratory itself publishes it, retrieved in 2026.
This value counts your basophil granulocytes, the rarest of the five kinds of white blood cell your complete blood count counts separately. Basophil and basophil granulocyte are the same cell; laboratories often use the long name. The cell contains histamine and heparin and resembles the mast cell in your tissue, which releases those substances during an allergic reaction.
You see two numbers. The percentage is the share within your white blood cells; the absolute figure is the number of cells per litre of blood, in billions, written as x10⁹/l. Look at the absolute figure, because the percentage shifts as soon as the other cell types change.
For adults the basophil value sits between 0 and 0.2 x10⁹/l, which comes to 0 to 2 percent of your white blood cells. Your weight does not change that range, and for a programme that matters more than it seems: many values shift while you lose weight, but this one does not. The reference stays the same from your baseline to your final check.
The test runs automatically within your blood count, together with your red blood cells, your haemoglobin and your platelets, so you do not request basophils separately. One thing determines how you read the result: of all cell types the machine counts this one least accurately, and near the upper limit the measurement variation rises above twenty percent. A small difference between two measurements is therefore usually the machine and not you.
In a programme where you track values, this is the one that moves least, and that is no loss: you can tick it off quickly and look further. At your baseline it sits somewhere between 0 and 0.2 x10⁹/l, and that is your comparison point. After three months it is virtually the same, and small differences are measurement variation. After six months it still sits in the same range, even with substantial weight loss.
Compare that with values that do respond to your programme. Your HbA1c, your liver values, your triglycerides and your ferritin all shift with weight loss. Basophils do not, and that is exactly why a change here is not down to the weight loss.
If you end up persistently above 0.2 x10⁹/l, that is not attributable to your programme. The most common causes are reactive: prolonged allergic reactions, chronic inflammation and an underactive thyroid; autoimmune diseases can accompany it too. That thyroid deserves a separate remark here. If your weight loss stalls while you are sticking to the plan, a thyroid check is worthwhile, not because of your basophils but because it answers the question you actually have at that moment. In parasitic infections it is mainly the eosinophil granulocyte count that rises, a related cell in the same differential.
If a rise persists without explanation, a doctor should look at it, and that weighs more if your total white blood cell count is raised as well. Such a lasting pattern is one of the findings that makes a doctor consider rare disorders of the bone marrow too. That is a reason to have it assessed and never something you can read from a result yourself.
You do not have this value drawn on its own; it comes along with a complete blood count with differential. In a monitoring programme you usually draw at fixed points: a baseline before you start, a check around three months, and every six months after that. Your basophils are included automatically.
For this value you do not need to wait for a particular moment; it has no daily rhythm and does not change with what you eat. Other values in the same tube do impose conditions, because glucose and triglycerides are best drawn fasting, so follow the instructions for the whole package. Report which medication you use with the request, including your GLP-1 medication.
If you see a rise at a check, plan one repeat after a few weeks; because of the measurement variation a one-off rise often disappears by itself. With a low or absent count you do nothing. It requires no extra draw and no extra appointment.
If your basophils are low you will notice nothing and nothing is wrong. Zero is the lower limit of normal, so 0.0 x10⁹/l belongs there, and these cells are so rare that a counted tube often contains none at all.
That happens frequently and has nothing to do with weight loss or with your medication. No disease is recognised on a routine result by low basophils, so you need do nothing, and nothing has to be repeated.
You do not feel a raised basophil granulocyte count; what you do notice belongs to the underlying cause. With an allergic reaction you may have itching, sneezing or a skin rash. With an underactive thyroid it means tiredness, feeling cold and stalling weight loss, and that last one is the pattern to watch in a programme. With chronic inflammation the symptoms depend on the condition.
One mild rise falls inside the measurement uncertainty. If the rise stays without explanation, put it to your doctor.
Leukaemia
A raised basophil count occurs in some forms of leukaemia, such as chronic and acute myeloid leukaemia, often together with more eosinophils.
Toxic substances
Exposure to toxic substances can raise the number of basophils in the blood.
Radiation
The basophil count can also be raised after radiation.
No food, exercise or supplement changes this value in a targeted way, and weight loss does not either, however well your programme is going. That is exactly what makes this value useful in your overview: it is a fixed point among the values that do move, and if you see something change here, it is not down to your approach.
If you do want to act on a rise, focus on the cause. Limit allergic triggers that bother you and make sure you get enough sleep, because recovery keeps your immune defence balanced.
If your weight stalls while you stick to the plan, have your thyroid checked through your doctor, and not with iodine or other over-the-counter products.
Do not use supplements promising to improve your white blood cells. For this value no product works, and there is nothing to improve.
What does pay off: keep all your measurements in one place. Record your basophil granulocytes together with your eosinophils and your total white blood cell count, because for a value that fluctuates this much the line across three measurements is the only thing that really counts.
Nothing in particular. Zero is the lower limit of the normal range, so low or absent basophils fall within normal. These cells are so rare that they are often missing from a counted tube, and no condition presents on a routine result as a shortage. There is nothing you need to do about it.
There is no single value that identifies it, and no blood result can be judged at home. A doctor looks at the complete blood count at once: the total white blood cell count, your haemoglobin, your platelets and the proportions in the differential. A persistently raised basophil count is one of the findings that prompts a doctor to look further; on its own it is not an indication and certainly not a diagnosis.
No. Reduced basophils are not an existing abnormality, because the normal range already starts at zero and you cannot sit below the lower limit. On top of that, the number sits near the detection limit of the machine. So there is nothing to treat and nothing to repeat.
Not demonstrably. Unlike your HbA1c, your liver values or your triglycerides, this value does not respond to weight loss. Small differences between your baseline and your three-month check are almost always measurement variation; if you see a lasting change, the explanation lies outside your programme.
A common rhythm is a baseline before you start, a check around three months and every six months after that. Your basophils are included automatically. Drawing more often gains nothing for this value, because the measurement variation is larger than the change you would want to see.
HbA1c shows how your blood sugar sits across weeks, your liver values and triglycerides respond clearly to weight loss, ferritin and haemoglobin guard your iron status with a lower intake, and your thyroid values explain a stall. Those tell you far more about progress than your basophils.
These panels measure values from the same category as this marker.
Red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets in one test — a broad look at your blood.
Complete blood count, iron status, vitamin B12 and vitamin D in one panel — eating a lot less also means fewer nutrients coming in.
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Dr. Naimi oversees the medical standards behind our content and assessments.
Medical policyDoctor's Assessment Included
Every result includes a professional assessment from a BIG-registered doctor. For treatment decisions, discuss your results with your GP.
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