Introduction:

• Giving blood is something I have thought about doing a number of times over the years but never seemed to find time to actually do it. I finally managed to break a habit of a lifetime when I booked an appointment in December 2016, and had my first experience giving blood a couple of months ago.
• It wasn’t until the time approached that I started to look into the benefits of doing so, obviously there were the altruistic reasons, I also knew there were some health benefits but had no idea what they were. I was astonished when I realised just how good for you – let alone the recipient – giving blood is. The first thing to know is that human blood can’t be manufactured (yet), therefore the only source of blood supply is donations, hence the importance of everyone who can give, doing so.
• Removing blood from the human body has been around for centuries as a way to improve health and whilst thankfully science has progressed sufficiently to mean doctors no longer undertake bloodletting for everything from acne to gout, diabetes and strokes, the fact that it stayed around suggests some good can come of it.
• Giving blood is also a great example of hormesis. Hormesis involves exposing your body to small doses of things that in large quantities would be very damaging, but in small doses improve the body. Obviously if you give too much blood you’ll die, but giving a small amount actually forces your body to respond in a positive way to repair and improve its resilience, so that if it happens again or happens in a stronger way, i.e. you lose more blood through an accident than you normally donate, your response improves. If you are interested in finding out more about hormesis I suggest you check out this blog post: http://jablifestyle.net/2017/03/05/achieve-optionality/
• The aim of this piece is to discuss each of the 7 key benefits of giving blood in detail, from starving off a cold to reducing your risk of a heart attack, as well as share some key additional information you should be aware of if you are thinking about giving blood.
• An important disclaimer before I go into more detail: I am absolutely not a doctor, and don’t try to be one on the internet, if you think there is any medical condition you that could prevent you donating please consult a doctor. Additionally, those who have recently had surgery, received vaccinations, have cancer, diabetes or a cold/flu should consult a doctor before considering giving blood.

Why Give Blood?

Altruistic Reasons

• At its most basic level, by giving blood you are helping others, simple. Your blood could be used for a blood transfusion to someone who has been in a car accident, or could be used in labs to help find a cure for a horrible disease. The list of applications is huge, but the important point is that you are helping other people in a small, but potentially significant, way.

Free (Mini) Health Check Up

• It is obvious when you think about it, but before your blood can be given to someone else it needs to be sufficiently tested to ensure it is safe to do so. Before the blood donation is even taken from you, your blood pressure is measured and your iron levels – technical term being haemoglobin levels – are tested. They need to ensure both are within the ‘normal’ range. Post donation your blood is then tested for infectious diseases including HIV, hepatitis B, C & E and syphilis. Add all these up and you end up with a good mini-health check-up, if anything seems out of sorts you’ll be made aware and then be able to consult the findings with your doctor.

Prevent Iron Overload

• Whilst iron is an essential element for the human body, with its primary function being in making red blood cells – which carry oxygen around the body, too much iron can be a significant problem. Iron overload – or hemochromatosis to use its technical term – is a condition that can be inherited or caused by too much alcohol, anaemia or excess iron in your diet. Giving blood regularly helps prevent iron overload. Iron overload causes oxidative damage, and increased blood viscosity, i.e. thicker blood. The thicker your blood the harder it is to circulate amount the body effectively, the more likely it is to get blocked in arteries and the less nutrients it’ll be able to deliver to tissues. These can lead to significant damage to major organs:
  • Heart – Excess iron stored in the heart can lead to heart abnormalities such as an irregular heart rhythm and even a heart attack. This occurs as a result of the high iron levels constricting blood vessels, therefore reducing blood flow in your circulatory system, which in turns leads to harden of arteries and eventually a heart attack. In fact a study in the American Journal of Epidemiology found that donating blood at least one a year, reduced your risk of a heart attack by a massive 88%
  • Liver – Excess iron stored in the liver significantly increases the risk of cirrhosis, liver failure.
• At this point it is worth highlighting that iron overload is more likely to occur in men than woman, therefore these benefits are more applicable to men. A major reason for the lower iron levels in the blood for woman is the monthly period.

Anti-cancer benefits

• The anti-cancer benefits of giving blood are also related to iron levels. It has been found that iron can increase free-radical damage in the body and has been linked to an increased risk of cancer and aging, says a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. This study was conducted over 4.5 years with 1,200 and found that those who gave bloody twice a year, were at a lower risk of cancer.

Burning Calories

• According to the University of California, San Diego, regularly giving blood can help donors lose weight. The main reason for this is that it ‘costs’ the body 650 Kcal to ‘deal with’ each blood donation in terms of replenishing the blood lost. However, given how infrequently you are allowed to donate, 650 Kcal is a drop in the ocean so giving blood should not be seen as a part of a good weight loss programme. If you are looking to lose weight I suggest you read this post which covers the weight loss fundamentals: http://jablifestyle.net/2017/01/17/weight-loss-fundamentals/

New & Healthy blood cells

• As alluded to above, after blood is taken your body will work to replenish the lost blood cells. The newer blood cells tend to be healthier than those it is replacing, meaning you have newer & healthier blood circulating around your body, helping circulation and removal of harmful substances in the blood stream.

General Illness Prevention

• Surplus iron in the body might be bad for our major organs however infectious agents love iron and use it to survive and grow. Therefore, reducing the level of iron in the blood stream, through giving blood, you can starve these infectious agents – such as cold and flu – and prevent, or at least lessen the likelihood of becoming ill.

Additional Information 

• Now the benefits are covered, I want to touch on a few of the other key points you should be aware of if your looking to give blood.
• Firstly, when you donate blood you are donating 350ml, a little over half a pint.
• Secondly, after you’ve given blood you have to wait 56 days or 8 weeks before you can donate again. This is to provide sufficient time for your body to replenish the lost red blood cells. Personally, I’m signed up to give blood every 4 months – significantly more than the minimum – but that is mainly because that’s how regularly my local blood giving centre is open.
• Thirdly, not everyone can give blood. To be able to give blood you need to be aged between 18 & 60, and weigh more than 110 lbs. Additionally, if you have an active infection – even a cold of flu – or disease such as HIV, AIDS or hepatitis you should not attempt to give blood.
• Fourthly, if you decide you want to give blood you need to be conscious of your well-being on the day. You should ensure that you are sufficiently rested, don’t undertake heavy lifting – gym or otherwise – on the day, ensure you are drinking at least 2 litres of water a day and think especially carefully about food you have. Ensure you are eating ‘real food’, with lots of vegetables, complex carbohydrates only, and leave out fried or other unhealthy food.
• For more information on the frequency asked questions related to Giving Blood, the Red Cross have an excellent repository which you can find here: http://www.redcrossblood.org/donating-blood/donation-faqs

Conclusion  

• I’m really glad I’ve started giving blood. Beyond the altruistic reasons I was concerned about the potential negative implications of having too much iron in my bloody – especially given my high protein diet – and have been fascinated by the other health benefits that are associated with giving blood.
• If you have never signed-up to give blood before – and you are able to – I’d highly recommend it. Once your signed-up and given blood once and given the over-head is minimal and for me will take up around 4hrs of my time over a period of a year, such a small investment in time.

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