10 Benefits of Donating Blood
Donating blood is a kind act that takes little effort from the donor, but can really save lives. It is a safe way to reach out and touch someone’s life without needing to do much. The process employs the use of sterile equipment for every donor. This means that there is no risk of contracting any blood-borne infections or diseases.
A healthy adult can easily donate up to a pint of blood with no negative side effects. And if you have a rare blood type, your blood will make an even bigger difference to whoever receives it. After donating blood, your body will naturally replace the lost fluids within 48 hours. The body replenishes the lost blood within four to eight weeks.
Whenever you donate blood, you not only touch someone’s life, but also benefit from the act. Here are 10 benefits of donating blood.
Benefit #1: Helps Save Lives
Everyone knows that by donating blood you save lives. But how do you save lives? Donated blood can be used in a whole range of different circumstances. Patients who were in an accident or got injured and are losing blood will need a blood transfusion to aid in their recovery. Patients undergoing surgical treatment will also need donated blood to replace blood lost during the surgery.
Most donated blood will go to people who have chronic medical conditions that need blood regularly, such as cancer patients and people with blood diseases like hemophilia. These people need blood on a regular basis. It is for this reason that donating blood is such a blessing.
Benefit #2: Lowers Your Risk of Getting Cancer
This may sound shocking to many people and they may even think it’s untrue. However, donating blood does play a great role in preventing cancer. This does not mean that a donor cannot get cancer. It just means that you can lower your chances of getting cancer by donating blood regularly.
This is because when you donate blood, the iron stores within your body remain at a more healthy level. A lower iron store level in the body is connected to a lower cancer risk. A medical study has shown that older men were able to lower their risk for cancer by donating their blood.
Benefit #3: Reduces Iron Stores
Iron stimulates the body’s cells to release free radicals. These are unstable molecules that can lead to cancer and other diseases related to ageing such as diabetes. Too much iron is also linked to metabolic syndrome that is characterized by hypertension, obesity, insulin resistance, and glucose intolerance. Studies show that many people take in more iron than their bodies actually need to maintain good health.
By donating blood, you reduce iron stores in your body and, therefore, lower your risk of developing a number of diseases as well as keeping your heart healthy. With every blood donation, you lower the iron levels in your body and thus reduce your risk of getting many diseases.
Benefit #4: Burns Calories
This will probably surprise you, but donating blood often helps you to burn some calories. In fact, your body can burn up to 650 calories every time you donate one pint of blood. This happens due to the process your body goes through to replace the blood plasma that is lost during the donation.
This means that a person who donates blood regularly loses weight as a result. However, blood donation should not be seen as a quick way to lose weight. After all, you need to wait for at least 56 days before donating another pint of blood. If you are looking to lose weight, follow a healthy diet and proper exercise.
Benefit #5: Improves Heart Health
Another surprising health benefit of donating blood regularly is the fact that it helps improve the health of your heart. Once again, high body iron stores come into play in the health of your body. High iron stores increase your risk factor for acute myocardial infarction, which is the other name for a heart attack. Therefore, by donating blood, you can reduce your risk by effectively decreasing your iron levels.
According to a study, the risk of a heart attack was lower in people who regularly donated blood when compared to their counterparts who did not donate blood at all.
Benefit #6: You Get Free Blood Analysis
An obvious benefit to donating blood often is that you will get an up-to-date and free analysis of your blood. In addition to getting a basic health check, your blood will be checked out too. All blood must be tested for things like syphilis, HIV, and hepatitis before it can even be considered for donation. This means that labs will immediately pick up if something’s not right. You will be informed of any problems or health issues.
Therefore, instead of heading to your nearest doctor and paying for a blood analysis, you can do a nice thing by donating blood and you will get a free analysis.
Benefit #7: You Feel Good for Helping
After donating blood, you can be sure that it will go toward helping someone who is in dire need of it. A person whose life may depend on it. Knowing that your blood went toward saving another human life is actually an amazing feeling. If you donate often, you’ll feel a sense of accomplishment that you cannot get for any amount of money.
And who really doesn’t want to feel good knowing that they will most definitely lead to saving the life of a stranger? Although you will get no thanks for the act, it is a very satisfying and thoughtful thing to do. A feeling of the good person that you are.
Benefit #8: Improves Insulin Sensitivity
A little-known benefit of donating blood is the fact that frequent blood donations can help increase your insulin sensitivity. When your insulin sensitivity is low, the body, or more precisely, the pancreas, is put under a lot of pressure to produce more insulin.
Your body requires insulin to transport sugar from the bloodstream into the cells. When the body has low insulin, it leads to chronic high blood pressure levels, which in turn can increase your risk of a number of diseases including heart disease and diabetes. With frequent donations, the body gets help to make better use of insulin.
Benefit #9: Lengthens Your Life
This goes without saying when you take into consideration all the aforementioned benefits. By donating blood regularly, there are many ways in which the body gets healthier. It lowers your iron stores, which lowers your risk for many diseases that would cause havoc on the body.
You also burn calories, which is always a good thing for the body. Your risk of cancer is also lowered as well as the possibility of heart-related issues. Donating blood also leaves you feeling useful and good because you are contributing toward saving another person’s life. This has a good effect on the mind, which is an important component of a healthy, happy, and long life.
Benefit #10: Renews Your Blood Supply
When you donate blood, it naturally needs to be replenished. The body is a wonderful thing and will start getting on that immediately. Within 24 to 48 hours, your body would have replaced all the blood plasma that was lost, provided you didn’t donate more than a pint; in which case it may take longer to replace.
This means that your body now has fresh blood supply pumping through the veins. This is a good thing because it helps the body remain healthy and function more efficiently. Your body will take longer to replenish the red blood cells. This usually happens within 4 to 8 weeks, and sometimes for 12 weeks or longer. This is not a health risk though.
