Eating More After Giving Blood

[jldx2in2000]

I have regularly been giving blood for several years now. I normally have tried to eat a little extra (about 200 calories more) on the day I give blood because I always thought that was necessary.

Just curious if anyone (especially those in the medical or fitness fields-but all opinions are welcome ) have any advice on whether eating more after giving blood is necessary? If so how much should I aim for and are there specific (clean) foods that are best to eat?

In case it makes a difference, I am trying to lose some body fat while maintaining (or increasing if possible) my lean muscle mass. However, since I don't have a lot to lose, it is not like I am looking for a loss every week and would be ok at maintaining.

I am supposed to give blood this afternoon.

Thanks in advance for any input!

 

[jldx2in2000]

Well, after giving blood yesterday, I didn't eat any extra calories.

So far, so good. I was even able to get up this morning and do Low Impact Circuit, Cardio Blast Timesaver. I probably wasn't able to give my all out intensity but at least I did it.

Hopefully it is ok to do this and I didn't hurt my body or metabolism by not eating extra.

Although I didn't get any responses to my first post, I am still interested in whether it is important to eat extra on the day I donate blood.

Thanks!

 

[Stebby]

I'm not a medical person, but I would think you should concentrate on drinking extra water and electrolytes on the day you give blood, not eating extra food. Your body stores calories in muscle and fat tissue, not in the blood. You will be somewhat dehydrated after giving blood because of the volume of liquid that is removed from your body.

Stebby

 

[jldx2in2000]

Thanks Stebby!

What you said makes sense. Blood would be made up of water not calories from food. I do make sure I drink extra water on the day I give (maybe 40 oz. more than my usual). I am also upping my water intake today as well. I normally drink about a gallon of water a day so upping it can be difficult when you don't want to have to run to the bathroom every hour!

Thanks for the response!

 

[LaughingWater]

I'm afraid I don't have any advice.

I did want to add that I've been donating for years, and my workouts are always super crappy for 2 to 3 days post-donation. I don't normally drink anything but milk, water, and juice, but I wonder if I should take in Gatorade before and after donating.

 

[dragonf1y]

I try to increase my iron intake after giving blood as well as fluids, although not calories.
You will need the iron to make more blood platelets. And fluid to create more plasma.