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Does blood donation help you lose weight?


As a calorie-counting "exercise", blood donation seems pretty dubious.  The calories you burn may be negated by your need to eat a sensible meal before you donate and have some carbohydrate-based snacks afterward.

However, there are benefits for those with elevated serum ferritin levels, which is to say people who seem to have a higher-than-healthy amount of iron stored in their body.

The most effective way iron in the body is regulated is for blood to leave the body regularly.  Since men and postmenopausal women don't have a mechanism for that to happen periodically, blood donation is an especially valuable means for them to help lower those levels and presumably reduce iron stores to a healthier level.

And as it turns out, high serum ferritin levels have been argued to be a marker (not cause, marker) for metabolic syndrome.  And a great deal of those trying to lose a significant amount of weight in modern times are struggling with insulin resistance due to metabolic syndrome.

I'm not aware of any evidence that reducing excess iron can help achieve a healthier weight.  It would be an interesting study, but there's this whole image problem therapeutic phlebotomy has — you may recall it was a little too popular a couple centuries ago — so I doubt we'll see it soon.

But there is evidence that, for non-hockey-playing males or postmenopausal females who are looking to lose weight, it might (statistically speaking) be a great idea to donate blood.

Note: I am totally not an expert, so consider this hearsay at best.  Investigate this issue for yourself with the help of a medical professional.

 Credits: Zach Baker.

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