Donating Blood

m_puppy

It isn't possible for keto to affect donating blood, right? I mean, I understand that if I'm dehydrated that there would be an issue. But I was under the impression that having ketones in the blood wouldn't at all matter. Except today when I donated blood my body wasn't willing to just give it away. It put up a fight. My blood kept clotting. I've never had this happen before. Anyone else have this trouble (keto or not)? The good news is that I am not likely to bleed out anytime soon.

mongoosealamode

Oh no.. I hope not. I have an appointment Thursday.

wabmester

I'm not sure the clotting is a good thing. It's worth researching a bit more.

This isn't intended to scare anyone, just one of the first hits I got:

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/1997-11/AHA-HMMR-241197.php

GSD_Mama

Sheesh, I'm so tired of all the contradictions, I don't know what to believe anymore, what to eat, what to drink, etc.

m_puppy

I haven't clicked the link but I want to clarify that I don't think the clotting is a good thing either. I should have used my sarcastic font I think I drank plenty of water. I read yesterday about people with a disorder where their kidneys kick water out too quickly. Those people benefit from a higher sodium diet. I wondered if maybe Keto mimics it. If you saw my arms this morning you would probably be shocked. I don't think I'll be donating blood again. I'm a little too freaked out now about what can go wrong.

m_puppy

Ok I clicked the link.

A study with 18 men. I will say this, my dad got a blood clot after breaking his leg. He was put on a high carb, low fat, no veggie diet by Mayo. They told him it would help thin his blood.

I've also found a study that says BP and viscosity are related. My BP was 100/60. Not sure if it actually has anything to do with anything though.

wabmester

That is a great BP. One of the effects of the diet is to dump sodium, which lowers BP.

I could only find one study that suggested some clotting risk on a ketogenic diet:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19628783

increases hypofibrinolytic risk by inducing expression of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1.

Hypofibrinolytic means it lowers a factor that breaks up clots.

RisiM

Perhaps that's another reason to add some salt to meals?

sweetteadrinker2

I asked about this recently at a blood drive, they said that it was perfectly fine to donate and was encouraged (we recover faster for some reason? ), but they'd make a note to not give the blood to a diabetic. No clue why. This was blood source during a drive at my school.

wabmester

There's a diabetic complication where they produce way too many ketones, so they probably prefer low-ketone blood for diabetic transfusions.

FIT_Goat

I've donated blood without issues. I never even mention that I do keto.

wabmester

Goat blood?

m_puppy

I didn't mention that I do Keto. I'm really leaning toward this being an under hydrated issue. Come on! No one wants to see the track marks?! I'm disappointed in you all Hahahaha