Donated blood, should I compensate?

sybrix

So, American Cross was at our workplace today and I signed up to donate. Made sure to eat lunch beforehand and drink water. It went well, but when I was inspecting the calories of the sugary snacks on the recovery table to log them the receptionist laughed and informed me I just lost a pound and 3,000 calories from my body. :noway:

I was shocked. I think she meant it in terms of nutrients and not necessarily "food calories", if that makes any sense, but basically that my body took a hit nutrient-wise... since the blood carries vital nutrients. I assume this is why people who don't eat enough before giving blood lose consciousness.

So.. I'm not sure if that ridiculously high number has any validity but either way, should I still eat my typical deficit today? I definitely can't lift like I originally planned tonight, but I was wondering if maybe I should eat at maintenance today as well. I don't want to deprive my body of nutrients, but I also don't want to set myself back this week since I had a bad week last week...

Any advice?

nikkit321

I log it as "blood donation" in my exercise log worth 650 calories. I don't remember which website I found it at, but that's what it said. I tend to be starving the rest of the day after I donate, so I do think our bodies do need the extra calories as well as additional fluid to replace the blood volume.

sybrix

650 sounds about right. It sounds like that's how many calories the body expends to replenish the blood over the next few days?

Not sure where 3,000 came from... unless it takes weeks, not days to fully replenish a pint of blood..?

Anyway... I'll take a day off from working out and eat at maintenance to be on the safe side.

Lots of places seemed to cite 650 when I did a net search, but I'm not sure if these are credible sources.