Just Donated Blood . . .

hannahcall2
hannahcall2 Posts: 175 Member
edited January 6 in Food and Nutrition
Should I increase my calories for the day, or eat the same?

Replies

  • drmerc
    drmerc Posts: 2,603 Member
    eat the same
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
    Same.
  • Brendajo510
    Brendajo510 Posts: 153
    I'd eat the same, but if you feel especially weak then have something a little more.
  • hecham
    hecham Posts: 118 Member
    I donate frequently- You can eat the same amount as usual but drink LOTS of water and take it easy on the workouts. Even the next day you may still feel lightheaded/dizzy if you do strenuous exercise.
  • hannahcall2
    hannahcall2 Posts: 175 Member
    Thanks! I'm a first time doner and nearly passed out. I wasn't sure if eating more would help replenish my blood faster.
  • foleyshirley
    foleyshirley Posts: 1,043 Member
    I donate frequently- You can eat the same amount as usual but drink LOTS of water and take it easy on the workouts. Even the next day you may still feel lightheaded/dizzy if you do strenuous exercise.

    This. I ate the same and drank a lot of water, and did just fine. Congrats on giving blood :).
  • swingsintherain
    swingsintherain Posts: 121 Member
    The reason they don't let you donate more than once every 2 months or so is because that's about how long it takes the body to replenish the blood cells, though drinking water helps to bring the *volume* of blood back up to normal (though perhaps more diluted?).

    Anyway, you shouldn't need any extra calories, though making sure you get enough iron in your diet for the next few weeks would be a good idea.
  • somanyrhoades
    somanyrhoades Posts: 107 Member
    Eat the same but increase your fluid intake. The dizziness you feel is from loss of blood volume, and food doesn't help with that. Your blood cells will replenish in 120 days, but you can increase your volume of fluid in your body by drinking more fluids. Give it a day or so and you should feel better. Next time you donate increase your fluid intake the day before and you should avoid this problem all together. Glad you donated!
  • seena511
    seena511 Posts: 685 Member
    i always eat more. you lose about 600 calories when you give blood (if you give every 52 days you could lose about 1 lb/yr just by donating blood). but it looks like lots of other people don't eat those back, so if you feel ok then i wouldn't worry about it. if you do get dizzy though, don't feel bad about eating something with a lot of sugar in it, and i wouldn't worry too much about your macronutrient distribution either if that's the case. thank you so much for donating!! it is really a great thing and helps so many people :-D
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