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    Can I donate blood to lose weight?

    Posts: 13,049 Member
    edited February 23 in Food and Nutrition
    I was thinking about how much effort it took your body to make blood and each pint of blood weighs over a pound. (2.1 pints in a liter, 2.2 pounds per liter) every pound you lose is 3500 calories gone. There might be a little bit of extra calorie burn to create new blood as well but you would lose 3500 calories for sure.

    Just one donation can account for 2 hamburgers, 3 donuts, and perhaps 5 granola bars. If I just eat at maintenance and donate blood every 6 weeks (American Red Cross rules) I could potentially lose a good little bit of weight each year and still help other people in need of blood transfusions.

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    • Posts: 450
      :drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :drinker:
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    • Posts: 471 Member
      I was thinking about how much effort it took your body to make blood and each pint of blood weighs over a pound. (2.1 pints in a liter, 2.2 pounds per liter) every pound you lose is 3500 calories gone. There might be a little bit of extra calorie burn to create new blood as well but you would lose 3500 calories for sure.

      Just one donation can account for 2 hamburgers, 3 donuts, and perhaps 5 granola bars. If I just eat at maintenance and donate blood every 6 weeks (American Red Cross rules) I could potentially lose a good little bit of weight each year and still help other people in need of blood transfusions.

      Test it out. Let us know how it goes. :laugh:
    • Posts: 1,262 Member
      Ha, I donated yesterday. Maybe next time I weigh myself the scale will be nice :)
    • Posts: 884 Member
      oh man!!! I'm gonna donate triple next time !
    • Posts: 235 Member
      Whatever motivates you to give blood, do it. I've had to have 3 blood transfusions and thank God the blood was readily available for me. My life depended on it.
    • Posts: 17,299 Member
      DO IT!!!!

      http://www.sott.net/article/262305-Why-donating-blood-is-good-for-your-health
      People burn approximately 650 calories per donation of one pint of blood, according to the University of California, San Diego. A donor who regularly donates blood can lose a significant amount of weight, but it should not be thought of as a weight loss plan by any means.
    • Posts: 868 Member
      Blood is mostly water. I don't think that donating is going to help much with weight loss when it comes to losing fat. But definitely donate... you can save a life!
    • Posts: 2,403 Member
      I was thinking about how much effort it took your body to make blood and each pint of blood weighs over a pound. (2.1 pints in a liter, 2.2 pounds per liter) every pound you lose is 3500 calories gone. There might be a little bit of extra calorie burn to create new blood as well but you would lose 3500 calories for sure.

      Just one donation can account for 2 hamburgers, 3 donuts, and perhaps 5 granola bars. If I just eat at maintenance and donate blood every 6 weeks (American Red Cross rules) I could potentially lose a good little bit of weight each year and still help other people in need of blood transfusions.

      Nah, it's water weight... except thicker.
    • Posts: 407 Member
      But they give cookies and juice after. Wouldn't you just gain it back? I hear if you have a limb amputated that you can lose a lot of weight super fast.
    • Posts: 899 Member
      It's not just about losing weight, it's about losing fat. You can sit in a sauna all day and dehydrate the heck out of yourself to lose some water weight, but are you really becoming more healthy? No.

      The scale is a tool and not the end all report card.
    • Posts: 276 Member
      I donate on a regular basis and have lost 3lbs on a couple of occassions. On average, though, I'd say I only lose 1/2 a pound per donation but I'll take it.
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    • Posts: 151 Member
      LOL.

      Well, you can donate blood once every 56 weeks, about 6 times a year. So if you go regularly you might lose a pound or two per year. Good weight loss plan :drinker:

      Oh, and don't forget to account for the cookies and juice they basically force down your throat afterwards!
    • Posts: 22,505 Member
      I can't donate blood thanks to the stupid Red Cross, so now I'm missing out on helping people, cookies, and potential weight loss.

      And now I want waffles.
    • Posts: 3,783 Member
      I donate on a regular basis. The only benefit to my weight loss is that it provides an acceptable reason to eat NutterButter cookies and Fig Newtons.
    • Posts: 8,196 Member
      I suggest black market organ donation. You can lose weight AND get paid a ton of money, provided you wake up afterward.
    • Posts: 13,049 Member
      I say, if you want to donate blood to help somebody, do it. But for any other reason, it's almost like saying "I chopped off my leg and lost weight! Yeah!" Of course, the production of new blood is obviously going to require a metabolic expenditure, but is it of a significant enough amount to make a difference? Without peer-reviewed literature, who knows?
      Chopping off a leg would be crazy. You can't grow it back but your blood well be recreated after you lose it. It's perhaps one of the only body parts you can replenish so rapidly.
    • Posts: 8,171 Member
      Donate a few times and report back. The worst thing that can happen is you help someone heal or even save a person's life.

      / donated almost 2 gallons lifetime
      // received 4 units over New years because of severe anemia from gastric bleeding (over 1 gallon in the plus column still)
      /// will donate again as soon as I'm allowed and well enough
    • Posts: 2,199 Member
      Well, you can donate blood once every 56 weeks, about 6 times a year.

      ¿Qué
    • Posts: 595 Member
      No, but I've had a LOT of success donating fat.
    • Posts: 69 Member
      I suggest black market organ donation. You can lose weight AND get paid a ton of money, provided you wake up afterward.

      Exactly. Two Lungs? Only need 1. Kidneys the same. Spleen and Appendix and Gall Bladder - not really needed.

      Plus just think how much quicker you'd get buff if you only had one arm to worry about.

      [Of course I'm joking about this, except as donations for those in need]
    • Posts: 238 Member
      Doesn't sound like you would be losing FAT though. Just water weight.
    • Posts: 17,299 Member
      show previous quotes

      ¿Qué

      that should say every 56 days.
    • Posts: 238 Member

      Well, you can donate blood once every 56 weeks, about 6 times a year.

      I'm pretty sure there are only 52 weeks in a year. Maybe you meant days? Just clarifying.
    • Posts: 13,049 Member
      Doesn't sound like you would be losing FAT though. Just water weight.

      Your body doesn't burn fat directly. It has to be converted to usable energy and this energy must be carried to the parts of the body that do the actual work. Your blood isn't just water, it's made of living cells and carries rich nutrients and oxygen and this fat you're wanting to burn is right there in the blood readily available with carbohydrates and other sources of energy.

      You can wait to burn the enemy troops on the battlefield or you can kill them in the train on the way there. The effect is the same.
    • Posts: 89 Member
      Great idea! Be sure you donate 5 pints. That is 5 lbs of weight lost easy. :wink: :tongue: :flowerforyou:
    • Posts: 82 Member
      Best question of the day!!:noway:
    • Posts: 3,982 Member
      I donate bodily fluids once a week to try and lose weight, but it only amounts an ounce each time on a good day. And then I'm sleepy afterwards anyway so my TDEE goes down.
    • Posts: 82 Member
      the body just regenerates the blood it lost so.....wouldn't you just gain the weight lost that same day?
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