It is said that every person should donate blood at least once in his/her life span. Blood donation is the noblest work among all the purest works because through this you can save someone’s life. And there is nothing bigger than saving someone’s life. Additionally, you gained there are a lot of health benefits on your body. If you are healthy and your body is ready for blood donation then you should donate blood because your body will produce the blood again in a few weeks. Every person should get registered himself/herself with some reputed medical firm to donate blood.
Apart from saving lives blood donation is very important for us as well. Blood donation includes several benefits, it helps us to get good health, it helps us to weight loss, and it also helps us to reduce cancerous cells in our body and there are many other benefits. You can save around two-three people’s life with your one-time blood donation because blood is having different components in it which can be used in saving two-three people’s life. And blood is the thing which cannot be produced or manufactured, a donation is the only way to save someone’s life. At every second someone requires a bottle of blood and even half of the population is not donating blood. If today we are helping someone with its life then tomorrow we or our family can also be in the need for blood.
Who can donate blood? Are you blood-donation ready?
One person is having around 5-6 liters of blood in his/her body. In one time we are allowed to donate around 300 ml- 400 ml of blood. Our body can compensate this blood in a few weeks. Our body is producing around 15-20 lakhs of red cells every second. After donating blood, our body starts regenerating immediately and in two-three months we get our normal blood level again and we can donate blood again after four months. A female is ready in five months to donate blood again. Around 3 times in a year, we can donate blood.
Thinking about blood donation is great and checking the criteria is important!
The age should be minimum 18 years and maximum of 60 years old for donating blood. Our weight lies between 45-150 kilograms for donating blood. And our blood hemoglobin should be of 12 g/dl minimum in a male’s body and should be of 13 g/dl minimum in female’s body. If you are matching the above criteria then you are fit and healthy to donating blood and you can reproduce donated blood in a few weeks. Blood production in the body also depends on our age. If we are young then we can easily generate blood again if middle-aged then it will take slightly longer to regenerate and in old age, our body will take longer to regenerate blood.
Persons who don’t fit in the criteria of donating blood – When should you not donate blood?
- If a woman is pregnant then she cannot donate blood as she needs adequate blood for her baby.
- If someone’s got hospitalized within one year then he/she can’t donate blood.
- The person who got tattoo pierced recently is not able to donate blood at least for 48 hours and after that, if there is some itching or some redness is their then it will take a little longer to donate blood and may stretch up to 6 months.
- If someone went for dental surgery even then he/she can’t donate blood. It may take a while for preparing our body for blood donation. Doctors can guide you better when you can get able for donations.
- If one is suffering from any type of allergy then he/ she is not able to donate blood. Once the allergy gets cured then after blood checkups, you can be able to donate blood.
- In any type of disease, you cannot donate blood, even if you are suffering from fever.
- In any type of infections like cold, cough, etc you are not allowed to donate blood.
- If suffering from malaria, dengue, typhoid, etc, blood donation is not an option.
- One should never donate blood if detected with HIV/ AIDS positive.
- If someone is indulged in any type of risky sex, then you cannot donate blood for a while.
- If you are under 18 or above 60, then you are not allowed to donate blood as it may impact your own health.
- If you are not matching the suitable criteria of blood donation like Hb, weight, etc then you cannot donate blood.
Food options that are prescribed to eat after blood donation – eating healthy
We should keep in mind the following food options when we are done with blood donation –
- After donating blood we should eat and drink healthy foods like glucose water, fruits, and vegetables.
- We should consume foods full of iron and minerals like spinach, green leafy vegetables, beetroots, apple, and fruits.
- We should eat high protein food like fish, meat to get energized.
- We should eat oatmeal, whole grains, lentils, etc which gives our body energy.
- We should intake juices, low-fat dairy products, yogurt, curd to keep our body hydrated.
Food to be taken before donating blood – keep it light, keep it fresh.
- Drink plenty of water, water helps to keep our body hydrated. Water helps to maintain all kind of essential levels in our body like it helps to cool down our body heat, maintain the oxygen level in the body, etc
- We should eat food which is rich in protein, nutrition, full of vitamins, etc.
- We should avoid taking fatty food and junk food or frozen food at least 48 before blood donation.
- We should avoid consuming alcohol at least before 48 hours of donating blood.
- We should avoid a full night party before 48 hours of donating blood.
We should remember that by donating blood, we are helping a great cause for someone which may include saving a life. So, we should ensure that we take proper care of ourselves and follow the food options and guidelines as suggested above or by a doctor. Once we have donated blood, we should take care of our health as well and should rest assured that the quantity of blood in our body will be regained quickly. I am sure that a person, who donates blood willingly once, always does it the second time and then so on and remains a lot happier post every donation activity.