Gabe Mirkin, M.D.
A healthy athlete should be able to recover completely
from donating blood in eight weeks, but he may lose some of his
ability to train for a few days. Following a donation of one pint,
blood volume is reduced by about ten percent and returns to
normal in 48 hours. For two days after donating, you should
drink lots of fluids and probably exercise at a reduced intensity or
not at all. Donating blood markedly reduces competitive
performance for three to four weeks as it takes that long for blood
hemoglobin levels to return to normal.
You should not donate blood more often than every eight
weeks because it takes that long to replace lost nutrients. If you
donate blood frequently, you need to make sure to replace the B
vitamins and possibly the iron that you lose with the blood. You
can meet your needs for iron by eating meat, fish or chicken or
by taking iron supplements; and you can meet your needs for the
B vitamins with whole grains and diary products. Donating blood
at least four times a year may help to prevent heart attacks by
lowering blood cholesterol levels significantly and reducing iron
levels. Iron in the bloodstream converts LDL cholesterol to
oxidized LDL which forms plaques in arteries.
Checked 2/24/08