World Blood Donor Day 2024: 7 surprising health benefits of donating blood

Donating blood helps boost the immunity of your body by rejuvenating the entire system. (Image: Canva)

World Blood Donor Day 2024, observed annually on June 14th, is a global event dedicated to raising awareness about the importance of safe blood donations and to thank voluntary blood donors for their life-saving contributions. This day highlights the critical need for regular blood donations to ensure that everyone who needs a transfusion has access to safe blood. Donating blood provides a lifeline to millions of patients worldwide, including those undergoing surgeries, cancer treatments, and managing chronic blood disorders like thalassemia and severe anaemia.

Blood donation also offers several health benefits for the donors

Reduce risk of heart attacks: Donating Blood can help keep your heart healthy because when you give blood, iron is being removed from your system, which can significantly lower the risk of heart disease, says Dr Meet Kumar, Director & HOD-Hemato-oncology and bone marrow transplant, Marengo Asia hospitals, Faridabad. Blood donation can help boost blood flow, making it less damaging to vessels. Hence blood donors are 88 percent less likely to suffer from a heart attack as compared to those who don’t give blood, says Dr Kumar.

Enhance the immune system: Donating blood helps boost the immunity of your body by rejuvenating the entire system. Every time you donate blood, the red blood cells can recycle themselves, promoting the production of newer and healthier red blood cells, says Dr Kumar.

Minimise iron overload: Regular blood donation can play a key role in lowering extra iron levels in your body. Thus, this can help reduce risk of hemochromatosis. Hemochromatosis is a special health condition that develops owing to excessive absorption of iron by the body. This may occur owing to alcohol consumption, anaemia or other disorders. Donating blood regularly may help lower the iron overload levels in the body.

Replenish your blood cells: Whenever you donate blood, your body goes into overdrive generating new blood cells to restore what you’ve given. That’s because your bone marrow gets a message that your oxygen’s levels are reduced (owing to the loss of red blood cells), so your body can electrify the generation of blood cells in the bone marrow.

Reduce cancer risk: Blood donation is also linked to decrease the rate of cancer. The process of extracting blood which is also referred to as phlebotomy is a great iron-balancing method, says Dr Kumar. This process plays an essential role in lowering the risk of cancer and mortality.  Certain types of cancers such as colon, liver, lung, oesophagus, and stomach can also be prevented through blood donation.

Aid losing weight: Blood donation can help in the burning of fat and losing weight because around 650 calories can burn whenever you contribute blood. Hence A single blood donation can help to lose almost 650 calories, which is equivalent to jumping rope for 50 minutes, says Dr Kumar. Whenever blood is donated, the body takes this much calorie effort to restore itself with blood. Therefore, a regular donor is advised to donate only once in 56 days or so. Moreover, blood donation also helps to lower the level of cholesterol in the body and have the artery-clogging accumulation of fatty acids.

Keeping your liver healthy: Donating blood benefits the entire body; it has a positive impact on your liver health too. Recently, there has been a considerable hike in non-alcoholic fatty liver problems, which has been associated with excessive levels of iron. Also, Hepatitis C and other liver diseases and infections can occur due to blood impurity. Blood donation can significantly help remove iron stores and avoid the accumulation of extra tissues in the liver.