Most of the time, donating blood (or blood letting) is for the recipient. But for those with iron overload, whether that be caused by hemochromatosis or not, it can also be for the donor.

Donating blood is perhaps THE quickest, most effective and cheapest way to lower excess iron.

Sure, there are herbs, supplements and dietary strategies we can use to lower iron, but if we’re not donating blood, we’re missing out on massive potential with our iron chelation efforts.

How much does one blood donation lower iron by?

A regular blood donation takes between 470-500mL of your blood and lowers ferritin (a marker of iron storage) by around 30-50ng/mL.

Let’s put this into context.

N-Acetyl-Cysteine (NAC) and Milk Thistle can take approximately 1-3 months to lower ferritin by the same amount as a blood donation. I’ve written about these 2 products in more depth here.

How does a blood donation lower iron?

Let’s first understand blood.

For the purpose of this article, we’ll keep it simple and look at just 2 components of blood, the plasma and red blood cells.

Our plasma contains some free-floating iron, yet this is minor compared to the amount in red blood cells.

If we studied any biology we’ll remember that red blood cells contain hemoglobin, which is made up of 4 iron atoms.

When we donate blood, we lose both plasma and hemoglobin. The drop in hemoglobin, causes a reduction in the ability of the body to transport oxygen, which triggers the body to release the hormone erythropoietin (EPO).

EPO signals the body to create more red blood cells and the hemoglobin needed for them. The body then pulls iron from its storage (ferritin) and this is how we see the reduction in total iron storage.

How will I feel after the blood donation?

This will depend on a number of factors, but most report feeling a little weaker and lethargic.

If you’re someone who dislikes needles, you might feel a bit more tired after the anxiety fades away.

How long does it take to recover from a blood donation?

The plasma is usually replenished in 24 hours, provided you stay hydrated.

However, the hemoglobin seems to take an average of 36 days (5 weeks) to replenish. This doesn’t mean you’ll feel fatigued for the whole 36 days, in fact usually after a few days to a week, most feel fine to exercise as they did.

Are there any downsides to donating blood? Can we mitigate this?

1 - Frequency

Unless you’re prescribed therapeutic blood donation (phlebotomy) by a Doctor, you are restricted to donating blood once every 12 weeks in Australia.

Yet, above we saw research indicating that it may only take 5 weeks to recover and be ready for the next donation.

If you’re someone, like me, who was wanting to lower their iron even quicker, you might consider wet cupping (aka hijama cupping). More on this below.

Be wary though, that losing blood too frequently has its downsides.

2 - Hepcidin

After donating blood, we see a decrease in the levels of the hormone hepcidin (shown here, here, here and here), though it is unclear just how long for.

What is Hepcidin?

Hepcidin is not a hormone commonly spoken about, but it plays a big role in regulating iron levels.

The presence of hepcidin decreases the amount of iron absorbed from our foods.

Blood donation lowers hepcidin, which increases iron absorption

So, as Hepcidin drops after a blood donation we’re going to have an increase in the iron we absorb from our meals. Certainly not what we want if we’re trying to lower our iron.

A simple way around this is to use strategies to reduce the iron we absorb from our food

3 - Needles

Can’t do much about that unfortunately.

4 - Lowered athletic performance and fatigue

Less haemoglobin means less oxygen transport around the body and therefore less energy until its replenished. As mentioned above, the body will naturally restore haemoglobin levels but perhaps you’ll want to speed up that process.

Can I speed up recovery after a blood donation?

Sauna use and breath holds are 2 therapies known to increase EPO and speed up the replenishing of red blood cells.

Astragalus, Echinacea purpurea and Rhodiola rosea are just some of these (see here, here and here respectively).

My Hijama experience and concluding thoughts

As my ferritin was not high enough (it has to be outrageously high) to warrant a doctors referral for therapeutic blood letting and I’m not a fan of having a needle in my arm for prolonged periods of time I looked for other ways to supplement this therapy.

I found out about wet cupping (Hijama) as a potential method. It is similar to the form of cupping many of us are familiar with from Traditional Chinese Medical clinics, yet holes are poked in the skin to allow blood to flow out.

My practitioner explained that I would lose between 50 and 150ml of blood in the session, which would mean I lose around 3-16ng/ml of ferritin based on my estimates.

In all honesty, I preferred the blood donation for a number of reasons.

Firstly, it costs nothing.

Secondly, I had many holes poked (stabbed) in my back through the Hijama cupping and it was incredibly unpleasant and quite frankly more stressful to my nervous system. I was literally getting stabbed in the back multiple times.

The blood donation was actually easier to handle on this front.

Thirdly, on a dollar per dollar basis (that Economics and Finance degree is coming in handy), I’m better off spending my money on products like Curcumin, Milk Thistle and NAC.

I’ve incorporated iron lowering strategies into my diet and lifestyle to complement the blood donations to get the best results possible.

P.S. A secret trick to thank you for staying until the end

Breath holds to enhance blood donations

I mentioned breath holds above as a way to enhance recovery after blood donation, but it can also be used beforehand.

Up to 30 minutes before your blood donation, a series of strong breath holds can cause the spleen to dump its reserve of red blood cells into your blood stream. Your blood donation will cause a greater loss of red blood cells and therefore you’ll utilise more ferritin to create more red blood cells.

There is an obvious caution here, the risk of passing out in a blood donation clinic both during and before your blood donation. Whether or not you choose to do this is up to your discretion and I hold no responsibility.

Can donating blood help with iron overload?