Donating This Season
A few years ago, I decided to become a regular blood donor. I chose the Red Cross center to donate my blood, and when I walked in, I was immediately directed to the check-in desk and asked questions about my travel and overall health. My vitals were taken, and I was given a form to read as I waited my turn. A few minutes later, I was placed on a comfortable chair, held up my right arm, and after the sharp stick, I could see my blood flowing through the tubes into the bag.
It was quite a relief for me as there have been times when they missed my vein and then it becomes a much different experience. After about 5 minutes ,the bag was full and I was told to go to the lounge for a snack. Evidently, for some, if you get up too fast you can faint and for others some orange juice and a snack will help you feel better.
Unfortunately, the Red Cross doesn’t offer many healthy snack options other than some fruit. As I go through this process every once in a while, I’ve started to wonder whether donating blood is good for me.
From an emotional standpoint after giving, you always feel good that you are giving back to society in the hopes that some of your blood may save the life of another. I also feel cleaner and healthier as my body gave up a pint of blood and now must make new, and perhaps “cleaner” blood.
What I didn’t know until I did some research was that regularly giving blood may potentially help with lowering iron levels and reducing triglycerides and cholesterol. Of course, you must be careful that your iron levels don’t drop too much and cause you to become anemic.
Lastly, if you’re thinking about giving blood and want to provide “cleaner” blood, remember the liver, kidneys, and lungs do most of the blood detoxification; however, there are certain things that you can do that help the detox process such as drinking water, eating various fruits, garlic, onion, turmeric, broccoli, and cauliflower.
Of course, as ginger and chamomile are on the detox list and are part of our Detox tea, you can simply order from 50Cups or stop into our Raleigh location. During this holiday season that is filled with thankfulness and gratitude, go out and donate blood. It’s good for others and good for you.