There are many benefits of blood donation for health when done regularly. Check out the full information below.
For some people, blood donation is a scary thing. Not to mention the side effects that some people can experience after donating blood, such as dizziness and a feeling of floating in the body, tingling, pain in the arm where the injection was made, nausea, and dizzy eyes.
But, please note, these side effects are normal and don't need to scare you. If you donate blood as recommended, which is a maximum of 5 times in 2 years (every 4 months for women and once every three months for men), blood donation can bring benefits to the health of the donor's body.
Curious? Immediately, see the information below, OK!
Promotes Blood Flow and Increases Red Blood Cell Production
The first and must-know benefit of routine blood donation is its ability to make blood flow more smoothly and increase red blood cell production. Donating blood can allow the bone marrow to produce new red blood cells to replace lost blood. Then, the body will also produce new blood faster.
Get a Free Health Checkup
Before donating blood, you will definitely have your weight, hemoglobin level, body temperature, blood pressure and pulse checked. If you have gone through the blood donation process, the blood will be sent to a laboratory for various tests to make sure your blood will not cause disease if it enters another person's body. If during the test a disease or virus is found in the blood, you will definitely be informed.
Keeping Iron Levels in the Blood More Stable
Another benefit of blood donation is its ability to reduce excess iron levels in the body. Because excess iron in the blood can increase free radicals and oxidation of cholesterol in the body and can increase risk factors for cancer, hepatitis C, heart attack, stroke and premature aging.
Lowers cholesterol
The fourth benefit of blood donation is that it can reduce cholesterol levels in the blood. These properties can later help lower cholesterol. The reason is, the cholesterol contained in the blood can be reduced along with the blood that comes out.
Reducing weight
Donating one bag of blood can burn up to 650 calories. Hence, blood donation is believed to help maintain ideal body weight so that it can reduce the risk of obesity. However, keep in mind that this method should not be used as the only step to reduce weight, especially if you are already under proportional weight. Contact your personal health professional and continue to adopt a healthy lifestyle on a regular basis to achieve ideal weight.
Improve Heart Health
For the heart itself, the benefits of blood donation are apparently very important, namely being able to reduce the risk of heart disease and prevent the body from getting sick more quickly. Furthermore, blood donation can reduce the occurrence of blood so it thickens. When the blood thickens, there will be friction in the blood vessels and the blood cells will get bigger. This condition will trigger blood vessels to become clogged and heart disease can occur.
Good for Psychological Health
Everyone will feel happy after helping others. You can also get this through blood donation. By donating your blood, you will indirectly help save the lives of other people who need this blood.
Wounds So Quickly Heal
Donating blood will automatically reduce the number of red blood cells in the body. Usually, after donating blood, the body will make adjustments due to the lack of red blood cells. So, when the body is injured and red blood cells are reduced, the body will also make adjustments to heal the wound.
Age Can Be Longer
The last benefit of blood donation is that it can indirectly make you live longer. One of the reasons is because of selflessness and often doing good which can increase one's life expectancy to be longer. This argument was published in the health journal Health Psychology belonging to the American Psychological Association (APA) where research found that people who diligently take voluntary actions have a longer life span.
Those are some of the benefits of blood donation for health. Before continuing to donate blood, make sure you have enough sleep last night and eat and drink enough 3-4 hours before donating. Thus, you will avoid dizziness and weakness after blood donation. Then, also tell the medical staff about all types of medicines you are currently taking. Furthermore, for women, do not donate blood while menstruating.
Apart from donating blood regularly, to maintain your health, also adopt a healthy lifestyle such as eating healthy food, exercising regularly, not smoking, maintaining good mood, and also getting enough rest.
Then, as an added protection, also use the right insurance, such as Zurich Pro-Care . This product is health insurance that helps anticipate the cost of medical treatment which has various other advantages, namely the guarantee of reimbursement of medical expenses worldwide, Medical Concierge services, Second Medical opinion services, the existence of 4 plan options with a total annual limit of Rp. 2 Billion – 15 Billion, there is an annual medical examination, and there is a choice of Additional Benefits that provide protection for Critical Illnesses.
