Giving Blood as an exercise

Posted by lostproton @lostproton, Jan 10, 2023

When you think of exercise you envision walking, running or going to the gym. But what about exercising the inside of your body? Giving blood, if you are capable, is exercising the inside of your body. To replace that blood you gave, your system has to manufacture new blood which maintains that manufacturing system. Then, done on that 56-day cycle, your body is operating on fresh blood most of the time which is good for all your organs including your heart. Second, running on fresh blood you reduce the chance of plaque build up in your arteries and veins which reduces your blood pressure since it takes less force to move fresh blood through clean arteries and veins that reduces the work your heart must do pumping that fresh blood around your body.

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John, Volunteer Mentor | @johnbishop | Jan 10, 2023

Hello @lostproton, Welcome to Connect. That is indeed an interesting question on giving blood as an exercise. I'm 79 and was giving blood regularly for almost a year until I needed to have surgery and found out I was iron defecient and had to have a series of iron infusions before I was able to have surgery.

I did a little research on your question to find out more and found a few interesting facts.

"Blood donation improves skin aging through the reduction of iron deposits and the increase of TGF-β1 in elderly skin."
-- Blood donation improves skin aging through the reduction of iron deposits and the increase of TGF-β1 in elderly skin: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35697258/

"Donating blood has benefits for your emotional and physical health. According to a report by the Mental Health Foundation, helping others can: reduce stress. improve your emotional well-being."
-- The Benefits of Donating Blood: https://www.healthline.com/health/benefits-of-donating-blood

How often do you give blood?