# will donating blood help me loose weight? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 30, 2011, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-donating-blood-help-me-loose-weight/594620 "2011-08-30T13:44:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![willthekittensurvive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@willthekittensurvive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/willthekittensurvive)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-donating-blood-help-me-loose-weight/594620/1 "2011-08-30T13:44:08Z")
anyone know? ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-donating-blood-help-me-loose-weight/594620/2 "2011-08-30T13:48:24Z")
Yes until you get to the juice and cookie table. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-donating-blood-help-me-loose-weight/594620/3 "2011-08-30T13:51:48Z")
Working out will help you un-loose the weight. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-donating-blood-help-me-loose-weight/594620/4 "2011-08-30T14:08:32Z")
Your body replenishes the fluid loss quickly. So blood or plasma donation will not work as a weight loss tactic. And no, donating a kidney to lose weight isn’t a terrific strategy either. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-donating-blood-help-me-loose-weight/594620/5 "2011-08-30T14:33:26Z")
Even if donating a pint of blood did work to help you lose a little weight, you’re not allowed to donate often enough for it to make a real difference. In the U.S., you’re only allowed to donate blood once every 56 days. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-donating-blood-help-me-loose-weight/594620/6 "2011-08-30T14:54:20Z")
> [@willthekittensurvive](#): > > anyone know? Not that I am aware of, and I have a hard time imaging a mechanism that would explain how it could. Are you concerned that a side effect of giving blood is losing weight which would be a bad thing? Or are you trying to come up with quick ways to lose a pound or two that doesn’t involve diet or exercise? ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-donating-blood-help-me-loose-weight/594620/7 "2011-08-30T15:32:04Z")
It would reduce your weight by a little if you went to a weigh-in immediately afterwards and for some reason wanted to be a pound or so lighter. For actual sustained weight loss, no, it wouldn’t help at all. ---
**Author:** ![willthekittensurvive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@willthekittensurvive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/willthekittensurvive)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-donating-blood-help-me-loose-weight/594620/8 "2011-08-30T15:42:09Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > Not that I am aware of, and I have a hard time imaging a mechanism that would explain how it could. > > Are you concerned that a side effect of giving blood is losing weight which would be a bad thing? Or are you trying to come up with quick ways to lose a pound or two that doesn’t involve diet or exercise? Being lazy just wondering how many bigmacs I could compesate with helping others ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-donating-blood-help-me-loose-weight/594620/9 "2011-08-30T15:52:16Z")
Cecil speaks: [Can I donate blood to lose weight? - The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2441/can-i-donate-blood-to-lose-weight) Blood does contain calories, but not all that many. By donating as often as possible you will lose 3600 calories per year in blood, about the same as the number of calories in a pound of fat tissue. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-donating-blood-help-me-loose-weight/594620/10 "2011-08-30T18:00:09Z")
Immediate results: a pint of blood weighs less than a pound. Even giving birth doesn’t guarantee a wonderful weight loss. Ask any new mommy who has popped out a gigantic eight pounder, and then cried over her scale that shows only a five pound loss. Oh, the inhumanity! ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-donating-blood-help-me-loose-weight/594620/11 "2011-08-30T18:05:01Z")
Tried it. You more than make up the difference with donuts, cookies and juice before you even leave donation place. ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-donating-blood-help-me-loose-weight/594620/12 "2011-08-30T20:53:15Z")
You just can’t give enough blood to make that much of a difference (a few hundred calories per time, every, what, 8 weeks?), and since you’re also required to abstain from exercise that day, it’s a bit of a wash. It’s still a good thing to do, of course. If you want to motivate yourself to lose weight by helping others, why not volunteer? I’m pretty sure I burn a ton more calories when I’m with the kid I mentor than when giving blood – plus, it’s fun! There are a zillion activities that will get you off your butt while helping out your fellow humans. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-donating-blood-help-me-loose-weight/594620/13 "2011-08-30T21:39:47Z")
> [@shiftless](#): > > Tried it. You more than make up the difference with donuts, cookies and juice before you even leave donation place. And you _should_ - indeed, the volunteers will often insist, especially if you look woozy. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-donating-blood-help-me-loose-weight/594620/14 "2011-08-31T00:55:17Z")
Whatever the caloric content of blood, it doesn’t make sense that it would take that many calories of consumption to replace it. Replacing blood is a metabolic process and presumably some calories are burned converting food into blood. I still doubt it’s significant. ---
**Author:** ![Ostrya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/35a633/32.png) [@Ostrya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ostrya)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-donating-blood-help-me-loose-weight/594620/15 "2011-08-31T03:07:49Z")
Yes so in summary, donating blood is not an effective solution for weight loose. ---
**Author:** ![baila6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@baila6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/baila6)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-donating-blood-help-me-loose-weight/594620/16 "2011-08-31T08:00:37Z")
> [@shiftless](#): > > Tried it. You more than make up the difference with donuts, cookies and juice before you even leave donation place. This gave me the laughs. :):):)🙂 Guess donating blood would be part of the list on [how to lose weight without exercise](http://www.weightlosingportal.com/how-to-lose-weight-without-exercise/). Great stuff. Had a laugh reading this thread. ---
**Author:** ![willthekittensurvive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@willthekittensurvive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/willthekittensurvive)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-donating-blood-help-me-loose-weight/594620/17 "2011-08-31T10:03:16Z")
follow up question: donating sperm? lets say, euhm …twice a day? ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-donating-blood-help-me-loose-weight/594620/18 "2011-08-31T12:29:21Z")
You _do_ realize that when people say they want to lose weight, they mean in body fat, don’t you? You _are_ aware, of course, that the actual number on the scale means nothing? I fail to see how donating blood will help you remove body fat, even if it did lower your scale weight by a measurable amount. ---
**Author:** ![willthekittensurvive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@willthekittensurvive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/willthekittensurvive)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-donating-blood-help-me-loose-weight/594620/19 "2011-08-31T12:59:56Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > You _do_ realize that when people say they want to lose weight, they mean in body fat, don’t you? You _are_ aware, of course, that the actual number on the scale means nothing? I fail to see how donating blood will help you remove body fat, even if it did lower your scale weight by a measurable amount. maybe a better question would be how many calories does one burn when donating blood(or does how many calories does one burn replenishing the donated blood) better? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-donating-blood-help-me-loose-weight/594620/20 "2011-08-31T13:56:53Z")
> [@willthekittensurvive](#): > > maybe a better question would be how many calories does one burn when donating blood(or does how many calories does one burn replenishing the donated blood) As mentioned in the Column linked to above > [@](#): > > I estimated that one unit of blood reflects about 600 cal of food intake. So some, but not much. Donating every eight weeks means that you would give up the equivalent of 1 lb of weight per year. Subtract from that the juice and cookies you eat while recovering and it’s probably a wash. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-donating-blood-help-me-loose-weight/594620.md?page=2)