# 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:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-donating-blood-help-me-loose-weight/594620/21 "2011-08-31T17:08:46Z")
> [@shiftless](#): > > Tried it. You more than make up the difference with donuts, cookies and juice before you even leave donation place. You get donuts??? We have to make do with cookies and juice. ---
**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 31, 2011, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-donating-blood-help-me-loose-weight/594620/22 "2011-08-31T17:28:32Z")
> [@FatBaldGuy](#): > > You get donuts??? We have to make do with cookies and juice. Some friends of mine emigrated here from Ireland; they both went to college at Trinity in Dublin. When they were in school, giving blood was quite popular, as you’d be given a pint of Guinness afterwards (it has iron in it, doncha know). ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-donating-blood-help-me-loose-weight/594620/23 "2011-08-31T17:40:48Z")
> [@willthekittensurvive](#): > > anyone know? It would. You’ll probably want the kitten’s permission first, though. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-donating-blood-help-me-loose-weight/594620/24 "2011-08-31T20:41:37Z")
> [@willthekittensurvive](#): > > follow up question: > > donating sperm? > lets say, euhm …twice a day? I have heard the calorie content is about 15 per ejaculation. I am NOT looking up a cite for that right now, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![TerpBE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc8723/32.png) [@TerpBE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TerpBE)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-donating-blood-help-me-loose-weight/594620/25 "2011-09-01T18:08:51Z")
Is your weight too tight currently? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-donating-blood-help-me-loose-weight/594620/26 "2011-09-01T18:15:20Z")
> [@TerpBE](#): > > Is your weight too tight currently? You misunderstand the question. It is asking if donating blood will improve performance in the shot put. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-donating-blood-help-me-loose-weight/594620/27 "2011-09-01T20:40:36Z")
> [@FatBaldGuy](#): > > You get donuts??? We have to make do with cookies and juice. More than once, back in the 70s and 80s when I was young, I was lured into bloodletting facilities by women in nurse outfits holding boxes of Krispy-kreme donuts. Because of the shape, donuts transform into whole blood cells more readily than any other food. These days it’s different. They use the cookies as a sort of donut substitute because they are cheaper. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-donating-blood-help-me-loose-weight/594620/28 "2011-09-01T20:58:06Z")
One other slight benefit (besides the energy your body expends to make more blood cells, as Cecil mentioned) is that for a few days after your heart pumps slightly harder for the same tasks. This is anecdotal, I know, but for several days after giving blood, I need the aerobic exercise machines I use to be set at lower levels to reach the same heart rate. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2011, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-donating-blood-help-me-loose-weight/594620/29 "2011-09-03T02:51:05Z")
> [@willthekittensurvive](#): > > follow up question: > > donating sperm? > lets say, euhm …twice a day? The kitten definitely wouldn’t survive. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-donating-blood-help-me-loose-weight/594620.md?page=1)