Every page about donation benefits eventually exaggerates. This one won’t. The real benefits are smaller than the myths, and better than the myths, because they are true. ## What is genuinely true 1. A free health screen, four times a year max. Haemoglobin, blood pressure, weight, pulse, checked before every donation. Frequent donors catch early problems this way, routinely. 2. Iron regulation for people who run high. A minority of people (especially men with hereditary iron overload) genuinely benefit from regular removal of red cells. For everyone else this is neutral. 3. The psychological fact. Donors report feeling calmer and more purposeful after donating. Whatever the mechanism, meaning, ritual, the biscuits, it is real to the donor and costs nothing. 4. You learn your body. Regular donors know their haemoglobin patterns, their BP, their veins. Body literacy is underrated. ## What is exaggerated (we checked) - “Burns 650 calories!” The replacement cost is a few hundred calories of metabolic work, not a workout substitute, and donating frequently to lose weight is dangerous.
- “Prevents heart disease!” Some studies found associations; better-controlled ones found little. No doctor prescribes donation for your heart.
- “Lowers blood pressure!” A small temporary dip in some donors. Your hypertension treatment remains your hypertension treatment. ## The one benefit bigger than all of them Every 90 days, someone’s father or daughter gets a unit with your group on it. Research on donor psychology says the same thing our donors say: the durable benefit is being the person who showed up. The rest is a footnote. The register takes two minutes. The benefit lasts longer than that, for you, and not for you.