I mentioned awhile back that I’ve been working with Chris Kresser on some issues. I’ll elaborate more in the future, but one of the things we recently found out is that I have a lot of stored iron in my blood, which can affect blood sugar levels, so he recommended I donate blood to help clear that out. Interesting!
Serendipitously, CK and I talked on Thursday; the Aspen Valley Hospital hosts a blood drive every quarter and today was the day! I rode the bus out to the mobile blood donation center and was one of the first in line. I might have been a little nervous.
I needn’t have been, everyone in the blood bus was super friendly and very excited to have a first-time donor. It seemed like all the other people who came through the door were regulars! It was a very quick process to donate a pint of blood, and the needle didn’t really hurt any more than it does when you give blood for blood tests. Because of that excess iron, I barely even felt lightheaded! Although, I will admit I was happy to take the bus home instead of having to drive myself, and once there I laid on the couch for a solid 30 minutes.
I would love to donate blood regularly now that I know how easy it is! Also, they gave me a neato chapstick with all the blood types and their percentage frequencies … I’m B+ which is only 8% of the population. 0- is the best though, because it’s the universal donor.
Yay! Blood!
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