World Blood Donor Day 2020: Don’t Believe These Common Myths And Misconceptions About Blood Donation

As the World Blood Donor Day is round the corner, here we bust some of the common myths surrounding blood donation. 

World Blood Donor Day 2020: Blood donation is surrounded by an array of myths and misconceptions. What’s sad is that people believe them blindly without even trying to find out the facts. That’s what make them feel inhibited from donating blood. Every year, millions of people in India and worldwide die due to unavailability of adequate blood. To decrease this death prevalence and save those lives, the WHO has started a global campaign called the World Blood Donor Day, which is marked o June 14 every year. As the day is around the corner, here we bust some of the common myths surrounding blood donation.

Myth 1: Donating blood is painful.

Fact: Have you taken an injection before? Did that hurt? No? A bit? Well, that’s what donating blood feels like. The only time you may feel a pinch is when a needle will be inserted in your blood vessel. That’s it!

Myths 2: Blood donation can have debilitating effects on your body.

Fact: Donating blood benefits your body in many ways and not have any bad impact. It regulates the level of iron in the body and prevents the accumulation of bad cholesterol in the blood. As a result, your risk of developing a heart attack or liver damage is reduced. Also, your body starts producing new blood cells faster post blood donation.

Myth 3: You become obese after donating blood.

Fact: Blood donation is not associated with weight gain. Your body weight remains unchanged after donating blood unless you start stuffing your stomach with unhealthy junk foods.

Myth 4: If you are a vegetarian, you should not donate blood.

Fact: Vegetarians are usually believed to have low levels of iron in their bodies due to their eating habits. Notably, iron helps in the production of red blood cells which are also called haemoglobin. People have a misconception that a vegetarian diet does not have enough of iron-containing food. Well, there is an array of vegetarian food items that are loaded with this mineral. So, being a vegetarian or non-vegetarian do not decide if you can donate blood.