Bouncing back from giving blood can take months
Taking iron supplements can dramatically reduce recovery time, study finds
By Nathan Seppa
People who donate blood can take months to recoup their stores of iron, a new study shows. But the process moves much faster if they take iron supplements afterward, scientists from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and elsewhere report in the Feb. 10 JAMA.
In the study, 96 people randomly assigned to get a daily iron supplement for 24 weeks after giving blood regained at least 80 percent of their lost iron in less than five weeks, on average. But it took the 97 people who didn’t get the pill 11 to 23 weeks on average to recover, depending on whether they started with high or low iron levels. The researchers measured iron through a proxy called ferritin, a protein that stores and releases iron in cells.