Foods To Avoid After Donating Blood

Excessive Chocolate

Chocolate is yet another food that reduces the body’s ability to absorb iron. There are actually two types of iron, known as heme and non-heme iron. Heme iron comes from foods that contain hemoglobin like meat, fish, and poultry, while non-heme iron comes from plants. The body absorbs heme iron about twice or thrice as efficiently as it does non-heme iron. The body’s capacity for absorbing non-heme iron is also more readily affected by diet than is its ability to absorb heme iron. A blood donor should thus be especially careful to not eat excessive chocolate or calcium-rich foods at the same time they eat spinach, legumes, or other iron-rich plants.