Donating blood is a win-win for everyone. Recipients get a vital substance and donors get to burn calories, lower their risk of cancer, and maintain a healthy heart. Al of this while laying back and taking a 5-7 minute relaxing break to do a good deed.

While you are contemplating when to give your donation, below are a few fun facts about blood and donating blood you may not have known…

Fun Facts about Blood:

• There are about .2 mg of gold in your blood stream.
• In an average life time the human heart pumps 1.5 million barrels of blood (that’s enough to fill 200 train tank cars).
• Your blood accounts for 8% of your body weight.
• Your body has over 100,000 miles of blood vessels. which if laid end to end, would stretch 2 and a half times around the Earth.
• There are 150 Billion red blood cells in one ounce of blood.
• All blood isn’t red. Crabs have blue blood while earthworms and leeches have green blood.
• O+ is the most common blood type & O- donors are often called “Universal Donors”.
• 45% of donors are type “O”.
• Most donated red blood cells can be stored for 42 days.
• Whole blood can be donated every 56 days.

Fun Facts about Donating Blood:

• You can save up to Three lives by donating blood.
• You can burn up to 650 calories per pint of blood donation.
• Donating at least once a year could reduce your risk of a heart attack by 88%.
• When you donate blood, your body replaces the blood volume within 48 hours of donation, and all of the red blood cells you lose during donation are completely replaced within four to eight weeks. This process of replenishment can help your body stay healthy and work more efficiently and productively.
• Donating MAY help lower the risk of cancer by maintaining healthy levels of iron in the body.
• Blood drives hosted by companies, schools, places of worship and civic organizations supply roughly half of all blood donations across the US.
• Giving blood will not decrease your strength.
• After donating blood, you replace the fluid in hours and the red blood cells within four weeks. It takes eight weeks to restore the iron lost after donating.