Exact answer: After 24 hours
It’s always advised not to drink or smoke before donating blood at least the gap should be 24 hrs. Make sure that the alcohol is out of your system before donating blood. Drinking too much alcohol can raise blood pressure to an unhealthy level. Taking more than three drinks in one sitting may increase blood pressure for few hours.
However, excessive alcohol intake can have long-term effects on the blood and the heart that’s why it is always suggested if you are donating blood make sure you are not under alcohol consumption. Doctors who are under in charge of blood donation camp suggests the donors not consume alcohol after few hours of donation.
How Long After Alcohol Can I Donate Blood?
| Type | Time |
| Minimum time | 24 hrs. |
| Maximum time | 72 hrs. |
Alcohol is such a drink that starts its impact on your body from the moment you take the first sip. While it doesn’t show any serious impact by taking it on an occasion. A glass of alcohol a day can cause little damage to your overall health. But if the habit grows then it will end up your healthy life in a serious unhealthy condition. Although alcohol is such a depressant that has a short life span in your body its impact within the body is still longer. It takes about 1 hour to metabolize 20 mg/dL of alcohol.
The metabolic rate of alcohol is constant but the effect of it may last longer. This is because blood alcohol concentration varies among People and their situations. BAC or blood alcohol concentration means how much amount of alcohol in your blood with the amount of water in the blood. This means if two persons having 20mg/dL of blood alcohol level, then for both of them alcohol will metabolize in about one hour but their BACs will be different.
So it’s necessary to check the BAC or blood alcohol concentration before you go for blood donation. And if it is well known to the person then he should not drink for at least 24 hrs before donating or he may skip the donation in drunk condition. Numerous factors can affect the BAC level and your reaction towards alcohol includes age, weight, liver diseases, etc. However, alcohol affects health and hence, it’s better to avoid alcohol after any kind of blood donation.
Why Should I Wait So Long To Donate Blood After Alcohol?
Blood donation is not just helping the receipt but also has so many health benefits for donors. According to a study in 2017 regular blood donation can reduce the blood iron level and due to which the risk of heart attack also reduces. Other than all the health benefits donating blood can reduce your stress, improve your emotional well-being, benefit your physical health, get rid of negative feelings.
Even though you are fit and feel capable of donating blood make sure you check all the health screening tests before donating blood. The training members at the camp will check your pulse, blood pressure, hemoglobin level, etc. After blood donation, it is important to follow post-donation care to avoid drinking for at least 12 hours after donation.
Do take care of your body by taking good iron-rich nutrition so that you could replenish nutrients and blood cells that are lost due to donation and this is a very important part of the blood donation process.
The diet even plays a significant role in determining how someone feels immediately after donating blood. If anyone is planning for donating blood for the betterment of mankind, it is advised to take foods that are rich sources of iron. These food items include spinach, meat, fresh fruits, and eggs. These will help the body to generate fresh new blood. The nutrients lost due to donation will also be restored. The doctors at the center should advise donors to take extra 16 ounces of water before the process of donation. This will be beneficial in preventing the aftereffects of donation. If you don’t feel well then consult your doctor and recheck your blood pressure and hemoglobin level.
Conclusion
Although alcohol is a sedative natured drink it lowers the heart rate and relaxes the body but its long-term habit is too dangerous. Alcohol makes dilation of blood vessels, which results in less amount of blood being available to circulate to the brain. This leads to dizziness and fainting feeling and is harmful to you in the long term.
Above all, we all should know alcohol is not good for our health. As the effect of alcohol stays for a little longer so we should keep avoiding donating blood before 48 hrs of drinking. Avoiding alcohol consumption before and after the donation is that important because this may lead to critical conditions with hydration levels and makes recovery take too long.