Donating at blood bank - cookie question

[LeslieJ]

I'm donating blood this week -- first time doing that while on PP plan. I was wondering if anyone has advice on that. Afterwards they put you in their canteen and serve you juice and cookies. (Sad to admit but the guilt-free eating of oreos has always been one of my motivators for donating...haha). Is there a real "medical" need to eat a sugar-y food right away? I guess it needn't be cookies; I could take a piece of fruit. But would it be better to have more of a mixed snack with some protein in it as well as the quick sugar?

Thanks for any input.

[Ottawa]

Going by the book, there should always be some protein whenever ingesting carbs.

As to the giving blood and te canteen ... the food choices are very limited. They do have waters where I give and I bring some sort of snack like nuts, a protein cookie or a bar, but find I am usually good to go within 15 minutes whether I have teh snack or not.

The times that I am going to exceed my carb target, I want to be quite special and a few Oreos wouldn't do it.;) I definitely wouldn't leave the canteen until I felt quite stable and for some people it leaves them woozy for a while.
I have found that low carb gives you a huge window where declining blood sugar rarely is a problem as related to Insulin spikes that can trigger an intense hunger.

[maxlharris]

I usually bring some protein with me, usually a protein shake or something. I don't think you need the sugar.

[lczeledoc]

I donate regularly, And I don't eat any of the cookies and sugary offerings provided at the blood bank. I just eat at whatever time the next scheduled meal is. I never have been the worse for it. I think smaller people or people who have poor blood sugar control might need some quick carbs. And hence the paractice of provide such food/drink at the blood bank.

[LeslieJ]

OK, thanks. I'll bring my own "good" food with me & see how I feel. I would hate to blow a day's worth of carbs on something like an oreo.

[Spruce Goose]

I've donated once since doing low-carb. They happened to offer pizza and had a little diet soda left. I picked off the pizza toppings and drank the diet soda.

It went fine but next time I'll be better prepared with some nuts or a protein bar.

[Karole]

I've donated twice now, the first time I took something with me--nuts and cheese just in case. I ate the cheese stick, but really didn't feel like I needed it at all. The second time, I forgot to take something with me, but they had assorted snacks, including peanuts and diet soda so I had those and everything went quite well.

[chip]

I've donated regularly for 15 years. I've never had a problem after the donation, meaning I didn't need to rest. Typically I would donate on my lunch hour and go running immediately after. This last donation I hopped off the reclining chair and nearly fainted. It told me I needed something quick and sugar is the quickest energy source for brain and body.

One dose of sugar isn't going to destroy whatever diet you're on. I had four oatmeal cookies and did an hour run.

[deirdra]

There is no need for cookies and juice (more sugar). What your body could use most is water to replace your blood volume. I've never needed anything and only sit down if someone insists, not because I need to.