Anyone who blasts and cruises should donate on a regular basis, unless you're trying to get your blood as dense as tar. Overly high Hematocrit is linked to cardiovascular diseases, embolism and stroke. Quite a few times, even people who "just" cycle and then take some time OFF can get alarmingly high values.
The quickest way to reduce hematocrit is to hydrate oneself. Being dehydrated increases hematocrit, while being extra hydrated reduces hematocrit...as hematocrit is simply the percentage of RBC's per volume of blood. By drinking more water, plasma rises and therefore, RBC percentage goes down per total volume of blood. However, this is a short term fix and not sufficient for those with signifiant elevation.
So donate. As often as they allow you to.
Below is an interesting tip to further keep the problem in check.
Stay safe fellas.
Ingestion of grapefruit lowers elevated hematocrits in human subjects.
Robbins RC, Martin FG, Roe JM.
Author information
Abstract
This study was based on in vitro observations that naringin isolated from grapefruit induced red cell aggregation and evidence that clumped red cells are removed from the circulation by phagocytosis. The effect on hematocrits of adding grapefruit to the daily diet was determined using 36 human subjects (12 F, 24 M) over a 42-day study. The hematocrits ranged from 36.5 to 55.8% at the start and 38.8% to 49.2% at the end of the study. There was a differential effect on the hematocrit. The largest decreases occurred at the highest hematocrits and the effect decreased on the intermediate hematocrits; however, the low hematocrits increased. There was no significant difference between ingesting 1/2 or 1 grapefruit per day but a decrease in hematocrit due to ingestion of grapefruit was statistically significant at the p less than 0.01 level.
Be careful tho, naringin can significantly increase the bioavailability of many other coingested chemicals. May sound sexy when you take Dbol, not so much with acetaminophen.
If you don't like grapefruit, no worries; Naringin capsules are dirty cheap and widely available.
Tip for those donating Blood on a regular basis: get your Ferritin level checked.
Ferritin drops by about 30-50ng/mL with each full unit of blood removed.
There is a significant correlation with the number of donations made in the previous 12 months and Ferritin status.. The results of several studies confirm the value of the serum ferritin assay as a sensitive indicator of blood donor body iron stores and emphasize the fact that regular blood donation may diminish body iron stores while the serum iron levels remain normal.
Depleted iron stores are no fun. You may experience, among other sympyoms:
unexplained fatigue.
dizziness.
chronic headaches.
unexplained weakness.
ringing in your ears.
irritability.
leg pains.
shortness of breath.
Quick note on Covid:
There is some evidence that the use of surgical masks can induce hypoxia with a low level of activity or even at rest. The degree of hypoxia associated with surgical mask use warrants further investigation, particularly given the current widespread use due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chronic continuous hypoxia increases haematocrit and causes right ventricular hypertrophy and pulmonary hypertension.
BTW, after each wear, bacteria from even a healthy wearer’s own respiratory droplets collect on the inside of a mask as well as the outside, which could contain airborne pathogens capable of living on its surface. Many (most?) people reuse masks and other face coverings many times without sanitizing them. This may easily mean more harm than good regardless of Covid when used this way.
So every time you can, get that damn mask off your face.