If you are a regular blood donor who makes a contribution every 12 weeks, you will need approximately 2 mg more iron each day, on top of the 1 mg or 1.5 mg average daily requirement for males or females respectively.
As only 5 to 10% of the iron that is present your diet is actually absorbed by your body, your daily diet should give you a total of 45 mg of iron if you are male, and 50 mg of iron if you are female.
The above information presented in table form as follows:
 |
Average Non-Donor
Male | Female | |
Daily iron requirement | 1 mg | 1.5 mg |
Amount of iron needed in daily diet | 15 mg | 15 mg |
|
Regular Donor
Male | Female | |
Daily iron requirement | 3 mg | 3.5 mg |
Amount of iron needed in daily diet | 45 mg | 50 mg |
|
