Blood Donation, Thyroid Issues, And Glaucoma On A Plant-Based Diet

Another problem with blood donation is that most blood donors encourage people to do something good by advising them to do something even worse.

Author: Myrto Varela

I remember sitting in the back seat of a car when I heard an advertisement. It was a very touching voice that explained how many people suffer in hospitals and how their lives could be altered if every one of us did something simple twice a year. After this advertisement, I finally decided to find the courage and become a blood donor. 

In my mind, I thought that it would be something easy. But as soon as I got there, I realized that the needles scared me more than I thought, so the nurse advised me to just sit back and observe how the others were doing it. And I did as I believed that this would help me cope with my anxiety. But on the contrary, the more I thought about it, the less likely it was for me to do it. In the end, the staff told me that there was no point in me trying to donate blood that day, so I left. On my way home, I decided to stimulate the process of the donation in my mind. And that helped me a lot because on my way home, I saw another spot where they accepted donations, and because of the mental stimulation that I did previously, I was able to accomplish my goal this time.

In total, I have attempted to donate blood five times in my life. But I only made it twice. That’s because there are very strict rules and health guidelines for this type of philanthropy. This is also the reason why I resigned from blood donation. It was so frustrating getting prepared to go to the donation center and then, after five minutes leaving the place because something went wrong.

Another problem is that most blood donors encourage people to do something good by advising them to do something even worse. Both the US and the German blood donor registry recommend potential donors include poultry, lean meat, eggs, and yogurt in their everyday diet ignoring the scientific evidence that categorizes them as the number one cause of cancer, diabetes, and other fatal diseases.  But despite the health factor, it’s obvious that human rights are also neglected by the meat industry since the workers of these factories are also exploited by the owners of the industry. Meat and dairy production results in more than half a million lung cancer deaths each year, as factory farming emits 14.5% of the greenhouse gas that is caused by humans. 

I am not against blood donation. On the contrary, I believe that it’s a very nice thing to do. However, I do direct attention since most of the doctors who work for the blood donation services are traditional ones, and each donor should be able to judge whether their nutritional advice is accurate or not.

But moreover, January wasn’t just the national blood donation month, it is also the month that we fight against Glaucoma. Glaucoma is a common eye condition where the optic nerve that connects the eye to the brain is damaged. The early symptoms are often none, but later the patient could experience blind spots and loss of peripheral vision. If the disease isn’t treated properly, then it could lead to blindness. 

The eye surgery center claims that the best way to prevent Glaucoma is by following a low-carbohydrate plant-based diet. And that’s because overall, the findings suggest that vegetable sources may be more beneficial than animal sources for a low-carbohydrate diet in reducing the risk of a certain glaucoma subtype. So, instead of paying a fortune to cure Glaucoma and avoid blindness, I think it would be easier to prevent it by keeping calm and going vegan.

Specifically, the experts recommend consuming an abundance of the following vitamins in order to prevent or even reverse Glaucoma:

• Vitamin B1 or thiamine. It’s proven that most Glaucoma patients lack thiamine, and research has shown that consuming foods rich in thiamine could help prevent or even reverse the disease. These foods could be nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, peanuts, etc.), cereals and whole grain products (such as oats, rice, wheat, corn, barley, wheat germ wholemeal bread, etc.), dry beans, soybeans, and other vegetables such as oranges, potatoes, etc.
• Vitamin C has antioxidant properties that could help prevent the onset of eye diseases.
• Routine is also crucial for your eye health and can be found in oranges, lemons, tangerines, etc.

In addition to Blood donation and Glaucoma, the month of January is also assigned as national Thyroid Awareness month. More than 20 million people suffer from thyroid conditions in the U.S. alone. The most common thyroid conditions are hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, goiter, and thyroid cancer. Many of these diseases could lead to heart failure if not treated or even better prevented.  According to the NIH insufficient and harmful nutrition is closely related to thyroid dysfunction. That’s why it’s important to be cautious and conscious when it comes to our everyday eating habits. And it’s also vital to keep in mind that according to the same institute, a vegan diet could be a great weapon against thyroid problems.

That’s why the following nutrients should be consumed frequently by thyroid patients:

• Iodine is found in algae like spirulina and chlorella. So if you are worried about or suffer from thyroid disorders, you could add a teaspoon of it to your smoothie every afternoon
• B Vitamins: some of the best sources of them are avocados, greens, sweet potatoes, broccoli, bananas, figs, nuts, seeds, spirulina, coconut, whole grains, sprouted grain (flourless) bread, beans, legumes, and nutritional yeast. Be sure to take a vitamin B12 supplement, preferably a sublingual or liquid form that is absorbed immediately into the bloodstream. Lack of vitamin B12 can also cause thyroid problems, but a supplement ensures everyone gets enough.
• Vitamin D acts as a hormone in our body and is crucial for our bones, mood, blood, heart, and thyroid. The best way to get it is by lying under the sun for fifteen minutes every day. However, if you are not able to do that, you should go for a plant-based vitamin D3 supplement

It is important to honor and show compassion to the people around us, just like it is important to maintain our health. But we must remember the meat industry is constantly attempting to manipulate both the doctors and us by ensuring us that animal products are essential for our health and that it’s okay to kill pigs and cows because this is how nature works.  I hope this article helps people understand plant-based nutrition better, and I hope that everyone’s health situation improves after a few months on a vegan diet. And if you need some assistance in order to jump-start your vegan self, then you can always refer to our Vkind app for recipes, resources, nutritionists and more.