Replying to an old post, as that just was a really good study even though results aren’t that surprising. I’m actually surprised that supplementing with iron isn’t recommended more to regular donators unless ofcourse they have too high iron levels.
I’ve donated few times in the past and now decided to do it after summer / “race” season. I read this topic and was expecting 10 % drop in ftp.
I did ramp test on 21st September, ftp 224 W, and since then only rode TR couple of times as I ran a half marathon on 2nd October.
I donated blood on Monday 4th.
On Thursday 7th I rode 30 min Ritter -5, which has short VO2 intervals, and it felt hard.
Yesterday on Sunday 10th I did the ramp test and to my surprise only lost 3% with suggested ftp 218 W. Heart rate maybe stayed elevated longer than last time, other than that felt surprisingly good.
My hemoglobin levels have always been good/normal and I recently got the ferritin tested and it was 97 so not low but not too high either. After donating I started supplementing with SiderAl Forte which is sucrosomial iron. To my understanding the idea is similar to what Maurten does with carbs in their products so that the iron is encapsulated and transports through the stomach to the intestine. Ofcourse I don’t know how my iron levels are filling etc but can recommend this type of iron supplement as I’ve had zero stomach issues which are common with normal iron supplements.
And yes I know that ramp test results one week after donating probably have nothing to do with supplementing. I’m still going to continue supplementing for some time to fill up the iron that was lost.