I heard a rumor that there were health benefits from giving blood. (The rumor claimed that doing so would help to "remove unwanted stuff from your bloodstream" so that your body could create fresh new blood.)
Is there any truth to this?
[Let me add: I was in Britain during a mad cow disease incident, so I'm not permitted to donate blood to help other people. I'm just trying to understand if there's any health benefit for donating blood for me personally.]