You Are What You Eat: Become a Natural Mosquito Deterrent

May 11th, 2010 Posted in Mosquitoes & Repellent

When you go camping, what do you typically eat?

While many opt for hot dogs and s’mores, people should really be chowing down on some garlic. That is, if they hope to be a natural mosquito deterrent.


garlic natural mosquito deterrent

Keep reading to learn which foods you should eat to keep mosquitoes away.



Garlic: The Ultimate Cover-up

There’s a reason garlic keeps vampires away. Vampires can’t smell you and the blood they crave. Instead, they can only smell garlic seeping out of your pores.

Garlic is an effective natural mosquito deterrent as it makes you less attractive to blood-sucking female mosquitoes. So eating raw garlic or even eating pasta in a heavy garlic sauce is a great way to keep mosquitoes (and probably, your friends) away.

If you’re not a fan of eating garlic, you can wear this natural mosquito repellent. Slather it on your skin, or wear it in a bandana.


natural mosquito deterrent



Protect Your Veins with Vinegar

Just like garlic, you can rub apple cider vinegar on your skin, or ingest it. Either take vinegar capsules or drink 2 tablespoons every day.

Straight vinegar seem a little much? Dilute it with a few ounces of cold water.



Be One with Nature: Blend in with Your Surroundings

When you dress up in camouflage, you hide yourself visually. You can also try camouflaging your smell.


camouflage mosquito

Eat foods and drink aromatic herbal teas that are indigenous to the area in which you are. That way, you will blend in with your surroundings rather than stand out as a potential blood meal.



Vitamins Deter Mosquitoes Naturally

By taking the right vitamins for 2 full weeks before exposure to mosquitoes, you can protect yourself.

B1 Vitamins (i.e. Thiamine) helps the body metabolize carbohydrates and fats, turning them into energy. Taking 25-50 milligrams 3X a day makes your body produce an odor humans won’t notice, but mosquitoes will despise.


asparagus

If eating vitamins aren’t your thing, great food sources of vitamin B1 include:

  • Sunflower seeds, great for packing on hikes

  • Yellowfin tuna

  • Black beans

  • Asparagus

  • Romaine lettuce and spinach

  • Mushrooms, but don’t go picking just any mushrooms in the wild!

  • Green peas

  • Tomatoes

  • Eggplant

  • Brussels sprouts



A Natural Mosquito Deterrent You Don’t Have to Eat

If the idea of ingesting a natural mosquito deterrent sounds a little too risky, since you fear it might deter friends away too, then look to an all natural bug repellent, like EcoSMART.


mosquito

This all natural bug spray is easy to use and doesn’t involve any culinary skills.

And unlike garlic and vinegar, it smells great thanks to its natural formulation of Rosemary Oil, Cinnamon Leaf Oil and Lemongrass Oil.




  1. 12 Comments | The First 1,000 to Comment (Starting 12/21/2009) Will Become EcoSMART Product Testers!

  2. By anna on May 13, 2010

    I eat tons of garlic and vinegar, but the bugs still love me! I hate to use deet, specially since I have to put on bug spray every time i go outside in the summer (I’m in MN and high summer the bugs are ferocious) everyone else can be left alone and ill have a swarm around me :( I can’t find your insect repellent in any stores locally and would really like to try it. Ive tried some other natural bug repellents, but each seems to fall short in some way or another. how well does yours do on ticks?

  3. By bill thomas on May 20, 2010

    Just started an organic vegetable garden. I enjoy working in the garden, but as we are moving into the warmer weather more mosquitos and other bug bites are present during the latter part of the day. I also do not care for the insect repellents,they leave me with an sicken feeling from the smell. How can your products help?

  4. By margo on May 28, 2010

    I am heading to Russia in a couple of weeks- just in time for the mosquito season. I am a walking mosquito magnet and I am just desperate to avoid a months worth of itching! I will start the B1 tomorrow- gives me a couple of weeks to get it into my system- and try the vinegar also, assuming I can find it in the stores in Russia. I would like to take a can of the EcoSmart mosquito repellent and some Deet as well and see how it compares. I do NOT want to put Deet on my skin, so if the natural repellent works, you will have ‘believers’ on both sides of the globe!

  5. By Desiree Vozna on Jun 25, 2010

    Oh seriously, I have just finished scouring the net about this garlic and vinegar business. Too funny, I’ll give it a try. The mosquitos LOVE me.

  6. By Maleah on Jul 20, 2010

    The mosquitoes are eating us alive every night when we go out to water the plants and tend the chickens. My kids like to go out first thing in the morning and they get just covered in welts. We have tried so many natural sprays without too much luck but I HATE putting on Deet everyday.

  7. By Katherine on Aug 27, 2010

    I just moved back to the mid-west after being in CA for nearly 20 years and the mosquitoes are just terrible not only for me but for my dog, too. I am extra sensitive to their bites and find it very difficult not to scratch and my poor dog is the same. Help.

  8. By evelyn on Sep 22, 2010

    ok-, I have tried garlic, greenlight yardsafe,de, and I cannot get rid of mosquitos! I cant find any standing water, so please help!!

  9. By Martha on Oct 16, 2010

    So glad for this article. I had forgotten that when I used to live in mosquito heaven,Michigan(it’s the state bird! lol), I had changed my diet by reducing white sugar and ‘packaged’ foods, and eating garlic & oniions more. For the 1st time, I wasn’t a mosquito magnet! I’ll go back to trying these things…I know the vitamin B1, vinegar, and mint herb tea worked great for me. I can’t wait to try the EcoSmart repellant, too; I’ve tried other natural ones that didn’t work great. Thanks for the information!

  10. By Casi on Jul 25, 2011

    I eat garlic, I guess not enough. Mosquitos are extremly attracted to me. It doesn’t help that I live in New Orleans. I drink apple cider vinager too… I need to try the bugs spray. They love to bite me and I don’t want harsh chemicals on my skin!

  11. By Phoebe on Jul 28, 2011

    I live in California but we have been coming to the family summer home in Wisconsin almost every summer as long as I can remember. My blood is like a delicacy to them and I’m young so they go after me. I got here two days ago and got one big bite the first day then 7 more yesterday even though I tried to stay inside and drenched myself in off ad every other bug spray I could find! It seems to make me more attractive to them! Help! One of them bit my first big bite and now it huge and driving me crazy. What a mean mosquito! You’d think they could find a better spot to dig in. Please help maybe 8 bites doesn’t seem like a lot but that was inside and I’m sure I will get tons more in the next three weeks we are here.
    Thanks
    Phoebe

  12. By Lynn S. on Aug 18, 2011

    Hi, we recently moved to a rural area that have us all itching like mad. We have tried many things but will start to try some of your recommendations. We have a beautiful piece of property but cannot enjoy it either day or night, we have no standing water anywhere on the property, when we first moved in we got rid of all of the bush’s around the house and even planted citronella around the perimeter per recommendations from a nursery in the area.

  13. By Yves Ferrier on Aug 18, 2011

    Here it is the list for keeping mosquitous.

12 Comments | The First 1,000 to Comment (Starting 12/21/2009) Will Become EcoSMART Product Testers! (details)