mosquito bites & diet

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kitla
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mosquito bites & diet

Post by kitla »

I've been bitten more times than ever before this year (and its only June), not usual for me. so I've been looking up info about deterrents & what things in your diet puts them off or attracts them. Some say garlic, cider vinegar, citrus put them off, whereas potassium rich food like bananas attract them. I wondered if anyone here has discovered a connection with mozzy bites & their diet?
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Gwenoakes
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Re: mosquito bites & diet

Post by Gwenoakes »

I have no idea, Kitla. I honestly am never bitten by them, but Terry my OH is always eaten alive and now has been got at by tics we think, so he will be off to the chemist and no doubt they will send him to the doctors tomorrow.
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Re: mosquito bites & diet

Post by albertajune »

Lavender and citronella oil are said to deter them. My friend who is being eaten alive put on lavender cream yesterday and said it was very successful.
I have been looking up how to make mossie traps. Take a 2ltr plastic bottle and cut of the top 4ins. Dissolve half a cup of brown sugar in a third of a cup very hot water. When just warm put into the bottom half of the bottle and add a level tsp of yeast. Then insert the top of the bottle upside down so that the neck opening is sitting just above the liquid. Apparently it isn't the sweetness that attract them but the gas that it gives off. One I am going to try indoors as I am sweeping them up daily. So many about this year, probably because of the heat.
Water butts are great breeding grounds for them so if you have, float liquid paraffin on top. Something we did when I lived in Australia as the place was alive with them.
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p.penn
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Re: mosquito bites & diet

Post by p.penn »

I believe it has something to do with the amount of iron in your blood. If you eat a lot of marmite, you get bitten less apparently.
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kitla
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Re: mosquito bites & diet

Post by kitla »

thankyou, some interesting ideas there. I have been eating marmite as I was always told that worked, but not this year. Apparently they particularly like blood group O, but dont like blood group A - which is interesting but irrelevant as I'm B! I've realised that not all my bites are mozzy ones, as there's some nasty black bitey flies about..some type of horse fly we think. I bought some natural repellant spray today which has helped but is a bit stinky, lavender cream sounds alot nicer!
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Mo
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Re: mosquito bites & diet

Post by Mo »

My daughter her garlic to horse as a cure for something, not sure if it was to prevent bites
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Re: mosquito bites & diet

Post by fabindia »

We are in sunny Thailand now and so have a constant battle with things that want to eat us alive.

What is interesting here is a common pattern, some people never seeming to be bothered, whilst others, myself included, appear to be mozzie magnets.

We've started using 'Skin so Soft' dry body oil by Avon. It contains Jojoba and Citronellol, which appears to put mosquitoes off but if you check the reviews on Amazon, they are somewhat mixed. It seems to me that you just have to try everything until you find something that works for you in the area you live.
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Re: mosquito bites & diet

Post by Freeranger »

We're having a bad time with the bitey beasties here in Scotland this year (OK, not quite so exotic!), and it's very person-dependent, it seems. My OH and I are both beastie-magnets and react with enormous lumps, bumps and blisters. My sister visited and was fine - so she did a whole load of gardening for us, as we like to show a guest a good time! The Skin So Soft is what we swear by, and I'm told the armed forces are beautifully moisturised as well for the same (?) reason. :-D I've found Germy Lean very good for removing the itch, if that's any help. Better than the specific bitey creams. The diet idea is interesting, and I've heard sweet diets attract midges, but the science seems to favour the CO2 and butyric acid links as those are the things in the mechanical catchers that mimic cows' and other animals' breath. There's a product called Red Top that catches them in a chemical-filled net device - that worked very well too.
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Re: mosquito bites & diet

Post by fabindia »

It is an endless battle I am afraid.

Here I notice we get bitten by a variety of unknown little demons. Some come up like what I would describe as the typical mosquito bite, sort of blisters up, itchy and can be a bit weepy. Others don't seem to blister up but are incredibly itchy for a few hours and then thankfully subside with no further effect. And finally, I get bitten by something that causes small but none blistering pimples, which itch for a couple of days.

Life in the tropics must be very like living in Scotland :-D
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Re: mosquito bites & diet

Post by Gwenoakes »

Well, I am blood group O Rhesus Negative, so not sure how I am not being bitten.
The mossies were everywhere last night and literally walking/sucking across the backs of the horses, so fly rugs were put on, but none on me............
I really, really dislike Marmite, so never eat it.
Ants, wasps, bees and all insects attack Terry. Only this last week we think an ant bit him when in the garden and it literally came up like a football, I jest not and took days to go down and the intense itching to stop. I was right there with him and absolutely nothing.
Hope I am not speaking too soon.
I hope you can find something to stop these pesky things and soon. {hug}
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Spreckly
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Re: mosquito bites & diet

Post by Spreckly »

Avon Skin so Soft did nothing for me. I know it has been used for years against bites. I am A Rhesus Negative, and the little beasts love me, so I take B1 tablets, available from H & B. This does help.

Tried citronella when we were camping and the mossies were mega active, but it had no effect.
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Re: mosquito bites & diet

Post by Freeranger »

Yes, Michael. Exactly. Just like it. We're in the middle of a monsoon as we speak. :-D
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kitla
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Re: mosquito bites & diet

Post by kitla »

I've read of something else that apparently puts mosquitos off. Grapefruit, it has something called nootkatone in it, which is used as an insect replellant. I've been looking up about bitey flies & now realise that all the bites I got a few weeks ago were probably Blackflies, annoying little b******* that numb you before they bite, they're on the increase apparently.
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saint-spoon
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Re: mosquito bites & diet

Post by saint-spoon »

Skin so soft worked for me up until this year when it has been totally impotent. I have gone for some stuff called smidge which isn’t cheap but has kept them off. I also have lantern in which I burn citronella candles.

I too am a midge magnet.
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saint-spoon
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Re: mosquito bites & diet

Post by saint-spoon »

I can also assure you that drinking beer does in no way deter mosquitoes, I have carried out extensive research on the subject. )hic(
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