Can Your Diet Help Repel Mosquitoes?

If you’re trying to take a more natural approach to repelling mosquitoes in areas proliferating with these bothersome creatures, we’ll give you some advice on effective remedies that you can easily fit into your day to day life.

Food is the easiest way to naturally get an edge over and remove mosquitoes from the equation, so for starters we’ll introduce some more well-known foods and include some that may do the trick.

• Allium vegetables: Allium foods are things like garlic, onions, shallots and leeks. These release allicin, an oily powerful liquid that is unappealing to mosquitoes and also contains antibacterial properties.
• Apple Cider Vinegar: ACV has been all the rage within the past few years due to its potential efficacy in weight loss, immune boosting properties, clearing and improving skin tone, etc. But ACV and its natural acidity ward off mosquitoes, you can use it in any format. Whether that be in a salad dressing, in a marinade or diluted with water and lemon and drank to obtain the benefits.
• Lemongrass or Citronella: Lemongrass is a type of citronella plant that contains natural oils that evaporate quickly and repel mosquitoes. Many different types of species of citronella are used together to create the essential oil, which is also a great antifungal.
• Chili peppers: Chili peppers contain capsaicin, a known chemical irritant that burns when it touches the skin of many mammals. This same irritant wards off mosquitoes and – bonus – it’s a natural pain reliever when consumed through your diet.
• Beans, lentils and tomatoes (vitamin B1): Foods that contain B1 like beans, lentils and tomatoes hold thiamine, which may help reduce the chances of mosquito bites. When excreted via the skin, thiamine masks naturally occurring human odors which attract mosquitoes. Unfortunately, mosquitoes love our/mammals natural form, so anything that may mask that (like thiamine) will help.

Next, we’ll introduce some foods/drinks to avoid as well as some simple habits to pick up and introduce into your lifestyle to avoid mosquitoes.

• Avoid alcohol (beer), salty foods and sugary foods. All these things make us more appealing to mosquitoes, so reduce sugar and salty intake to protect yourself as best you can.
• Workout indoors. If you’re prone to sweating quite a bit, consider getting a sweat on indoors. Mosquitoes are attracted to the carbon dioxide we exhale and the warmth/sweat we generate, help yourself out and try to work out indoors.

We know completely changing your lifestyle to avoid mosquitoes isn’t realistic, that’s why we’ve given you a few tools to help avoid bites from mosquitoes that may carry Dengue, West Nile or the Zika virus. Maintain your lifestyle while taking the eco-friendly route and know here at Mosquito Magnet, we’re your dedicated USVI mosquito control with guaranteed mosquito removal for you, your family, your business, etc.