Vitamin B-1 protection from mosquitoes

Click photo to enlarge

Special to The Ukiah Daily Journal

If you are tired of itchy welts and possible harmful viruses from mosquitoes, here is a tried and true way to repel mosquitoes this summer.

A good way to assure not being mosquito bait, is to take sufficient B-1 vitamin as part of a total B vitamin supplementation.

Fifty plus years ago I taught canoeing at a girl’s camp.  That summer I had almost 200 mosquito bites below the knees. My campers counted them.

That fall at S.F. State College, which is close to sand dunes, I kept getting flea bites from sand fleas.  An M.D. at the college medical center had read in a medical journal about B-1 (thiamine hydrochloride) related to repelling insects. He suggested I take 100 mg. of B-1 daily.   The flea bites stopped and the next summer of camp counseling, I had only three mosquito bites.

Years later my older daughter at age 4 was a mosquito attractor. Each bite left a painful welt. I gave her B­1 at 25mg / day starting a week before each trip. I probably could have given her less.  The mosquito attacks stopped and camping became fun for her.  Many more years later her daughter showed the same vitamin B deficiency and used what had worked for her.

I have since learned, through my professional training, that it is advisable to take the whole spectrum of B vitamins.  A good quality daily multi vitamin/mineral  containing an ample amount of B vitamins should do the trick.  You can always add extra B-1 if the mosquitoes are still

coming around.   The tablet can be cut up to adjust the doseage, and mixed with applesauce for young children.

The way it works is –  the B’s comes through the skin as that “vitamin-y” smell.  It isn’t noticeable by people, but the mosquitoes don’t like it and are repelled. Today, I evidently have enough B’s in my system from taking healthy supplements because I just don’t get insect bites.

This is a healthier way to repel mosquitoes than using chemical repellents that go through the skin and can add unwanted toxins to the body. Plus, if you are attracting mosquitoes it may be an indicator of a B vitamin deficiency.

Adding foods to your diet that are high in B-1 can be helpful, however you’d have to eat a lot of them to get a therapeutic doseage.

According to Michael T. Murray, N.D. Encyclopedia of Nutritional Supplements, some foods high in B-1 are:

(mg./ 3 1Ž2 oz serving)

Brewers Yeast-15.61

Toroula Yeast-14.01

Sunflower seeds-1.96

Pine nuts-1.28

Peanuts-1.14

Brazil nuts-.96

Beans (red/pinto)-.84

Millet-.73

Pistachio nuts-.67

Marcela Ries is a Wellness Resource Certified Nutrition Educator in Ukiah.