Friday, May 22, 2009

Vitamin B1 is Nature's Bug Repellent!

If you’d like to take advantage of vitamin B1’s bug repellent properties naturally, it’s easy to add some by eating good, healthy foods. It takes 2 weeks to build up B1 in your system so start now because the bugs get hungry for you. Some foods that are high in B1 include:

Sunflower seeds are particularly high in thiamin
Beans, such as black beans, green peas, and lentils
Whole grains such as oatmeal and brown rice
Yeast (brewer’s yeast supplements) !!!!I recommend this!
Dark leafy greens such as kale
Organ meats, such as liver
Enriched bread products
Cauliflower
Asparagus
Potatoes
Oranges
Pork
Corn
Eggs

One thing to note, especially if you’re upping your intake of vitamin B1 for bugs; since it is water soluble, B1 is automatically flushed from the body and your reserves will need to be stocked regularly, either by taking a vitamin supplement or eating foods rich in the vitamin. The next time you’ve got the munchies, consider munching on oranges slices or sunflower seeds as a snack!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am so glad you incluced the water soluble thing! I am a firm believer in vit. B's helping to stave off insects as I had experienced it myself, but lately my "holistic" viewpoints are being challenged by the western medical model (long story in itself)

Anyways, was at the pediatrician's office for my 18 mos old son, and the doctors office handed out papers on how to parent, well one of the papers was informing parents about the use of insect repellents (form comming from American Academy of Pediactrics)

Of course they list several forms of repellent that are NOT effective, one of which is garlic or vit b1. Hmm..how interesting I thought. The pamphlet continued to reccomend chemical repellents with DEET, okay. Then I see a small disclaimer or note on the bottom that says "although these products are considered safe when used as recommended, long-term follow-up studies are not available."

Okay fine. In my experience with studies, it's not he statistics that lie, but with person reading the stats. Also, there are many variables that will affect the stats/numbers, and until I find a solid study on the effects of vit b1 as a valid repellent I am still going to use it based onmy experience and sucess with it!

DEET, i'm sorry i just can't trust you. Thanks for lettting me vent :)

Cam said...

Hey...

thanks for the reminder. I think the movie got it wrong, I believe the mosquito is the state bird of Georgia! And, seriously, when you slap them as hard as you can, they often just fly away...Like, in a strange lab, an evil genius crossed them with a teeny tiny armadillo. It's unnatural.

:)

grasshopper322 said...

I'm interested in the proof that Vit B works as a bug repellent - I know 2 people that tried it, worked for one and not the other. I've found a lot of reports that prove it doesn't work but no studies that say it does. Show me.

xoxoxo said...

I am a vegan who eats on a daily or regular basis all of the foods you mentioned (aside from the non-vegan foods). I still get eaten by mosquitoes like I was thrown into a family of piranhas. This is not a solution.

Hannah Culbertson said...

I definitely think B1 helps. I take a multiB vitamin daily and I never get bites. I am traveling in Costa Rica in the rainforest with friends who don't take it and they get eaten up (while wearing bug spray) and I get none with out it.