Florida is paradise. Palm trees, calm breezes, big puffy clouds, green grass, beaches for miles, and sunshine nearly every day. It is the sunshine state after all. Summer is coming and it’s time to shed the jeans and cover-ups and trade them in for bathing suits, shorts, and flip flops.
While its many people’s favorite time of year, our time spent at the pool, the beach, at outdoor events and barbecues can all be tainted by our good friend the mosquito. No one likes being bit over and over again. It can really bug you.
No one loves to cover themselves in bug spray. It may keep the bugs off, but they are also not all that healthy for you as a person either. What is likely the most frustrating is that in just about any group of friends you place outdoors in Florida in mosquito season, only some will face the wrath. There seem to always be one or two in the group who just love to exclaim “I’m not getting bit” as you itch yourself silly and lose your marbles.
It’s frustrating! It makes you question “What am I doing wrong? Or am I really ‘just that tasty’”?
Let’s take a look at what makes a mosquito magnet and see if we can help.
What are mosquitos drawn too?
The #1 factor that you can not control is the core basic fact that blood type O makes you the tastiest snack around. Research has found that type O blood is 2x as desirable as any other blood type. On the flip side, if you happen to be type A? You are likely safe.
#2 Your blood now has alcohol in it. Alcohol boost metabolism. When your metabolism is boosted you output more CO2. They are most attracted to beer drinkers.
#3 You are athletic. Lactic acid is high on the chart for mosquitos. Avoid going outside within an hour of working out hard.
#4 Pregnancy. Again, CO2 is the factor here. Pregnant women emit more CO2 than most.
#5 Dark or Bright Clothing. If you are in high contrast to your background environment, they see you. I know it sounds silly, but if you wear light colors that blend in with the sky, they miss you.
Great – So you have just discovered that you are a beer drinking, O+ or O-, pregnant woman who works out and loves to wear bright gym clothes while jogging in Southwest Florida. (Prime target for a mosquito chow down). Now that you know, what can you do?
How to Repel Mosquitos
Their turn offs
Eat onions, garlic, or chili peppers – they don’t love that stuff as much as we do.
Wear light thick material for clothing. Bites can only pierce so deeply and as we mentioned above, the light fabric is like camouflage to them.
Shower before going out. Mosquitos love sweat. They don’t love clean skin nearly as much.
Use bug spray and avoid thickly populated mosquito hangouts such as water’s edge areas and wooded spaces.
Knowing what mosquitos are looking for is key to helping avoid the little buggers.
We hope this makes your summer more pleasant.
Chiropractor | Nutritionist in Ft Myers, FL
Chiropractic care is a safe, alternative treatment when applied appropriately. Chiropractic treatments help in dealing with the symptoms of many conditions. Add to that, nutritional recommendations that can help your body heal itself. Are you going to wait for your symptoms to be felt, or are you going to prevent it as soon as possible?
Dr. Jason B. Kaster, a chiropractor in Fort Myers can help you and your family achieve their optimal health.
4 Comments
Another turn off. Mosquitoes hate the way people smell if they take B-vitamins. One of the B-vitamins (forget which one) emits a certain smell on the skin, and mosquitoes hate that smell. I’ve experimented with that and it works for me. I can feel them flutter on my skin, but they don’t bite.
That is great Sue, Thank you for sharing that.
I am thankful to the author of this site who has shared
this!
I am a moquito magnet…