I thought I should give a quick update on my Vitamin B Complex experiment to repel the Canadian mozzies! The worst encounter with mosquitoes on my Mountie trek was in Golden, near Yoho National Park. There were literally thousands of mosquitoes in the air, so the thought of camping there for two nights was not a pleasant one to say the least!
We had an indoor kitchen and dining area so we could cook and eat away from the mosquitoes, so that was great but as soon as we were outdoors, we all wore long sleeves and trousers - but we certainly didn't let the mosquitoes spoil our campfire fun! Everyone wore plenty of deet but unfortunately that doesn't prevent anyone from staying completely bite-free, not when there are so many mosquitoes around.
Thankfully, our encounters with mosquitoes weren't as bad for the rest of the trip but most people still had a lot of bites and I'm talking a LOT of bites. Myself on the other hand, I definitely had 75% less bites than most, with probably 30 bites in total for the whole trip - don't get me wrong, that's still plenty bites, but when you consider that some of the guys had about 20-30 bites on the back of their necks alone, I'd say the combination of Vitamin B Complex and deet, definitely did the trick for me. And my bite zapper certainly helped reduce the desire to scratch those itchy bites!
So if you're heading into a mosquito-infested zone, you might want to stock up on Vitamin B too, the only thing I'd recommend you do first is check with your doctor because apparently it's easy to overdose on B vitamins and there can be health risks associated with that, and if you're pregnant (or taking medication), never take any supplements without speaking to your doctor first. Since completing this experiment, I've read that B vitamins can be used to ease the symptoms of repetitive strain injuries RSI's) and also that too much of some B vitamins can cause symptoms similar to RSI (confused?!)....just check with your doctor if in doubt.
We had an indoor kitchen and dining area so we could cook and eat away from the mosquitoes, so that was great but as soon as we were outdoors, we all wore long sleeves and trousers - but we certainly didn't let the mosquitoes spoil our campfire fun! Everyone wore plenty of deet but unfortunately that doesn't prevent anyone from staying completely bite-free, not when there are so many mosquitoes around.
Thankfully, our encounters with mosquitoes weren't as bad for the rest of the trip but most people still had a lot of bites and I'm talking a LOT of bites. Myself on the other hand, I definitely had 75% less bites than most, with probably 30 bites in total for the whole trip - don't get me wrong, that's still plenty bites, but when you consider that some of the guys had about 20-30 bites on the back of their necks alone, I'd say the combination of Vitamin B Complex and deet, definitely did the trick for me. And my bite zapper certainly helped reduce the desire to scratch those itchy bites!
So if you're heading into a mosquito-infested zone, you might want to stock up on Vitamin B too, the only thing I'd recommend you do first is check with your doctor because apparently it's easy to overdose on B vitamins and there can be health risks associated with that, and if you're pregnant (or taking medication), never take any supplements without speaking to your doctor first. Since completing this experiment, I've read that B vitamins can be used to ease the symptoms of repetitive strain injuries RSI's) and also that too much of some B vitamins can cause symptoms similar to RSI (confused?!)....just check with your doctor if in doubt.
