Mosquito season has begun: What attracts these insects and what foods to avoid

Summer evenings are the best thing about summer – there is nothing better than sitting out on your patio or balcony in the evening to cool off after a hot day. However, this experience is often ruined by the annoying buzzing mosquitoes all around us, and it seems that no mosquito spray can repel them anymore.

Mosquito season has begun: What attracts these insects and what foods to avoid

Summer evenings are the best thing about summer – there is nothing better than sitting out on your patio or balcony in the evening to cool off after a hot day. However, this experience is often ruined by the annoying buzzing mosquitoes all around us, and it seems that no mosquito spray can repel them anymore.

Not only do these insects cause unpleasant, itchy bites, they can also spread a variety of diseases, and if you’re a natural mosquito magnet and sprays, coils, or anything else aren’t helping, maybe you should change your diet. That said, certain foods we eat are more likely to attract mosquitoes, and here’s what you should and shouldn’t eat.

What exactly attracts mosquitoes?

It is well known that mosquitoes are attracted to the carbon dioxide we exhale, body heat, and chemicals in our skin, sweat, and breath. Mosquitoes can “smell” people, and smell is one of the main senses mosquitoes use to find food. According to Index.hr, mosquitoes’ diet varies by sex – adult female mosquitoes feed on blood and nectar, while adult male mosquitoes feed only on nectar.

Generally speaking, mosquitoes are attracted to anything sweet (probably because the sweet smell reminds them that nectar is nearby), as well as your body odor and certain chemicals. Higher concentrations of uric acid, lactic acid, and ammonia in sweat also attract mosquitoes, and studies have also shown that people with type O blood are more attracted to mosquitoes.

What foods should be avoided?

Therefore, mosquitoes are attracted to sweet foods, so if you don’t want to be a target of mosquitoes, you should first avoid eating sweet foods. Mosquitoes are attracted to certain floral scents of plants that produce nectar, so if a food (or even a drink) has a sweet floral scent, mosquitoes may be attracted not only to that food, but also to the person eating that food.

Additionally, although there is not enough evidence to prove this, one study found that people who ate bananas were more attractive to mosquitoes than those who ate grapes. However, this was just one study, and it only tested two types of mosquitoes, and it is worth noting that there are more than 3,000 species of mosquitoes in the world.

Mosquitoes are also attracted to carboxylic acids produced by bacteria on our skin, but carboxylic acids also include butyric acid, which is the compound present in some “stinky” cheeses, so you should avoid them as well. In addition, if you don’t want to attract mosquitoes, you should also avoid drinking beer, as two studies found that people who drink beer are more likely to attract mosquitoes than those who don’t drink beer.

So what can we eat to keep mosquitoes away?

Just as certain foods attract mosquitoes, there’s evidence that eating certain foods can keep mosquitoes away. First up, it’s anything that contains garlic or onions. They contain the compound allicin, which studies have shown can reduce the risk of contracting malaria, a serious infection spread by mosquito bites. It’s unclear how much garlic and onions you need to eat to have this effect, though.

Another study on mosquitoes and human odor found that people with high levels of eucalyptus oil on their skin repelled mosquitoes. Cineole is an aromatic compound found in sweet basil, sage, rosemary, and cardamom, and the researchers concluded that the high levels may be due to diet.

Finally, if you want to avoid mosquito bites, there is one fruit that you must eat: grapefruit. Grapefruit contains a compound called nootkatone, which gives it its unique aroma. A study on this compound found that it can effectively repel mosquitoes, and its repellent effect is comparable to two common insect repellent ingredients.