UKC

Thought I would share something interesting I have found....

When I was living in New Zealand I became found of marmite....
and then found that the sandflies stopped biting me. I would swim in the rivers and they would swarm me but I would not get bitten. My boyfriend was eaten alive.
I have since found out that it could have been due to increased levels of B, B12 vitamins in my blood....

I decided to give it a go here in Scotland with the midges and take additional B vitamin complex supplements... I have lived in Fort William and spent lots of time in the hills for the past 3 months. Including still, cloudy evenings out in Glen Coe...
I have only been bitten 3 times....

Could increased levels of B vitamins be the ultimate trick to making the midges uninterested in your blood?
I have not met anyone else who has tested this theory so I remain uncertain of its true effect.
Testers of this theory apply within...
( I suggest it may take about 2 weeks of increased B vitamins intake for this to be effective....)

In reply to soulclimb:
I've tried vitamin B patches with some effect. they still swarm but done seem so interested in biting.

In reply to soulclimb:
No idea, but I'd rather have the midges than the marmite, thanks!!

In reply to soulclimb:

Vitamin B (B complex) significantly changes human sweat odor, that's what deters many types of insects, like mosquito and others. In Poland, one of old school methods to protect babies from mosquito during sleep is to crush vitamin B tables on a small plate (sometimes with drops of non-flavoured oil for babies, then it works as a smell carrier) and leave it near kid's bed.

So, it may be a good idea to take B complex every day, shortly before and during trip to Scotland

In reply to girlymonkey:

LOL I love marmite!

In reply to mloskot:

Cool, quite interesting

In reply to soulclimb: I have grown up eating loads of Marmite and still regularly eat it. Always been bitten much less than everyone else. This may be why

In reply to pffft: I get bitten to F**K but im going to try it, especially as im Scotland bound in a couple of weeks.

Is it best to eat Marmite, or simply the B vits ?????????????

In reply to Newbuild100:

Marmite worked fine for me in NZ with the sandflies but I find midges slightly more invasive so I took the extra step of taking the supplements as well. For the first two weeks I would take one a day. After the initial two weeks once your body has had a good dose you can take it down to one every other day or whatever feels right for you...

It may be worth mentioning the difference between synthetic supplements vs natural....
I always go for naturally sourced supplements (Holland and Barrett is good) rather than the cheaper, man made synthetic vitamins you can find in supermarkets....
Many may not care about such differences but I like natural stuff...

In reply to soulclimb: The flying teeth are on the up in the County too and I am always on the menu, I will neck some B vit and see how it goes!!

In reply to dan:

Give it 2 weeks and let us know how you get on

In reply to soulclimb: I will do, I will try anything to not get bitten!!

In reply to soulclimb:

It could just be you. My partner can sit under a cloud of midges and not get bitten while I will be systematically eaten alive by billions of the little sods.

The only thing that keeps them off me is full strength, plastic melting Jungle Formula.

In reply to pasbury:

I think that's quite likely. There's not much about midges on t'internet, but at least as far a mosquitoes go it seems the B vitamin thing is a bit of a myth.

Have you tried Smidge?
I used to find DEET was the only thing that did any good for me too, but this seems to work really well and its *much* nicer to use:
http://2010.midgeforecast.co.uk/

In reply to pasbury:

Indeed it could be just me. . .
One thing I know for sure though is that I was getting eaten by sandflies at the beginning of my trip in New Zealand. After being introduced to Marmite they backed off....

So I dont know...
Whatever the reason I sure am glad they dont go for me. Just thought I would put it out there and see if anyone else gets similar results...

In reply to pasbury:
....

Yep, I've seen an article a researcer produced for our club website where she reckoned that this is true and they were looking for the chemical those people have that puts the things off from biting. Somethijhg to do with this, think: http://www.abdn.ac.uk/mediareleases/release.php?id=1499

I do not normally attract as much as other people. I must give off less CO2 or something, however when I am lead climbing and get the fear I instantly become a beacon.

In reply to JDal: Does anyone know the results of this study at all ??

In reply to soulclimb: For the first time in 16 years, I'm heading up to Scotland in a couple of weeks.

The main reason I haven't been for so long is the wee beasties. I tend to attract biters and have bad reactions to the bites. A horse fly has put me in hospital before.

So... I'm on my usual summer anti histamines, I've just started the Vitamin B tablets, I've got Nikwax Skitistop, DEET, some patches, Avon Skin So Soft,a zapper to ease the pain and an ammonia pen to ease the pain.

It's been suggested that Diabetes makes me more attractive (as does lots of single malt).

If anyone wants to avoid the dreaded midges, just follow me around. Starting at Tyndrum, then Glen Nevis, Arisaig, Glen Nevis again before stopping at Ratho, all I ask is a belay!

In reply to soulclimb: someone off here was doing research into midges...i forget who, but do remember that beer contains B vitamins (Yay!!! ) ..

In reply to morticiaskeeper: A tip for you.

If you are camping, (this wont help you outside your tent, but should inside)
Take some flyspray with you and spray some inside your tent before you leave for the day, and then 10 minutes before you are due to re-enter canvas on your return) . .

. . and take no notice of the makers when they say "dont do this" !!!

In reply to morticiaskeeper:

Happy to meet up if your looking for a partner while your here.

In reply to JDal:

Cool article, thanks for sharing.

In reply to morticiaskeeper:

Yes horseflies are the devil in insect form. If I get a bite from one of these I have tom hit the anti-histamines quick or the swelling can spread over an entire limb. It's a good job they are relatively large and lumbering so easy (and satisfying) to squash if they land on you.

In reply to soulclimb: That wouldn't be the blackflies of the west coast of South Island? Napalm! Or, a partner with sweet blood. Failing that as much Deet as you can apply without fainting. Must try the Marmite trick. Ta for the tip.

We were recommended the B12 supliments when we went to Peru 10 years ago - no idea if the helped though and have never thought about using the in the UK. Would be worth trying though as I alwasy suffer really badly from the after effects of the bites.

In reply to girlymonkey:

That is a tough decision - much as a loathe the taste of Marmite, bites can keep itching literally for weeks afterwards.

In reply to morticiaskeeper:

My Granny always claimed that being diabetic made her more attractive to bitting insects.