3 Ways to Menace Mosquitos

Mosquitos and fleas have loved me since I was little. No summer was complete without a series of welts begging to be itched. Yet, for the first time ever, I have not suffered one mosquito bite this season!

So, we slather ourselves with diethyltoluamide and the DEET is done. Not so quick! DEET has side effects. Manufacturers warn against using it under clothing due to possible irritation. Other repercussions include coma, seizures, and slurred speech, largely because the product has been ingested or applied for 3 or more consecutive days. Our skin absorbs everything.

We call our wounds mosquito bites, but this is not accurate. The female sticks a part of her mouth—called the proboscis—into our skin. She then injects her saliva into our bloodstream. The proteins in her saliva keep our blood from clotting as she dines. The itching, redness, and swelling are actually caused by these proteins.

I recently attended a progressive dinner in the mountains. At dusk, I was seated on a log bench next to a pond. Mosquitos appeared like party crashers. Women were swatting. Insect repellent upstaged the night air. Surprisingly, the mosquitos were ignoring me and I was not wearing protection.

The bites were so bad during my first summer in Idaho, that I wrote the following militant poem.

Memo to Mosquitos

Listen up mosquitos! I declare WAR!

Your assaults leave me itching, scratching, and sore!

Regardless of mission, whether hungry or bored;

I refuse to be your adored smorgasbord.

You dine without invite, with little decline;

And tip me with welts needing calamine.

Be advised. Be aware. Remember this day!

I'm closing down your all-day buffet!

Say good-bye to this flesh for which you are smitten,

For "Vengeance is mine," says the Bitten!

—Karen June Miller | July 2011

I have been low-carbing for almost a year. My diet no longer includes grains, sugars, high carb fruits and vegetables. Did my body chemistry change?

Sure enough, after research, I discovered that other low-carbers have made the same discovery! When we lower our carbohydrate intake, there is not enough glucose to burn for energy. We switch from being a sugar-burner to a fat-burner. Fats are broken down for energy. This results in a buildup of acids known as ketones, which act as a natural mosquito repellent.

It never dawned on me that low-carbing would make me impervious to mosquitos! Perhaps my Memo to Mosquitos was prophetic.

Click HERE to read another low-carber's mosquito experience.

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