Speaking of Being in the Great Outdoors....

It's mosquito season again, as I found when I went out to pick black raspberries. I am sure that there is a reason why some people get bit and some people don't, and I'm not talking about pinning a toxic dryer sheet to your hat to keep the bugs away.

I am going to get to the bottom of this; if anybody knows what it is about certain blood that attracts insects, or how to change our blood so it won't attract them, please enlighten me. In the meantime, I'm going to do some investigating, and I'm going to figure it out!

(Later). Okay, here's what I've found out so far. Mosquitoes are attracted by a lot of things: movement, scent, color, our breath, the heat produced by our bodies (nervous people put off more heat), exposed skin, a high level of estrogen (ovulation, PMS), and high levels of serotonin. Time of day matters (they like early morning and dusk), as well as a high level of humidity.

We can fight back by taking supplements of garlic, vitamin B complex, Thiamine (B1), and the homeopathic remedy "ledum." These give off an undesirable skin excretion. For best results, take supplements several days before exposure and while you're outside, as well.

Alcohol consumption dilates blood vessels and brings the blood closer to the skin surface. Just think of all those mosquitoes licking their chops! I don't drink, though, so that doesn't really apply to me.

This one does, though - refined sugar in all its forms (fruit, juice, cookies, cakes, muffins, etc.) gives the skin a yummy, sweet scent that drives mosquitoes wild.

This tells me that I should lay off the sweets and start eating garlic. A small price to pay, if you ask me!