Tag: Midges

Despite widespread anecdotal claims, scientific studies have shown that vitamins, particularly B vitamins, are not effective in repelling midges and other biting insects. The persistent myth suggests that a supplement can alter your body odor to be repulsive to pests, but controlled experiments have found no evidence to support this belief.

Despite a folk remedy for preventing insect bites that has persisted since the 1940s, a comprehensive 2022 review of over 100 papers found that oral thiamine (vitamin B1) cannot repel arthropods in any dosage or route of administration. This widespread myth concerning what vitamin deters midges is scientifically unfounded.