I have had the opportunity to visit India on a few occasions for business purposes. Preparing for my first visit was time-consuming due to getting vaccinated against various tropical diseases, getting a business visa (painstakingly long) and making sure I had all the necessary documents required. My local GP in London recommended I begin taking Brewers Yeast tablets a few weeks prior to the initial trip to help prevent mosquitos feasting off my blood!
Brewers Yeast contains an ingredient called Thiamine which, when taken, puts an odour into your skin / blood which repels insects especially mosquitos (sounds delightful)! Taking Brewers Yeast when travelling (to prevent insect bites) is regarded as an old wives tale however I wasn’t prepared to take any risks and so purchased some at the local health food shop.
When I arrived in India, it was humid and very hot. We were based in Malad near the mangroves (shrubs which grow in saline water) which are a magnet for mosquitos. I noticed insects (especially mosquitos) landing on me however I didn’t get bitten at all during my entire trip.
I followed the same procedure on the second visit to India and again failed to get attacked by the mosquitos. On my third visit I wasn’t given much notice about the trip and so I didn’t have chance to prepare and to take any brewers yeast beforehand. I stayed in the same area as I did on previous trips and one evening I was taken out by my colleagues. We sat outside enjoying fresh cocktails and watched the sunset over Mumbai. Whilst we were sitting outside I noticed that there were a lot of mosquitos about. On closer inspection I was horrified to see that I had been bitten all over my legs . I have never been bitten as badly as I was that night by mosquitos and I can only put it down as to the reason i was bitten was because I failed to take the brewers yeast tablets before hand.
Reading about this online I can see that some people / organisations are in doubt that Brewers Yeast actually prevents mosquito bites, however I really don’t believe that it was down to coincidence that I was bitten on my third visit. I really do believe that Brewers Yeast helps prevent against mosquito bites.
