bug spray
so... it's been about two years since i started my "no sugar, no processed stuff" diet and this summer i noticed that i hadn't been bitten by any bugs or stung by any bees, not even once, despite that i've been walking down to the river where there's tons of mosquitoes, despite that we didn't even have bug screens (and the bugs love the main house as there's tons of plants in there etc).
i remembered my mom telling me as a kid that "bugs like sweet blood", but i didn't realize that meant the sweet things you actually eat, i thought you were just born having sweet blood or not.
so (unintentionally) for a few days i didn't have coconut oil and then i also ate a few too many dates. bam! my first bug bites of the summer! but curiously enough, they didn't itch at all. it was like a two-second itch and then never again. by the way, getting my blood drawn either hurts less now too, or the swedish nurses are so good at it that it never hurts anyway (seriously, no pain at all).
so i googled about coconut oil and i found someone's blog page where they said it is a real insect repellant, as in, if you rub it on your skin it works just as well (or better) as commercial repellants. i didn't test this as i was normally eating enough of it that it worked just fine, except, for the past few days now i stopped eating it again - and just now there were two mosquitoes flying around, and one bit me on the wrist (i even saw it biting me). maybe they'll be satisfied now, i thought, but no they kept trying to get at me.
ok, perfect test. i went and opened the bottle of coconut oil, dipped a spoon in, put a tiny bit of the oil (like 1/5th of a spoonful) on my hand and then rubbed it around on my hands and bare forearms. then i walked back to where the mosquitoes were. no, they still flew around me. okay, let's try again - i took about the same amount again and rubbed it around. i didn't rub it on my face or anywhere else.
whether it takes a couple minutes for it to have an effect, or whether i just didn't put enough on the first time, i don't know. BUT THEY LEFT IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE SECOND TIME! they're still trapped in the house somewhere, but i don't even know where they are as they ran away so far that i can't hear them. not only that, a bee got trapped around near where one of the windows is and as a test, i walked closer to that area, and every time i got near the bee stopped buzzing and stopped flailing around. guess they really don't like coconut oil!
now, i think smearing it on yourself is just "extra" or "emergency" protection. if you're not eating sugary things, and eating enough coconut oil (or equivalent?) daily then it seems like they won't get to you. but now i really feel like, wow, now i know how ancient and aboriginal people lived the way they did - it's not that they "put up" with tons of bug bites constantly, it's that the sting went away after two seconds and they got less of them that we do!! like, it's not even annoying anymore!
i remembered my mom telling me as a kid that "bugs like sweet blood", but i didn't realize that meant the sweet things you actually eat, i thought you were just born having sweet blood or not.
so (unintentionally) for a few days i didn't have coconut oil and then i also ate a few too many dates. bam! my first bug bites of the summer! but curiously enough, they didn't itch at all. it was like a two-second itch and then never again. by the way, getting my blood drawn either hurts less now too, or the swedish nurses are so good at it that it never hurts anyway (seriously, no pain at all).
so i googled about coconut oil and i found someone's blog page where they said it is a real insect repellant, as in, if you rub it on your skin it works just as well (or better) as commercial repellants. i didn't test this as i was normally eating enough of it that it worked just fine, except, for the past few days now i stopped eating it again - and just now there were two mosquitoes flying around, and one bit me on the wrist (i even saw it biting me). maybe they'll be satisfied now, i thought, but no they kept trying to get at me.
ok, perfect test. i went and opened the bottle of coconut oil, dipped a spoon in, put a tiny bit of the oil (like 1/5th of a spoonful) on my hand and then rubbed it around on my hands and bare forearms. then i walked back to where the mosquitoes were. no, they still flew around me. okay, let's try again - i took about the same amount again and rubbed it around. i didn't rub it on my face or anywhere else.
whether it takes a couple minutes for it to have an effect, or whether i just didn't put enough on the first time, i don't know. BUT THEY LEFT IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE SECOND TIME! they're still trapped in the house somewhere, but i don't even know where they are as they ran away so far that i can't hear them. not only that, a bee got trapped around near where one of the windows is and as a test, i walked closer to that area, and every time i got near the bee stopped buzzing and stopped flailing around. guess they really don't like coconut oil!
now, i think smearing it on yourself is just "extra" or "emergency" protection. if you're not eating sugary things, and eating enough coconut oil (or equivalent?) daily then it seems like they won't get to you. but now i really feel like, wow, now i know how ancient and aboriginal people lived the way they did - it's not that they "put up" with tons of bug bites constantly, it's that the sting went away after two seconds and they got less of them that we do!! like, it's not even annoying anymore!