Can Garlic Keep Your Campsite Bug-Free? Here's What We Know
By Mina Elwell
VACATIONS
Some people believe that eating a lot of garlic makes you unappealing to mosquitoes, but you will likely get the same amount of bug bites as if you had any other dish for dinner.
A 2005 clinical trial published in Medical and Veterinary Entomology found no difference in the amount of bites people received when they ate garlic or avoided it.
While researchers have not found any evidence that eating a specific food will keep mosquitoes from biting you, pure garlic oil can help repel mosquitos from your campsite.
Garlic oil can kill mosquito larvae and pupae, but rarely kills adult mosquitoes. However, they dislike the smell and may be less inclined to visit a campsite that smells of it.