You may not think of the words healthy and honey going hand in hand, but the truth is this sweet, natural food is full of great vitamins and antiviral properties that you can reap the benefits of.

Skip the supermarket honey

Like most people, you might have grown up with honey from a plastic bear-shaped bottle. However, this type of honey is often highly processed and not as nutritious.

It’s best to opt for locally sourced honey from your nearest farmers market. It’s also important to look for “raw” rather than “organic” on the label. Organic honey just means the flowers the bees used to pollinate the honey weren’t treated with pesticides. Even though this is a nice benefit, raw honey is better because it’s unprocessed and therefore packed with nutrients that would otherwise have been stripped out.

Use your honey wisely

Honey has a variety of uses aside from drizzling it on toast or stirring it into tea. While these options are delicious, there’s a reason honey has been used as a home remedy throughout history.

It has antioxidants that are great for boosting your immune system, hydrogen peroxide that acts as an antiviral when introduced to the skin, and prebiotics that can aid in digestion.

Here are some ways you can use honey:

• Drink warm water mixed with a spoonful of honey in the morning and evening to help soothe colds, sore throats, and acid reflux.
• Combine a teaspoon of honey with lemon juice in lukewarm water to help digestion.
• Apply a generous amount of honey directly to small wounds, and let it sit for a few minutes before rinsing thoroughly.

Note: raw honey is not safe for infants under one year old to consume.