Honey

Unlike Brussels sprouts or tofu, honey is one of those rare good-for-you foods that feels like pure self-indulgence. On toast, in tea, or just dripping from a spoon, it’s a little taste of heaven that you can feel good about enjoying.

But honey is more than just delicious, it’s a versatile tool that can enhance your health in a multitude of ways — something our early ancestors clearly recognized. Cave paintings depict humans harvesting honey from wild bees 15,000 years ago, and beekeeping arose in North Africa 9,000 years ago.

A spoonful of honey in a cup of chamomile tea can soothe a sore throat. On its own, a spoonful of honey can help quiet a cough.

Honey produced by bees in your locale may be an effective tool in fighting pollen allergies. In collecting nectar to make honey, bees also collect pollen, and some pollen spores inevitably end up in the finished honey. By eating some local honey every day — or pollen from a local beekeeper if it’s available — you’re dosing yourself with small amounts of the allergen from the weeds, trees and flowers that could be causing your symptoms. Over time, this can diminish seasonal allergy symptoms.

Honey is not homogeneous. A jar of honey produced by bees that forage on wildflowers in East Hampton is going to be markedly different than honey produced by bees feeding on buckwheat flowers. Some varieties of honey are highly sought after for their specific properties.

Honey is a source of antioxidants, with darker-colored honeys containing more of the chemical compounds that make antioxidants so good for us. Buckwheat honey, with its rich, dark color and molasses-like flavor, is particularly packed with them. One study even showed the antioxidants in honey to be effective in improving memory in post-menopausal women.

Hydrogen peroxide occurs naturally in honey, giving it anti-bacterial properties that make it helpful in wound protection and healing. It might be sticky, but it will ward off infection. Manuka honey, made from the flower of the manuka bush in New Zealand, contains other compounds that give it stronger antibacterial properties than most other varieties of honey.

Used worldwide as a topical treatment for wounds, Manuka honey can also be taken internally to promote healing and reduce inflammation.

In addition to being an antiseptic, honey is also a probiotic, and can help relieve an irritated gastrointestinal tract.

Externally, honey is a soothing skin treatment. Its antibacterial qualities can calm acne and other skin eruptions, and its antioxidant properties help prevent free radical damage that causes skin to age prematurely. Mix it with almond, coconut or olive oil and sugar to make a gentle facial scrub.

Always look for unpasteurized, raw honey to get the maximum health benefits.

If all these health benefits have you wondering if that jar of honey lurking in the cupboard is still edible, here’s some more good news: honey doesn’t spoil. Archaeologists opening King Tut’s tomb in 1923 found — in addition to the more glamorous solid gold coffin and other Egyptian bling — sealed stone jars full of honey. Not rotten, moldy honey, but perfectly fine, put-it-on-your-toast-right-now, 2,000-year-old honey. Sealed away from air and water, honey can be stored indefinitely. Just ask King Tut.