We Love Raw Local Honey (Because It’s Healthy)

One of my favorite REAL foods is RAW local honey.

My little ones would agree….

Girls, stop eating the honey with your hands…you’re not Poo Bear.

I’m not eating it. I’m just tasting it.

What would you do if we never had raw honey again?

Oh, don’t worry, baby. We’ll always have raw honey to eat with our fingers!

Okay, but seriously, there are many wonderful benefits to eating raw, local honey. The “raw” AND “local” are both important elements. Even though we consider sugar to weaken the immune system, our raw, local honey is something we actually enjoy as a way to boost our immune systems!

Raw honey means it has not been pasteurized or heated. Just like other pasteurized foods, the heating process kills the beneficial living enzymes that get into your body and do wonderful things like support your immune system or help digest starches (which are difficult to digest).

If your honey does not say “Raw”, then it isn’t raw.

Local honey means it was collected from hives close to where you live. That means bees that may have been in your garden collected local pollen that eventually turned into the enzyme-rich honey you are going to eat. Those enzymes might help you fight airborne allergies specific to your region.

Basically you want to look for sources of raw, local honey from farmer’s markets or local health food stores.

Some Raw Honey Benefits:

• anti-fungal, anti-bacterial & anti-viral qualities.
• antioxidants
• actually helps blood sugar regulation
• helps heal burns on the skin
• exfoliates and brightens skin

You could also try to raise bees and collect your own honey like we did/do. (I say “did” because we don’t have bees right now. We have to start over this Spring.)

Last year I collected about one cup of honey from my own bees. It was INCREDIBLE! The sad part is that I lost the other 30 pounds of honey to ants and moths after the bees swarmed away and I didn’t realize it. 🙁

This article from Kitchen Stewardship explains more of the benefits of raw honey, and also how to use honey in your baking.

Do you enjoy raw, local honey regularly? Any honey recipes to share??