My parents always took great care of me when I was sick. As a kid, I of course thought it was the best to get to skip school. I have fond memories of my mother always bringing me whatever I needed and taking great care of me.

When my illness consisted of anything cold- or flu-like my dad would make me this hot drink I didn’t care for much at the time. I didn’t know where he had gotten the idea, I was just a kid and only wanted things that tasted good and I was never fond of hot drinks. But any time I was sick, my dad would heat some water and make me a “hot toddy” telling me it would make me feel better and help me get well faster.

Well, I am about to say something all parents love to hear: Mom, Dad ... you were right! I have only recently learned just how right they were. When I started learning about natural remedies, some of the first things I found out were these simple ingredients contained in his hot toddy.

You may or may not have heard of a hot toddy before. It isn’t something new, nor is it a fancy herbal remedy. Supposedly it started as a drink to make scotch more palatable to women. My dad’s version doesn’t contain any alcohol, but simply consists of items most people always have in their kitchen. Apple cider vinegar, honey, and lemon in hot water. There are many versions of the hot toddy but this is the one served to me by my parents when I was a child, so it’s the one I like to use. It is comfortable and reminds me of home and simple times.

I never understood why it worked so well, I just knew that it did. I liked how the warmth of the water combined with the honey was so soothing to my sore throat. I could feel as the smell of the apple cider vinegar rising in steam from my cup seemed to make it easier to breath. The lemon combined with the sweetness of the honey gave it much nicer taste than vinegar alone. The taste of the apple cider vinegar was the thing I of course moaned about as a child, but luckily I had parents who made me drink it anyway.

As an adult, now I know how good that apple cider vinegar was for me and I sometimes take a tablespoon of it straight. Another cool thing about cider vinegar is it can cure a bout of hiccups. I don’t know how that works, but for me it feels like the pungent taste just scares the hiccups away. This of course may not work for everyone.

You may have noticed that apple cider vinegar is one of the ingredients in Beeyoutiful’s Berry Well syrup and with good reason. Apple cider vinegar has one of the longest usage lists I have ever seen. I have used it in my hair as a rinse, on my face, for many foods, to clean drains and other surfaces, in herbal steams, and, of course, in hot toddies. As a medicine, apple cider vinegar has a long history.

The “father of medicine” himself, Hippocrates was said to have used it as a health tonic. The list of ailments that you can potentially treat with apple cider vinegar contains everything from high blood pressure to acne and even dandruff. It is great for sore throats, infections, and viruses of all kinds. Just be sure you get real apple cider vinegar and not an imitation. I have found that the vinegar in glass bottles most often is made from apples. Check the ingredients to be sure.

Seeing as the taste of vinegar is so strong and many find it undesirable, the addition of honey to the hot toddy makes perfect sense. Honey is a treat to eat, but there is a lot more to honey than just sweetness.

Honey is the nectar the bees collect from flowers and other plants. Thus it contains benefits from every plant from which the bees collected. Once the nectar is gathered, it is stored in the stomach of the bees where it is altered by the bees’ digestive enzymes in ways that modern science cannot explain. This beautiful healing gift from God is such a strong anti-bacterial that it has recently been utilized in treating MRSA infections. Of course you need to have raw honey (the stuff that has not been pasteurized) as the process of heating kills many of its’ beneficial properties.

Raw honey is also great for coughs, sore throats, and laryngitis.

Last on the list of ingredients is lemon. This also adds a nice flavor to the hot toddy. It contributes plenty of vitamin C while also acting as an anti-bacterial ingredient. The scent can enhance your mood and relax you, and despite its acidic properties, it has a positive effect on your body’s pH levels.

To make your hot toddy, you need a coffee cup filled with hot water. Add a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, then lemon and honey to taste. That’s it. So simple. Only four ingredients and you will be soothing your sore throat and cough, opening up your sinuses, soothing a headache, getting a dose of vitamin C from a natural source that is easily absorbed, uplifting your spirits, and relaxing your body so you can rest easier.

You can add other ingredients like cinnamon or cloves to your remedy. You could even simply stir your toddy with a cinnamon stick. Just experiment with flavors you like and don’t be afraid to try new things. If you can stand more vinegar, then add more. If it is too strong and you need a little less vinegar to start out with, just work your way up to a whole tablespoon. Try adding more honey if you have a really bad cough.

Besides the obvious aforementioned germ killing, soothing properties, this drink can help to replenish electrolytes lost during sweating, vomiting, and diarrhea. Your body needs more than just water to be totally hydrated. Sweating and other illness can lead to a deficiency in vitamins and minerals. When this happens, you will feel drained and tired, like you can’t get enough to drink.

You could reach for a sugary electrolyte drink like Gatorade. While this would replace some lost electrolytes, it will also weaken your immune system due to all the sugar and dyes contained in the drink. Instead, all you have to do is add Real Salt or sea salt (not table salt) to your hot toddy. It will be salty, but it will perk you right up. With this you will be getting your potassium from the apple cider vinegar, minerals from the salt, sugars from the honey, and water, vitamins, and minerals from the lemon.

And you don’t have to drink it hot. Put your beverage in the refrigerator if you like, heated hot toddies are best for fevers. Also keep in mind that anything cold can cause more mucous to form, so assess your symptoms before deciding to drink the beverage cold. Other vitamins you want to be sure to get enough of when facing dehydration are calcium and magnesium. The liquid calcium from Beeyoutiful is one of the best supplement choices I have seen. Beeyoutiful’s calcium contains boron and vitamin D, which are essential for proper absorption of the calcium and magnesium it contains.