DETROIT – Saffron is a spice that’s been used in cooking for thousands of years, but it’s popping up all over social media in recent months.
Once prized as much as gold and sprinkled into royal feasts, now this colorful spice is turning up in capsules and gummies, promising to boost your mood, help with weight management, and much more.
According to Dr. Mansi Chawa, a Henry Ford Health psychiatrist, saffron may have a role in treating certain ailments.
“There are some studies that have shown that saffron can help with mild to moderate depression, it can help with anxiety. It’s been shown to improve neurochemicals, like serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine. It’s been shown to act at what we call gamma receptors to calm down. These are some postulated mechanisms along with the anti-inflammatory and antioxidatives, you know, chronic inflammation can trigger mental health conditions. So it’s been postulated that it can help with those conditions,” said Chawa.
There have been some small preliminary studies pointing toward a benefit.
“There have been studies showing that it can help with memory and concentration. So, some reports on maybe it can help with patients who have Alzheimer’s disease or ADHD,” said Chawa.
Unfortunately, the science isn’t fully developed, and there is a great deal we don’t know.
“In the studies they have, you know, seen that doses between 30 to 200 milligrams have been used, but above five grams, it’s been shown to cause toxicity, so people can start having headaches, dizziness, and those kinds of side effects, and beyond 20 grams it can be fatal,” warned Chawa.
There is also an important issue specifically regarding the purity of saffron supplements.
“Saffron is really expensive, and that’s actually a problem because over the years, you know, there’s a lot of additives that have been added to it, a lot of fillers and other compounds,” explained Chawa. “If it’s adulterated with, you know, other substances, and if somebody is already taking medications, that could interact very dangerously with medications, it can cause some unknown side effects. We don’t know what compounds it’s contaminated with, so that would be a big problem.”
The bottom line is that while there may be benefits to using saffron for medicinal purposes, we just don’t have enough information to reliably guide that use.
If you want to try it, check the product label so you don’t take too much.
Chawa cautions against taking the potential risks lightly.
“I would say if somebody wants to try saffron, talk to your doctor to make sure that, you know, is it safe? And a lot of times, they’ve seen interactions with blood thinners, it can increase the risk of bleeding with anti-hypertensive medications, so I would not self-medicate with saffron,” said Chawa.