Saffron might be an effective antidepressant
Red Threads
Morocco, India, Spain, Iran, Azerbaijan, Italy, Turkey, Greece
These exotic locales have one thing in common: The cultivation of saffron, a spice that’s exceedingly difficult to harvest.
Saffron is produced from fragile, dark red filaments that must be hand picked from tiny Crocus sativus flowers that bloom for less than four weeks each year. The harvest is painstaking; more than 4,600 flowers net only one ounce of saffron threads. No wonder the threads sell for $200 per ounce.
So, what does the price of saffron have to do with health? Plenty, as it turns out. In fact, new research shows that saffron just might be an effective antidepressant.
Mild to moderate
Most people know saffron as a spice common to Mediterranean, Eastern and Middle-Eastern recipes. In addition to adding a unique flavor to foods, saffron has also been used for many centuries as a medical treatment for a variety of health conditions, including inflammation, digestive problems, kidney stones, menstrual disorders, colds, insomnia, asthma
and depression.
The last item on that list was the focus of a recent saffron study conducted by researchers at the Tehran University of Medical Services in Iran.
Forty patients who were diagnosed with mild to moderate depression were recruited to receive either 30 mg of saffron per day or 20 mg of Prozac per day. No placebo was used. After measuring depressive symptoms throughout the six-week trial period, both saffron and Prozac were found to be equally effective in relieving depression.
The authors note that the promising results justify funding for larger saffron studies of longer duration that would include placebo groups. Neither saffron nor Prozac caused adverse side effects, but that result would almost certainly be different in a longer trial. Saffron is considered a generally safe botanical, but should not be taken by women who are pregnant.
Big guns & botanicals
Because saffron is expensive, using it daily to address depression may not be practical. It may also be hard to find high quality saffron in supplement form. From what I’ve read, saffron powder is not recommended because it’s often produced with fillers, synthetic materials or rejected dry saffron stems. As with any botanical product, a doctor or an experienced herbalist should be consulted before taking saffron.
Still, this new study is intriguing for two reasons:
- It suggests that we may have another item to add to the list of natural treatments for depression (others include St. John’s wort, omega 3 fatty acids, B vitamins and magnesium)
- Once again a best selling depression drug has performed no better than a botanical.
In the e-Alert “Two Heads Are No Better Than One” (4/23/02), I told you about a Duke University study that compared St. John’s wort to Zoloft in treating severe depression. The result: Neither St. John’s wort nor Zoloft were more effective overall than placebo in treating severe forms of depression.
St. John’s wort is generally used to treat mild to moderate depression – not severe depression. Zoloft, however, is frequently prescribed to treat severe depression, but in an eight-week trial, this blockbuster drug with sales of more than $2 billion per year was found to be no more effective than placebo.
Saffron’s future
In spite of the high price of saffron supplements, this botanical is one to watch. Animal research has indicated that saffron may inhibit cancer formation and shrink existing tumors while enhancing the effectiveness of chemotherapy. And other studies have shown that the anti-inflammatory properties of saffron may help prevent atherosclerosis.
I’ll be keeping an eye out for further research of this exotic
botanical.
Sources:
Hydro-Alcoholic Extract of Crocus Sativus L. Versus Fluoxetine in the Treatment of Mild to Moderate Depression: A Double-Blind, Randomized Pilot Trial” Journal of Ethnopharmacology, Vol. 97, No. 2, 2/28/05,sciencedirect.com
“A Spicy Treatment for Depression” Kimberly Beauchamp,
N.D., Healthnotes Newswire, 4/21/05, pccnaturalmarkets.com
