Most of us know Saffron as a spice in delicious dishes like paella, or middle eastern sweets. However, a little known fact about saffron is that it also has major beneficial effects on cognitive function, mood and even appetite!
Saffron partially achieves this by blocking the reuptake of serotonin, which over time will increase total levels of serotonin throughout the brain. Since serotonin is involved with mood, enhancing its levels can have a very nice mood brightening effect. Furthermore, serotonin also controls many aspects of our appetite, and increasing serotonin levels helps dampen our appetite. This makes it a great supplement for both weight loss and mood!*
Crocus sativus, also known as saffron, is one of the most highly praised spices in the world. It also happens to be one of the most expensive spices on the planet! For good reason too, growing saffron is an incredibly arduous process, as is collecting the stamens from the plant which is where the incredible flavors, aromas and bioactives are located. Within these stamens, we find a very unique collection of bioactives which don’t appear anywhere else in nature. These compounds are crocin, crocetin, picrocrocin and safranal.
Saffron is most widely used for its unique coloring properties. This is part of the reason why it is heavily featured in paella, in order to give the dish a distinctive color. The majority of this coloring activity is due to the fact that the crocins are carotenoids, and like many other carotenoids have a very unique red-orange color. Thus, it is no surprise that our extract has a bright red color to it, because it is standardized to 7.5% Crocins!
Let’s now dive deeper into the benefits of saffron!
Not only does saffron provide joy through its use in cooking, the coloring agents that make saffron such a highly praised spice, are also the same compounds that bring joy through neurochemical means! The crocins quite selectively block the reuptake of serotonin. This means that serotonin can stick around a little longer which then causes an overall elevation in brain serotonin levels. Serotonin is a very important neurotransmitter when it comes to mood, so elevating its levels can have a mood elevating effect. With saffron this certainly seems to be the case, and it has actually been widely used as a mood brightener for a very long time!
Serotonin also plays a major role in controlling our appetite. The higher brain serotonin levels get, the more dampened our appetite becomes too. Thus, it is no surprise that saffron is a very popular herb for helping to lower appetite. Paired with its mood elevating effect, it is easy to see why saffron is a popular weight loss herb. Perhaps this is also one reason why saffron is featured in various different dishes, the crocins that you are consuming in a meal could trick you into thinking you ate a bigger meal!
You’ve likely heard that carrots are good for your eyesight at some point in your life, and while this is not entirely true, the saying is based on the fact that carrots contain high levels of carotenoids. Not all carotenoids have an effect on eye health, but a lot actually do have quite a positive effect. The crocins are one class of carotenoids that do indeed seem to have beneficial effects on eye health. In fact, multiple clinical trials on saffron have indeed shown that saffron, through its crocins content, can help promote eye health!
With its effect on mood, appetite and eye health, it becomes clear that saffron is not only a highly praised spice, it is also a highly praised supplement!
The Mood Stack: Saffron + Horny Goat Weed Capsules
Looking to support mood? Look no further than Saffron and Horny Goat Weed! Horny Goat Weed is perfect for mood elevation while also providing a relaxing effect that we think pairs perfectly with Saffron. Make sure to pick up this stack today!*
The Decreased Appetite Stack: Saffron + Rhodiola crenulata Capsules
Rhodiola crenulata is the perfect addition to Saffron because of its appetite regulating effects but also its support to cognitive and cellular function. This is not a stack you want to miss!*
The Eye Health Stack: Saffron + AvailOm® High DHA Powder
As one of our newest fish oil supplements, AvailOm High DHA pairs flawlessly with Saffron. Did you know that retinas actually contain high amounts of DHA? This means that by supplementing with both AvailOm and Saffron, we create the ultimate eye health stack!*
As a dietary supplement, take one 30mg capsule of Saffron daily.
To gain more insight, see the Saffron reviews and experiences below.
Nootropics Depot offers 60ct. and 180ct. jars of high quality Saffron. Nootropics Depot’s Saffron has been lab-tested and verified for both product purity and identity.
| *Attention: These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. |
I am someone who either does not respond or has little response to most nootropics. This saffron I have now taken for almost two months. It definitely positively impacts my mood and, as a result of that, slightly boosts my sociability. I know it won't be for everyone, but if those two benefits sound like what you're looking for, give it a try.
Excellent product.
I am someone who either does not respond or has little response to most nootropics. This saffron I have now taken for almost two months. It definitely positively impacts my mood and, as a result of that, slightly boosts my sociability. I know it won't be for everyone, but if those two benefits sound like what you're looking for, give it a try.
Excellent product.
Holds up to its promise. I prefer this to other options because it’s pure saffron not mixed with other things.
This product gave me a strange brain fog for someone reason. Maybe it's too potent for me? I seem to respond better to standardized saffron supplements at 0.3% safranal. It still could be worth a try, since it definitely produces an effect.
This definitely works. It is especially helpful in the dark days of winter when sunshine is limited.
I am not sure if it makes much of a difference in my day, I do not feel any different. BUT, I added it to my morning stack and I've never had a bad day yet. I think that maybe I feel a little bit less introverted around other people but I am not sure. We're all wired differently and I think that I personally don't react much to this one but I am glad that other reviewers found benefits to using it.
This Saffron is a great product. It works for anxiety and pain.
Good for anxiety and at a nice price
I love my saffron supplement, definitely notice an increase in focus for hours after I take this. For someone that struggles with attention issues, this has been a game changer for me.
This supplement is everything it claims to be. Now the problem is whether you as an individual are suited for it. Not everyone will benefit from it. I think it all depends of your brain chemistry. It was definitely not suited for me with some nasty side effects. But other people have had amazing benefits. This is a dice roll for sure with either extreme positive or extreme negative. For me it messed up my sleep heavily, killed my appetite, and increased my libido and heavily increased sensitivity. The biggest problem was I took it for 2 days. But it stayed in my system for about 5 days!!
Helps keep my mood stable after a night of drinking!
This made me productive, focused, chill, and happy. Somehow this product convinced me to do homework on the day I was feeling burnt out from overwork. This is a top tier nootropic that I would have to take a big stack of nootropics to compete with it in terms of what it does for me. PLEASE never stop selling this.
didn't notice any major mood improvement
I feel like when I take this, some of the negative background noise in my head goes away, although it's mild and took me a while to realize that it was helping. When I did routine things that I hated (like waking up, going to work, and being around people), I noticed I wasn't as miserable. Annoying humans are slightly more tolerable to interact with. It doesn't make a mind blowing difference, but I will probably take it forever just because it sprinkles a little light in my dark head. It probably sounds nuts to a normal person, but when you stop obsessing so much about getting through a miserable day, it helps you think more about building a better future. Maybe it's helping more than I think, or maybe it's all just placebo, who knows? Take my money. Pairs well with skullcap.
I've tried so many saffron extracts, since long before we recognized it as a nootropic. All of them were a nightmare, most of them were either inactive, resulted in adverse effects, or straight up gave me diarrhea. I later realized this was because the extract was being made from parts of the plant that weren't including the crocus needles (which we know as saffron and recognize as the spice itself), since they are the expensive part. In simple terms, they were using the byproducts of saffron spice manufacture, as the prime material for the extract -- which has a very different profile and ratio of chemical constituents, compared with the raw crocus needles themselves -- which resulted in the unpleasant, ineffective, and oftentimes adverse, responses, that I was having to them. So I proceeded to trying raw saffron crocus needles. They worked, but only when I wasn't duped (because saffron trade is probably the sketchiest part of the already-unregulated wellness market industry there is), only working when I got the actual saffron product that it claimed to be (which, despite having tried so many versions, only a few qualified as real authentic eastern saffron), and the effects are profound. I mean seriously, especially for those afflicted with severe ADHD + GAD like myself. I was able to sit down. I also was less likely to nervously eat (or ever over-eat -- often under-eating the portions I made for myself, as a result of taking saffron). The best way I can state the most profound property of saffron, is one word: Satiation. And that is something that is the crux of ADHD peeps like me. We have messed up reward systems. But giving the sensation of satiation allowed me to focus on what I know I need to do. Not to mention, studies have linked saffron to being a better efficient, greater effective, and less-side-effect-causing ADHD treatment, when compared side by side with Ritalin. No wonder it has always been considered a royal spice. Such satiation, though, came at a high price. It wasn't economical to continue using saffron needles like that, because it was cost-prohibitive to buy the *REAL* stuff, especially in the long-run. Now we have this: an extract that we can trust, that works like it should (like the best of the crocus needles I've ever tried), without the plant matter itself, being an extract that actually comes from sourcing we have learned to trust -- as ultimately ideal and transparent as can be -- from NootropicsDepot. The price is a MASSIVE blessing, as well. One tiny capsule is definitely enough. Works for hours. I bet people who have workout stacks or study stacks would absolutely thrive off of this (and on that note, it doesn't have to be stacked with other supplements -- it is quite effective on its own). It's amazing to have an affordable, less side-effect-provoking, restorative, royal herbal treatment to ADHD, that can keep me calm and focused, without coming at a price (like Ritalin, Adderall, or even caffeine do) later on. 10/10 recommend. And if you don't buy it, I'm cool with that, coz it means it will be in stock for me to keep a steady supply!
