Saffron For Emotional Health

‘A herb is a friend of the physicians and a praise of the cooks.’~ Charlemagne

- Dr Peter Bongiorno

Delicious with seafood, rice, tomatoes and plays well with plenty of garlic, saffron hails from the traditional medicine found in Persian cultures. It has served mankind for millennia as both a culinary herb and powerful medicine. Saffron is known for its vibrant colour and flavour, and also for being the world’s most expensive spice.

HEALTH BENEFITS 

Saffron has been traditionally used as a calmative, antidepressant and anti-inflammatory. This beautiful herb also imparts the gastrointestinal advantage of relaxing the muscles of the digestive tract to reduce spasms and help digest food, as well being an appetite enhancer.

Studies on saffron for mood support 

A number of studies indicate that the stigma of the plant (the top of the plant where the pollen is, which is technically called the ‘saffron’) and petal of the Crocus sativus plant both have similar mood benefits. Animal studies show the compounds safranal and crocin in the crocus plant may exert antidepressant effects by keeping balanced levels of dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin.