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luckybuck said:
The evidence I've seen is fairly robust. I am doing a trial on myself currently (n=1). Although I do not suffer from any diagnosable psychopathology I am still interested in seeing the effects. I am on day 11 of the trial. 30 mg qPM.
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Doing a trial on yourself in which there is no diagnosable psychopathology to evaluate its effects on depression is similar in quality to some of the studies out there.
 
splik said:
It has been suggested that the results of iranian psychopharm studies should be treated as suspect as the results are always positive. Decent saffron is expensive so I'd stick with placebos.
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The more I had reviewed the data, I came to the same conclusion. They publish across many realms in psych. Often for old agents in TRD (I.e. statin in TRD) and publish positive data. It seems the TRD literature has been inundated with these fake studies. Many are from the same authors.
 
My guess is that pure saffron is hard to find and companies would love to sell you adulterated substitutes. True saffron is made from the red stigmas of crocus plants. Some merchants add artificial red dyes to yellow stamens, which are unwanted, so that they blend in and add to the weight of the product. Centuries ago, they added butter to increase the weight. Suppliers have ways of detecting adulterated samples, but I would rather keep my $30 (if you're buying your 30mg at the average price of saffron, 10K per kg). If it's low level depression and anxiety you are worried about, I can assure you this is a normal response to life.
 
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luckybuck said:
The saffron I bought is from Nutricost which is generally a reputable source for supplements, third party tested, etc. I am not arguing with your statement about low level depression being a normal response to life, but what if someone has been endorsing 2-3 MDD criteria for weeks or months? Not MDD, but still not ideal and I thought it was interesting that there is a supplement that may provide some benefit while not having the side effects of SSRIs.

From my trial so far, I do notice a slight increase in subjective wellbeing, I admit this is a vague statement. No substantial difference in appetite, but I generally eat a fairly healthy diet with ~2800 Kcals/day as I do a fair amount of exercise. I have noticed a substantial increase in libido. Substantial.
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Every possible bias at play here. Not helpful clinical data at all.
 
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