Saffron for Stress Reduction
The Physiological Impact of Stress
Stress is challenging to precisely define, but we all know it when we’re under its weight. Beyond the psychological impact it has, stress brings with it a broad range of physiological effects. In the short term these are important and can even be life-saving, because they allow us to respond to acute danger.
When stress becomes long-term, though, those short-term beneficial changes become drawn out detrimental changes. For example, acute stress causes our adrenal glands to release cortisol, which causes our liver to release glucose into our blood. This, in turn, provides fuel to our muscles should we need to run away from a present danger.
If the source of stress is chronic, though, it means our adrenal glands are continuously being provoked into cortisol release. This means our liver is chronically churning out excess glucose. Now, though, there is no present danger to run from in order to ‘burn off’ that excess energy. Instead, the excess and unused energy can be converted into triglycerides (also occurring in the liver). In this form it can be stored locally (leading to what’s called metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease, or MASLD), or shipped out to be stored as fat in adipocytes around the body.
Keep in mind this is just one of dozens (hundreds?) of physiological effects of chronic stress, and none of them are health-promoting. For this reason millions are prescribed medications with the intention of helping reduce anxiety and thus ostensibly to help mitigate at least some of those detrimental impacts of stress on the body. One of the more promising alternative therapies to support stress reduction, in my opinion, is supplemental saffron.
Benefits of Saffron
Saffron is an herb predominantly grown in Iran and widely used as a seasoning, most commonly in Middle Eastern cuisine. Over the past decade a great deal of attention has been paid to the mood-modulating effects of saffron and its primary extracts, crocin and safranal.
In 2019 Lopresti et al. published a review of that included 11 studies which looked at saffron for the treatment of depression and 2 studies for the treatment of anxiety. They found a significant benefit for both vs placebo.
More recently (2025) Shafiee et al. did a meta-analysis of studies that directly compared saffron with antidepressant medications (SSRIs), comparing how well each did at relieving anxiety or depression. They reported that saffron consistently worked better than SSRIs and caused fewer side effects, concluding that “saffron could be a potential SSRI alternative to reduce depressive and anxiety symptoms with fewer adverse events.”
Several other reviews report similar findings. It is worth noting that most studies found the benefit of saffron supplementation to address both depression and anxiety simultaneously. Of course those are very commonly two sides of the same coin so it isn’t surprising that a therapy that helps one would help the other at the same time.
Most studies used a daily dose of 15mg to 30mg, with 30mg being the most common. Because its active constituents are fat soluble it is best to take this with some food. That said, other studies show that it can curb hunger and thus facilitate weight loss. If used for that purpose it is best taken away from food so more stays in the GI tract where it can work that magic more directly.
Anxiety is a complex issue, as is the stress that inevitably comes along with it. I’m not suggesting that these problems can be solved by popping a pill (“green” though it may be). I’m saying that, heading into a traditionally stressful series of holidays, saffron might be worth considering as a supplement to start ahead of time to let its calming effect help carry you through whatever emotional challenges might arise.
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