Saffron and children: what the research covers, and the amount that matters
Saffron is the most studied food ingredient in the world for mood. That is the short answer, and it surprises most parents, because they know saffron as the expensive orange thread in a paella.
Here is what it is, what has been studied, and the amounts researchers use.
What saffron actually is
Saffron is the dried stigma of the Crocus sativus flower. Each flower produces three, and they are picked by hand, which is why it is the most expensive spice by weight in the world.
It has been in the human diet for around three thousand years. Persian, Indian, Spanish, Moroccan and Italian cooking all use it, and children in those cuisines have eaten it for as long as adults have. That is a long food history, and it is the reason saffron sits in the food aisle rather than the pharmacy.
The research is unusually good for a food
Most food ingredients have a few small studies. Saffron has more than twenty randomised trials in adults, and across them saffron extracts improved depression and anxiety scores against placebo.
Better still, much of that work has been done on a single standardised extract rather than on saffron in general. Standardised means the extract is guaranteed to contain a set percentage of the compounds that matter, crocin and safranal, so every batch is the same and every trial is testing the same thing. Eleven placebo-controlled trials have used that one extract.
That combination, a food with a three-thousand-year history and a modern standardised extract with eleven placebo-controlled trials behind it, is rare. Most of what is sold to families has neither.
What has been studied in young people
One trial has looked at saffron in people under 18 in a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled design.
Lopresti and colleagues studied 80 young people aged 12 to 16, of whom 68 completed. They took 14 mg of the standardised extract twice a day, so 28 mg in total, or placebo, for eight weeks. On their own self-reported scores, symptoms of worry and low mood fell 33 per cent against 17 per cent on placebo. (Journal of Affective Disorders, 2018, PMID 29510352.)
Two useful details for a parent reading that. The participants had mild to moderate symptoms and no diagnosis, so this was an ordinary group of teenagers, not a clinical population. And 28 mg a day is the amount that trial used, which is worth knowing when you look at what a product contains.
The amount is the part to check
This is the single most useful thing to take away.
Adult trials converge on 28 mg a day of the standardised extract. In one comparison, 28 mg improved mood scores against placebo and a lower amount, 22 mg, did not. The teenage trial used the same 28 mg total, split into 14 mg morning and 14 mg evening.
So when you see saffron on a label, the question is not whether it is there. It is how much, and whether that figure matches what was actually studied. A product with a few milligrams of saffron has borrowed the reputation of this research without the amount that produced it.
Tolerability
In the adolescent trial, the authors reported no significant differences between the saffron and placebo groups in reported side effects. Across the adult literature, the side effects that come up in reviews are mild and mostly digestive: nausea and dry mouth.
As with any food ingredient, the sensible route is a conversation with your GP or pharmacist if your child takes medication or has a medical condition. Saffron is a food, not a medicine, and it is not a substitute for anything your family already does.
What to take from it
Saffron has been eaten for three thousand years and studied in more than twenty randomised trials, and one standardised extract carries eleven placebo-controlled trials including the only one in teenagers.
The amount that research used is 28 mg a day. That is the number to look for.
Studies conducted on individual ingredients, not on any finished product. Individual results may vary.