The Gut-Brain Connection
Three thousand years of saffron, and where it grows now
Saffron appears in both of the great classical catalogues of medicinal plants and in the everyday cooking of five cuisines.
Three thousand years of saffron, and where it grows now
Saffron appears in both of the great classical catalogues of medicinal plants and in the everyday cooking of five cuisines.
Why saffron is red, and why it costs what it costs
Crocins make it red, safranal makes it smell like saffron, picrocrocin makes it bitter and proves it is genuine. Plus the arithmetic behind the price: up to 170,000 hand-picked flowers for one kilogram of dried stigmas.
Why saffron is red, and why it costs what it costs
Crocins make it red, safranal makes it smell like saffron, picrocrocin makes it bitter and proves it is genuine. Plus the arithmetic behind the price: up to 170,000 hand-picked flowers for one kilogram of dried stigmas.
How much saffron the research actually used
Twenty-eight milligrams a day of a standardised extract, split 14 in the morning and 14 in the evening, with or without food.
How much saffron the research actually used
Twenty-eight milligrams a day of a standardised extract, split 14 in the morning and 14 in the evening, with or without food.
What a standardised extract actually means
Standardised means a named compound at a stated percentage, assayed on every batch rather than assumed. What the percentage on a saffron label refers to, and the published analysis of 88 batches and 36 months of storage that sits behind one extract.
What a standardised extract actually means
Standardised means a named compound at a stated percentage, assayed on every batch rather than assumed. What the percentage on a saffron label refers to, and the published analysis of 88 batches and 36 months of storage that sits behind one extract.
How to tell a real saffron extract from a fake one
Saffron is expensive enough to be worth faking, and once it is a powder you cannot see the difference. One compound, picrocrocin, settles it, and a published analysis used it to catch a commercial saffron extract that turned out to be gardenia.
How to tell a real saffron extract from a fake one
Saffron is expensive enough to be worth faking, and once it is a powder you cannot see the difference. One compound, picrocrocin, settles it, and a published analysis used it to catch a commercial saffron extract that turned out to be gardenia.
Morning and evening: why the routine is the part that works
The most common reason a supplement stops working is that it stops being taken. Anchor it to breakfast and the hour before bed, keep it identical every day, and give it the eight to twelve weeks the research gives it.
Morning and evening: why the routine is the part that works
The most common reason a supplement stops working is that it stops being taken. Anchor it to breakfast and the hour before bed, keep it identical every day, and give it the eight to twelve weeks the research gives it.
Australian made: what the claim means, and how to check it
Grown in, Product of, Made in and Packed in Australia are four different claims with four different tests. On a priority food the kangaroo tells you it was grown, produced or made here, and the bar chart is where the words turn into a number.
Australian made: what the claim means, and how to check it
Grown in, Product of, Made in and Packed in Australia are four different claims with four different tests. On a priority food the kangaroo tells you it was grown, produced or made here, and the bar chart is where the words turn into a number.
What a probiotic actually does in the gut
Gut bacteria finish digesting food, occupy space, work alongside the immune system and manufacture vitamins and neurotransmitters. What these organisms do, and how the gut and brain signal each other.
What a probiotic actually does in the gut
Gut bacteria finish digesting food, occupy space, work alongside the immune system and manufacture vitamins and neurotransmitters. What these organisms do, and how the gut and brain signal each other.
Gummies, powders, pills or sachets: what children actually take every day
The best children's supplement is the one your child will take every day for a year, and the deciding factor is almost never the formula.
Gummies, powders, pills or sachets: what children actually take every day
The best children's supplement is the one your child will take every day for a year, and the deciding factor is almost never the formula.
Vitamin C: how much a child needs, and where it comes from
An Australian child needs 35 to 45 mg of vitamin C a day depending on age. Australian food law has already approved what may be said about it: immune function, growth and development, psychological function and neurological function.
Vitamin C: how much a child needs, and where it comes from
An Australian child needs 35 to 45 mg of vitamin C a day depending on age. Australian food law has already approved what may be said about it: immune function, growth and development, psychological function and neurological function.
What MGO 250+ actually means, and how to check it
MGO 250+ means 250 milligrams of methylglyoxal per kilogram of honey, verified by laboratory analysis. It sits at roughly UMF 10+, and it is one of the few numbers in the wellness aisle that can be independently checked.
What MGO 250+ actually means, and how to check it
MGO 250+ means 250 milligrams of methylglyoxal per kilogram of honey, verified by laboratory analysis. It sits at roughly UMF 10+, and it is one of the few numbers in the wellness aisle that can be independently checked.
Saffron and children: what the research covers, and the amount that matters
Saffron has been eaten for three thousand years and studied in more than twenty randomised trials. One standardised extract carries eleven placebo-controlled trials, including the only one in teenagers.
Saffron and children: what the research covers, and the amount that matters
Saffron has been eaten for three thousand years and studied in more than twenty randomised trials. One standardised extract carries eleven placebo-controlled trials, including the only one in teenagers.