Saffiome for adults. Coming soon.
Rise AM starts the day. Restore PM ends it. Two honey sachets a day for grown-ups who run hot: the saffron extract the clinical trials used, at the amount they used, twice the fermented saffron and probiotic of the kids' sachets, a gentle green tea lift in the morning, and the evening herbs at night.
The adult routine
How it works
Rise AM within an hour of waking. Restore PM about an hour before bed. A 10 g honey sachet each, no pills, no mixing, no food needed, the same taste every day.
affron saffron extract 14 mg, fermented saffron 200 mg (providing 10 mg saffron), the xoBiome MoodBalance probiotic, vitamin C from acerola, and about 40 mg of caffeine from green tea.
The same saffron extract and probiotic with a fifth species for the evening, tart cherry, chamomile, lemon balm and passionflower. No caffeine.
What the research shows
Rise AM and Restore PM are built around affron, a standardised saffron extract with eleven published placebo-controlled trials in more than 1,000 people, at the daily amount most adult trials used: 14 mg to start the day, 14 mg to end it. The studies were on the ingredients, so every number below carries an asterisk.
In a 12-week trial of 202 adults with low mood, 72.3% taking 28 mg of affron a day had a meaningful lift in mood score, against 54.3% on placebo.*
In a 4-week trial of 128 adults with low mood, 28 mg of affron a day improved mood scores against placebo. 22 mg a day did not, which is why the routine is two sachets.*
In a 28-day trial of 120 adults with poor sleep, 14 mg of affron before bed improved sleep quality ratings against placebo. A second 28-day trial of 63 adults found the same on 14 mg twice a day.*
In a 12-week trial of 86 women in perimenopause, 14 mg of affron twice a day lowered total menopausal symptom scores by 32% from baseline, against 14% on placebo, with psychological symptoms improving against placebo.*
Every species in xoBiome MoodBalance has its own gut-brain research story. Rise AM carries four. Restore PM adds a fifth for the evening. Meet them below.
One fifth of the honey in every sachet is Australian Manuka honey certified MGO 250+, a premium grade tested on every batch. Honey's natural oligosaccharides feed Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli in laboratory studies, and Manuka has been shown to support Bifidobacterium growth in probiotic milk.*
*Studies conducted on individual ingredients, not on Saffiome as a finished product. Individual results may vary.
The base
Every sachet is built on honey: 80% Australian honey and 20% Australian Manuka certified MGO 250+. Not syrup, not sweeteners. About 7 g of natural sugars in a 10 g adult sachet, with or without food, and honey brings its own prebiotic story.
Australian honey
Genuine 100% Australian honey from a family-owned Queensland honey house that has kept bees for more than thirty years. Honey's natural oligosaccharides feed Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli in laboratory studies, and honey grew ten to a hundred times more lactobacilli than sugar in the lab, with higher counts in animals fed honey rather than sugar.* That is why the base is honey and not syrup.
Honey is also one of the few foods with placebo-controlled trials in young children: in two trials of children kept up by a cough, parents rated their child's sleep better after a spoon of honey before bed than after placebo.*
Sanz 2005; Shamala 2000; Cohen 2012; Paul 2007. About 7 g of natural sugars per adult sachet, with or without food.
Australian Manuka
One fifth of the honey is Australian Manuka, made by bees working the flowers of Leptospermum, a native tree of Australia and New Zealand. Its grade is a number: MGO 250+ means at least 250 milligrams of methylglyoxal per kilogram, certified on every batch, at the threshold of the grade most people know as UMF 10+.
Manuka is studied for its effect on gut bacteria. In a four-week human trial, 20 g a day of high-grade Manuka left the gut's beneficial bacteria undisturbed, and in the lab Manuka supported Bifidobacterium growth in probiotic milk.* We use it for what it is: a premium, tested honey that belongs in a gut-brain routine.
Wallace 2010; Ibrahim 2026; Cokcetin 2016 for the MGO facts. MGO 250+ describes the Manuka, not the whole sachet.
*Studies conducted on individual ingredients, not on Saffiome as a finished product. Individual results may vary. Laboratory and animal studies unless stated.
xoBiome MoodBalance
The gut and the brain talk all day, through the vagus nerve, through hormones and through the immune system, and the bacteria in the gut join that conversation. xoBiome MoodBalance is a multi-strain probiotic built for it, developed and made on the Gold Coast. Rise AM carries four species. Restore PM adds a fifth for the evening.
The famous pairing
One half of the most-studied psychobiotic pairing in the research. In a 30-day placebo-controlled trial, healthy adults taking L. helveticus with a Bifidobacterium had lower psychological distress scores and lower stress hormone in their urine than the placebo group.*
Messaoudi 2011 (L. helveticus R0052 with B. longum R0175). MoodBalance strain: XXXXXX. Live count per sachet: XXXXXX CFU at end of shelf life.
The vagus nerve study
The species behind the study that started the gut-brain field. In mice, L. rhamnosus changed the brain's calming GABA receptors and lowered stress hormones, and the effect disappeared when the vagus nerve was cut.* In a New Zealand trial of 423 mothers, L. rhamnosus HN001 through pregnancy meant lower low-mood and worry scores after the birth.*
Bravo 2011 (JB-1, mice); Slykerman 2017 (HN001). MoodBalance strain: XXXXXX. Live count per sachet: XXXXXX CFU at end of shelf life.
The one with a trial in kids
The species with a randomised, placebo-controlled trial in autistic children. In Taiwan, 80 boys aged 7 to 15 took L. plantarum PS128 or placebo for four weeks. The trial's three main measures showed no difference against placebo. A difference appeared only in the younger 7 to 12 group, on one secondary measure of opposition and defiance.* In 111 stressed adults, L. plantarum DR7 for 12 weeks lowered stress and worry scores and the stress hormone cortisol against placebo.*
Liu 2019 (PS128); Chong 2019 (DR7). Full study details are in our hub. MoodBalance strain: XXXXXX. Live count per sachet: XXXXXX CFU at end of shelf life.
The memory and mood one
In a 16-week placebo-controlled trial of 80 older adults, B. breve A1 improved memory and thinking scores against placebo, with no adverse events.* In a 4-week trial of 45 adults with low mood, B. breve CCFM1025 improved mood scores against placebo, alongside changes in the gut's tryptophan chemistry.*
Xiao 2020 (A1); Tian 2022 (CCFM1025). MoodBalance strain: XXXXXX. Live count per sachet: XXXXXX CFU at end of shelf life.
The evening species
The GABA maker. Of 91 human gut bacteria tested, L. brevis was the most efficient producer of GABA, the brain's main calming messenger, converting up to 90% of its raw material.* That is why it is in the evening sachet and not the morning one.
Barrett 2012 (DPC6108). MoodBalance strain: XXXXXX. Live count per sachet: XXXXXX CFU at end of shelf life.
Honest note
Probiotic research is strain-specific. The studies above were on named strains of each species. MoodBalance carries these five species; its strain codes (XXXXXX) and live count per sachet (XXXXXX CFU at end of shelf life) are being confirmed with our manufacturer and will be printed here. Until then we tell you the species story and nothing more.
Read the gut-brain research in The Gut-Brain Connection hub.
*Studies on the species, or on particular strains of it, not on xoBiome MoodBalance or on Saffiome. XXXXXX marks a fact we are confirming with our manufacturer before it is printed.
The evening herbs
Restore PM carries four evening herbs: tart cherry, chamomile, lemon balm and passionflower. Each one has its own research in adults, and lemon balm has the most of it in children under 12. The kids' sachet, Dream PM, carries the first three in smaller amounts.
The evening fruit
480 mg in every Restore PM sachet. Sour cherry concentrated ten to one, for the compounds that help the body keep tryptophan available in the evening, the building block of its sleep and mood chemistry. In a small trial, adults over 50 slept 84 minutes longer on tart cherry juice than on placebo, and in a 7-day trial of 20 adults, total sleep time and sleep efficiency both rose.*
Losso 2018: eight adults over 50 with insomnia, 240 mL twice a day for two weeks, polysomnography. The trials used juice, so we call it a studied ingredient, not a studied amount.
The evening flower
100 mg in every Restore PM sachet. The flower behind Europe's evening tea for centuries. In an 8-week trial, adults taking chamomile extract reported lower worry scores than those on placebo, and a 28-day trial in older adults found better sleep quality ratings than placebo.*
Amsterdam 2009; Adib-Hajbaghery 2017. One 28-day trial in adults with long-term insomnia found no difference on sleep diaries, and we say so.
The calm herb
60 mg in every Restore PM sachet. A lemon-scented mint used for calm since the Middle Ages, and the evening herb with the most study in children under 12. In two German studies of more than a thousand children under 12, parents and paediatricians rated a lemon balm and valerian blend as improving restlessness and settling to sleep in most children.*
Müller 2006 (918 children); Gromball 2014 (169 children); Kennedy 2004. The child studies used a blend with valerian and had no placebo group.
The evening vine
60 mg in every Restore PM sachet. Passiflora incarnata, the flowering vine that European and American herbal traditions kept for evening calm. In a week-long trial of 41 adults, a cup of passionflower tea each evening improved sleep quality ratings against placebo.*
Ngan and Conduit 2011.
*Studies conducted on individual ingredients, not on Saffiome as a finished product. Individual results may vary. Amounts in the sachet are extracts; the trials used juices, teas and larger extract amounts, so these are studied ingredients, not studied amounts.
What to expect
Saffiome is a daily supplement, not a switch. The adult trials measured change at four and twelve weeks, and the sleep trials at 28 days, so that is the honest timeline.
Two sachets, start and end of the day. The win in the first fortnight is that it happens every day without thinking about it.
At four weeks, adults with low mood scored better on mood than placebo at 28 mg of affron a day, and adults with poor sleep rated their sleep quality better at 28 days.*
At twelve weeks, 72.3% of adults on 28 mg a day had a meaningful lift in mood score against 54.3% on placebo, and women aged 50 to 70 on the same amount were almost twice as likely to reach a meaningful lift (48.8% against 25.6%).*
Most people keep the routine because it is easy: two honey sachets, one to start the day and one to end it, done.
*Studies conducted on individual ingredients, not on Saffiome as a finished product. Individual results may vary.
Where it fits
Saffiome is the morning and night routine that fits around everything you already do. Exercise, sleep habits, therapy, medication if you use it: all of that stays. Saffiome is two sachets, one to start the day and one to end it. It does not replace anything, and it does not ask you to change anything else.
If you take prescribed medication, or you are pregnant or breastfeeding, show your GP the ingredient list before you start. It is all on this page.
Parent Stories
I bought the kids' bundle and ended up wanting my own. Rise AM with my coffee, Restore PM to end the day. The green tea lift is gentle, nothing like a second coffee.
Hannah P., Byron Bay, mum of two, takes Rise AM
Restore PM has become the marker that the day is over. Tart cherry and chamomile in honey tastes like it should be dessert. I read the sleep trials before I started; that is why I gave it the full 28 days.
James O., Melbourne, dad, shift worker
Same sachet as the kids, a bit bigger, more of the good stuff. The four of us line them up on the bench at breakfast. That is the routine now.
Leah C., Gold Coast, mum of three
I run hot and I know it. I like that nobody promised me a miracle. Two honey sachets a day, the ingredients printed with their amounts, and a timeline that says four weeks. Honest.
Mitch A., Brisbane, dad, ADHD
I found the perimenopause trial on the ingredients page and that decided it. Twelve weeks in and I am still here. The evening one is my favourite thing on the dinner table.
Priya N., Sydney, mum, perimenopause
Started the kids' one for my son and the adults' one for me the same week. Breakfast and dinner, both of us. Easiest habit I have kept.
Tom B., Adelaide, dad of a 9-year-old
A note from Regan
I made the kids' sachets first. Then I wanted my own. Our house runs hot: my husband and both our girls are neurodivergent, and I'm the one keeping the map. Rise AM and Restore PM are the kids' routine grown up: the same saffron extract at the trial amount, more fermented saffron and probiotic, a gentle green tea lift to start the day, and passionflower joining the evening herbs to end it.
It fits right in with what you already do. Whatever you already do stays.
Regan Merka, founder
The range
Every sachet works on its own. Morning and evening together is how we designed it, and the subscription is how most families take it.
The daily supplement for ages 6 to 17: Bright AM starts the day, Dream PM ends it.
Founding Member: $99 a month for life, first 100
Skip, pause or cancel any time.
Coming soon
The daily supplement for adults: Rise AM starts the day, Restore PM ends it.
Skip, pause or cancel any time.
Coming soon
Kids, teens and adults: one daily supplement, four boxes, one pack.
Skip, pause or cancel any time.
Each sachet is available on its own, one-off or on subscription.
$79
or $69 a month on subscription
See it: Bright AM
$79
or $69 a month on subscription
See it: Dream PM
$89
or $79 a month on subscription
See it: Rise AM
$89
or $79 a month on subscription
See it: Restore PMA bigger 10 g sachet with more of the actives: the same affron saffron extract at 14 mg (the amount the trials used, 28 mg a day across two sachets), twice the fermented saffron (200 mg, providing 10 mg saffron) and twice the probiotic (200 mg), 20 mg of vitamin C from acerola, and a gentle green tea lift in Rise AM, and more tart cherry and chamomile plus passionflower in Restore PM. Same honey base: 80% Australian honey, 20% Australian Manuka certified MGO 250+.
About 40 mg, from green tea extract, roughly a cup of green tea's worth. Restore PM has none. If you are sensitive to caffeine, take Rise AM early in the day rather than later.
Saffiome is a supplement in a honey sachet: saffron, a probiotic and evening herbs. It is designed to sit alongside whatever you already do, but every body is different, so if you take prescribed medication, show your GP or pharmacist the ingredient list before you start. Every ingredient and amount is on this page.
Not without your doctor's OK. Saffron extract at these amounts has not been studied in pregnancy or breastfeeding, so we ask you to check first.
Rise AM within an hour of waking, Restore PM about an hour before bed. Straight from the sachet, off a spoon, or stirred into yoghurt or porridge. No food needed. If you fast in the morning, Rise AM carries about 7 g of natural honey sugars, so take it when your eating window opens.
The adult trials measured change at four weeks for mood and 28 days for sleep, and the largest trial at twelve weeks. Give it four weeks before you judge it, and twelve before you decide.*
Each adult sachet has about 7 g of sugar, all of it from the honey, so two sachets a day is about 14.7 g, just under four teaspoons. No food needed; take them with or without.
Yes. Each is $89 one-off or $79 a month on subscription. The Adults Day-Night Bundle brings both together for $169 one-off or $139 a month, which is less than two singles. One sachet is half the routine: the trials used saffron morning and evening, 28 mg a day.
The kids' bundle and the adults' bundle together, four pouches, for $289 one-off or $229 a month on subscription. Skip, pause or cancel any time.
A new delivery every 30 days, charged to the card you choose at checkout. You can skip a month, pause or cancel any time from your account. No lock-in and no cancellation fee.
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