Saffron

Sold for low mood and, more recently, for attention in children. People rated their own mood better in small trials, but doctors who did not know who took what saw no clear difference.

At a glance

Our verdict	Lowered self-rated low mood in small trials, but not when doctors rated mood blind. Often faked; avoid in pregnancy.
Sold for	Low mood (claimed)
How sure the evidence is	Low for mood; Very low for ADHD
Cost a month	About $25 to $40

Written for adults in Canada. It explains the evidence; it is not advice for you personally. Last reviewed 20 October 2026.

Supplement Check

Is it right for you?

Saffron is the most often faked spice, it may add to the effect of antidepressants, and it must be avoided in pregnancy. Your check reads your mood questionnaire and your medicines and tells you what would work better. Our Supplement Check looks at:

Pregnancy: avoid (it stimulates the uterus at high doses)
Breastfeeding
Bipolar disorder
Anyone taking an MAOI, now or in the last 14 days
Low mood most days, or any thoughts of harming yourself: see a doctor first
Every medicine you take

Coming soon. The Supplement Check and the Online Health Assessment open once our safety testing is complete.

$59 when it opens, paid once. Adults 18 and over, anywhere in Canada. While the service is new, Dr. French reads every report himself, and your report arrives within 3 working days. More about the Supplement Check

Tell me when it opens

What it is

Saffron is the dried stigma of the saffron crocus. Supplements use a standardised stigma extract, usually 28 to 30 mg a day, standardised to its colour and aroma compounds (crocins and safranal). It is the most adulterated spice: safflower and dyes are common substitutes, so only a standardised, batch-tested extract is worth considering.

Structure of Saffron — Structure: PubChem (public domain).

How it acts

Proposed effects on serotonin (blocking its reuptake, as some antidepressants do), on glutamate (NMDA receptors), on inflammation and possibly on dopamine. None of this has been confirmed in people; it is mechanism, not proof.

Outline of a person showing where Saffron acts in the body

What it is used for, and what the evidence says

Use	What the trials found	How sure we are
Low mood, rated by the person	34 randomised trials, 1,769 people: scores on the Beck Depression Inventory, a questionnaire people fill in themselves, fell 4.4 points more than with placebo, and a self-rated anxiety score (Beck Anxiety Inventory) fell 5.1 points more. [1] The results varied hugely between trials (heterogeneity 92%), and most trials were small and from a single country. The authors rated the evidence moderate; we rate it low.	Low
Low mood, rated by a clinician	In the same review there was no effect on the Hamilton depression or anxiety scales, which a clinician scores. [1] These blinded clinician ratings are less open to expectation, so we give this result the most weight.	Low
Head to head with SSRI antidepressants	In 8 small trials saffron did about as well as an SSRI antidepressant, with fewer side effects. [2] Trials this small cannot show that the two are equal.	Low
ADHD in children	54 children over 6 weeks: saffron 20 to 30 mg did no differently from methylphenidate 20 to 30 mg on parent or teacher ratings, in a pilot trial too small to show the two are equal. [3] 58 children: saffron added to methylphenidate improved parent ratings (effect size 0.85) but not objective tests of attention or working memory, and there was no placebo. [4] A Spanish comparison was not randomised. [5]	Very low
ADHD in adults	No trial.	No evidence (no trial)

How sure we are: High means further research is very unlikely to change the answer; Moderate, it might; Low, it may well change; Very low, we are very unsure. These follow the GRADE method that guideline panels use.

Benefits

Self-rated low mood: about 4 points lower on the Beck Depression Inventory, low certainty. [1]
Clinician-rated mood: no clear effect. [1]
Fewer side effects than SSRIs in small head-to-head trials. [2]
ADHD: unproven in adults; small child trials only. [3, 4]

Risks and side effects

Side effects: nausea, headache, dry mouth. Well tolerated at 30 mg.
Toxic in large amounts. Spice amounts above about 5 g are toxic: the uterus contracts and bleeding can occur.
Fakes. The most adulterated spice; safflower and dyes are common.

Interactions with medicines

No established change in how the liver clears medicines (no enzyme induction or inhibition shown in people). The interactions below are theoretical, but they involve common medicines.

Medicine	What can happen	What to do
Antidepressants (SSRIs, SNRIs), triptans, tramadol	Possible added serotonin effect (theoretical)	Do not take together without your doctor
Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs: phenelzine, tranylcypromine, moclobemide, selegiline, rasagiline, safinamide, linezolid, methylene blue), now or in the last 14 days	Not studied; a reason not to take it in our review	Do not take; your check goes to Dr. French
Antiplatelet medicines and blood thinners	Possible added bleeding risk (theoretical)	Discuss with your doctor
Blood pressure medicines	May lower blood pressure slightly	Discuss with your doctor

Who should not take it

Pregnancy: avoid (it stimulates the uterus at high doses).
Breastfeeding: no data; avoid.
Bipolar disorder: it may switch mood towards mania (theoretical; no trial data).
Anyone taking an MAOI, now or in the last 14 days.
Low mood most days, or any thoughts of harming yourself: see a doctor first. If you are thinking about suicide, call or text 9-8-8 (Suicide Crisis Helpline) now, any time; in immediate danger call 9-1-1.
Children: no safety data outside small trials. Under 18: outside the Supplement Check, which is for adults.

Dose and timing

We do not recommend a dose. For reference, mood trials used 28 to 30 mg a day of a standardised extract, with food, for 6 to 8 weeks; the child ADHD trials used 20 to 30 mg.

If you take it now: fill in a depression questionnaire (PHQ-9) at the start and at 8 weeks. A fall of 5 points or more counts as a response; no change by 8 weeks means stop.

What we know about Canadians

No Canadian data on saffron use in our review.

Low mood is common in Canada. In 2022, 7.6% of Canadians aged 15 and older had a major depressive episode in the past year and 5.2% had generalised anxiety disorder, up from 4.7% and 2.6% in 2012. The rise was steepest in young women aged 15 to 24, in whom generalised anxiety tripled and depression doubled. Fewer than half (48.8%) of people with a disorder spoke to a health professional about it in the past year. [6]

Most at risk: women aged 15 to 24, unemployed people, and people who use substances (half of whom also have a mood or anxiety disorder). [7]

How sure are we: high. Statistics Canada Mental Health and Access to Care Survey 2022, a national survey with a structured diagnostic interview; nothing on saffron itself.

An honest comparison: low mood

Same outcome (depressive symptoms), cost a month in Canadian dollars. Exercise trials cannot be blinded, so their effects include expectation; supplement and medicine trials are placebo-controlled. Read the certainty column before comparing sizes.

Option	Effect	How sure we are	Cost a month (CAD)
EPA-rich omega-3 (at least 60% EPA, about 1 g EPA a day)	Standardised effect 0.50 against placebo in one review; [10] Cochrane calls the benefit small and uncertain [11]	Low to Very low	$25 to $35
Saffron extract 30 mg a day	Self-rated depression score 4.4 points lower; no effect on clinician ratings [1]	Low	$25 to $40
Walking or jogging, hard enough to breathe hard	About 3 points lower than control groups on the 27-point depression questionnaire (PHQ-9); 218 trials, 14,170 people [8]	Low	$0
Strength training or yoga	About as much as walking (effect size about 0.5) [8]	Very low	$0 to $21 (classes cost more)
Mediterranean-style eating with a dietitian	32% recovered against 8% in one small 12-week trial of 67 people [9]	Low	About $30
SSRI antidepressant (sertraline or escitalopram, generic)	1.75 points more than placebo on the clinician-rated Hamilton depression scale; about 15% have a large response to the drug itself; [12] all 21 antidepressants studied did better than placebo [13]	Moderate	$8 to $12

Read honestly: saffron's effect shows up only when people rate themselves. Exercise you find a bit hard is the best-studied thing you can do yourself and costs nothing, and a generic antidepressant has blinded, clinician-rated evidence for less money.

Why we don't recommend it

We do not sell saffron and our check never recommends it, for mood or for attention. It may lift self-rated mood a little, but it made no clear difference when doctors rated mood blind, and the ADHD trials are small and in children only.

Already taking it? Stop it if you are pregnant, planning a pregnancy or breastfeeding, have bipolar disorder, or take an MAOI, and talk to your doctor before combining it with an antidepressant. If your mood is low most days, a doctor's assessment comes first; if you have thoughts of harming yourself, call or text 9-8-8 now, any time.

Saffron lowered self-rated depression scores in many small trials, but when doctors rated mood without knowing who took what, it made no clear difference, [1, 2] and in children with ADHD it has only small pilot trials. [3] It is the most often faked spice, can interact with antidepressants, and must be avoided in pregnancy. For low mood, exercise you find a bit hard has better evidence, and if your mood is low most days a doctor's assessment comes first. Dr. French named saffron among the items we do not sell (20 October 2026), and our ADHD review reached the same answer: not until an adult trial exists.