Lift Your Depression with Saffron & Curcumin
Contributed by Terry Talks Nutrition, All About Herbs
If you suffer from depression, trying to find a way to lift out of it can seem daunting. The causes of depression—and they are many—can make treatment options complicated, and the prescription drugs most often recommended also bring a lot of side effects that create their own set of problems.
For many years, researchers believed depression was primarily a condition of chemical imbalance. These days, there is a much more nuanced picture of depression, and most scientists and therapists would agree that brain chemistry and inflammation, in addition to life events and environmental factors and their effect on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, can all contribute to various types of depressive disorders. One of the keys to fighting depression is finding a safe, effective, and ideally natural solution that works along all these fronts.
And that is where there is good news: two clinically proven botanicals, saffron and curcumin, have been shown to relieve depression as effectively as prescription drugs, and without side effects.
Botanicals That Fight Depression: Saffron and Curcumin to the Rescue
Clinical studies show curcumin and saffron can alleviate symptoms as effectively as prescription drugs—but without side effects. The synergy of saffron and curcumin is unbeatable. Taken as soon as you notice symptoms, they can be even more effective. Here’s how they work:
SAFFRON boosts serotonin production, lowers cortisol, and helps preserve levels of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which are typically lower in people with depression. Clinical studies have found that saffron reduces symptoms of milder forms of depression (dysthymia), serious depression with anxiety, and postpartum depression. It may also make conventional antidepressant medications more effective.
You’ve probably heard about saffron (Crocus sativus) as an incredibly ancient, and incredibly expensive, spice. The reason for its steep price is that saffron harvesting must be done by hand.
It is the three stigmas in the flower that supply the spice and color that we know as saffron, and the compounds that fight depression.
Saffron is uniquely qualified to restore normal body chemistry. It boosts serotonin production, lowers cortisol, and helps preserve levels of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which are typically lower in people with depression. Without a proper balance of these neurotransmitters we’re going to feel too high-strung or too dragged down. One double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial reported in the journal Phytotherapy Research, found that saffron reduced symptoms of Persistent Depressive Disorder (dysthymia) in just six weeks.
In more serious and harder-to-treat forms of depression, especially when they overlap with anxiety, saffron also works well to relieve symptoms. An Iranian clinical trial found that a 12-week regimen of saffron had a significant impact on the outcomes of two measurement scales: the Beck Depression Index and Beck Anxiety Index—questionnaires answered by patients that gauge both conditions. Additionally, a small study showed saffron can potentially boost the effectiveness of conventional antidepression medications.
Of course, as effective as saffron is for depression, there is another powerful botanical that will help restore your sense of peace.
Curcumin, a compound from turmeric (Curcuma longa) is one of the most effective natural medicines on the planet. It truly does everything—stops pain, cancer, liver disease, and of course, depression. Curcumin can be difficult for the body to absorb, though, so I recommend a clinically studied form that is combined with turmeric essential oil for enhanced absorption and blood retention. It more readily gets into the bloodstream and continues to circulate there for longer-lasting effects.
The best response, measured by the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD-17), was in the group using the combination of fluoxetine and curcumin at 77.8 percent. But interestingly, the single-therapy groups scored almost exactly the same, with fluoxetine at 64.7 percent and curcumin at 62.5 percent—numbers so close that the data is not statistically significant from one another.
Curcumin works along many pathways, but these differ somewhat from saffron. That means that the combination of the two have a synergy with a broad spectrum of anti-inflammatory action. In fact, a clinical study found the combination of the two, saffron plus curcumin, yields impressive results.
In this study, low dosage curcumin, high dosage curcumin, and a low dosage curcumin and saffron combination were compared to a placebo for their ability to relieve the symptoms of MDD. What was interesting about this study was that even at lower doses, people responded very well to curcumin or a combination of saffron and curcumin.
The botanicals effectively helped relieve symptoms of depression and accompanying anxiety for individuals in the test groups. And like the trials using curcumin alone, individuals with atypical depression also saw their symptoms decrease. The researchers noted that results may be even stronger for people who can start using saffron and curcumin at an earlier onset of symptoms.