Can a daily saffron supplement ease low mood in women over 50?

Yes, modestly. In this 12-week trial, women aged 50 to 70 who took a daily saffron extract had bigger drops in low mood than women who took a placebo. They also reported better self-esteem and less daytime tiredness from poor sleep, though these were exploratory results. For sleep disturbance itself, saffron did no better than placebo.

Saffron is the deep red spice made from the flower of Crocus sativus. It has been tested in more than 20 clinical trials for depression, and reviews of those trials agree it can lower depressive symptoms in adults. This new study asked a more specific question. Would a saffron extract help women in their 50s and 60s who were struggling with both low mood and poor sleep at the same time?

That combination is common. Many people with depression also have trouble sleeping, and the two problems tend to feed each other. Women around the age of menopause are especially likely to face both, along with changes in how they see themselves. So the researchers picked this exact group to test.

What the data show

The study followed 86 women for 12 weeks. Half took 28 mg a day of a standardized saffron extract called Affron, and half took a matching dummy pill. Neither the women nor the researchers knew who got which until the study ended.

Compared with placebo, saffron led to bigger reductions in depression scores, with an adjusted mean difference of 2.37 points on the DASS-21 depression scale (p = 0.030). The clearest sign of benefit was in how many women crossed a meaningful line. Nearly half of the saffron group, 48.8%, had a clinically meaningful drop in low mood of at least 7 points, compared with 25.6% of the placebo group (p = 0.026).

Saffron also beat placebo for self-esteem, with a 1.43-point advantage on the Rosenberg scale (p = 0.022), and for sleep-related impairment, meaning less trouble getting through the day because of poor sleep, with a 2.99-point advantage (p = 0.041). Not everything improved. Saffron did no better than placebo for sleep disturbance itself (p = 0.786), for how the women rated their own physical appearance (p = 0.964), or for facial skin age estimated by an AI app (p = 0.473). Sleep disturbance and self-rated appearance improved in both groups.

Dr. Kumar’s Take

I find this study encouraging, though what it actually proves is narrower. The main result, a moderate edge for saffron on depression scores, matches a large body of earlier work, though the range of possible effect sizes was wide and the authors say larger studies are needed to confirm it. That gives me some confidence. The effect size was moderate, and the fact that almost twice as many women hit a meaningful improvement is the number I keep coming back to, because it reflects a change a person would actually notice.

The other wins, on self-esteem and daytime sleep function, are more of a maybe. The authors themselves call these exploratory, and I agree. They point in a hopeful direction, but they need larger studies built to test them directly before I would lean on them. I also want to be honest that this was a small trial of 86 women in one age band, so I would not stretch these results to men, younger adults, or people with severe clinical depression.

Study snapshot

This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, which is the strongest design for testing whether a supplement really works. The women were aged 50 to 70 and were chosen because they reported both low mood and poor sleep. The main outcome set in advance was the depression part of the DASS-21 questionnaire. Secondary measures looked at sleep, self-esteem, self-rated appearance, and skin age. Saffron was well tolerated across the 12 weeks, with no serious side effects reported.

Where the evidence is strongest

The depression finding is the part I trust most, because it was the pre-planned primary outcome and it lines up with more than 20 prior trials. The weaker spots are the secondary outcomes. Interestingly, saffron beat placebo for daytime sleep impairment but not for sleep disturbance itself, which hints the benefit may flow through better mood rather than through deeper sleep. The appearance and skin-age results were flat, so there is no support here for saffron as a beauty aid.

Practical Takeaways

If you are an older woman dealing with both low mood and poor sleep, a standardized saffron extract like the 28 mg daily dose used here is worth discussing with your doctor, not starting on your own.
Give it time. The main result in this study was measured after 12 weeks, so a trial of a week or two is unlikely to tell you much.
Do not expect saffron to fix your sleep directly or change how your skin looks, because in this study it did no better than placebo on those outcomes.
Treat saffron as a possible add-on for mild to moderate low mood, not a replacement for proven care.

FAQs

How much saffron did the women take, and is that a lot?

The women took 28 mg a day of a standardized saffron extract, taken as a supplement rather than as the loose spice you cook with. Standardized means each dose contains a set amount of saffron’s active compounds, so it stays consistent from pill to pill. This is a common dose in saffron mood research, and it is far smaller than the large amounts of raw saffron that have been linked to side effects. Always check the label and talk with a pharmacist, since supplement strength and quality vary widely between brands.

Can saffron replace an antidepressant?

No, this study does not support swapping medication for saffron. The trial tested saffron against a placebo, not against a prescription drug, and it enrolled women with mild to moderately severe depressive symptoms rather than severe clinical depression. The benefit seen here was moderate. If you take an antidepressant, do not stop or change it based on this study, and never combine supplements with prescription mood medicine without a doctor’s guidance.

Why did saffron help daytime tiredness but not actual sleep?

The study found saffron eased sleep-related impairment, meaning less struggle to function during the day, but for measured sleep disturbance at night it did no better than placebo. One likely reason is that saffron’s main effect was on mood, and better mood can make daytime hours feel easier even when nighttime sleep does not change much. It is also possible the study was too small to catch a real but modest sleep effect. This is exactly the kind of question larger, sleep-focused trials will need to sort out.

Bottom Line

In this 12-week trial of 86 women aged 50 to 70 with both low mood and poor sleep, a daily saffron extract did better than placebo on the main measure of depression, a moderate effect that still needs replication in larger studies, with nearly twice as many women reaching a meaningful improvement. Hints of benefit for self-esteem and daytime sleep function are promising but still need confirmation, and saffron did no better than placebo for sleep disturbance, appearance, or skin age. For older women with mild to moderate low mood, saffron looks like a safe option worth discussing with a doctor, not a cure or a substitute for proven treatment.

Read the full study