Saffron’s Role in Traditional Medicine: Ancient Uses & Modern Research

Table of Contents

1. Grandma’s Wisdom & Google Deep Dives: Where the Curiosity Sparked.
2. Saffron Back in the Day: More than Just Food Coloring (and Really Expensive!)
3. The Big Players: What Different Cultures Thought about Saffron’s Powers.
   • Ancient Egypt: Pain and Parties?
   • Ancient Greece & Rome: The Spice of Life
   • Ayurveda in India: A Balancing Act
   • Traditional Chinese Medicine: Flow State, But Make it Saffron
   • Middle East: The Oldest Users?
4. How Do you Even Grow This Stuff?: Quick trip in the science of saffron cultivation (or lack of knowelge about it in my head lol).
5. So, How’s It Supposed to Work? A Little Peek Into Saffron’s Science, but keep it brief plz.
6. The Main Gist of Modern Saffron Studies
   • Mental health & mood boosating? Maybe so.
   • Brain Booster and Cognitive Sharpner?! hmm….
   • Other Health things they might not be too legit, but, you know, research…
7. Saffron’s not magic..but kind of impressive (conclusion kinda-ish?)
8. Can we all take a moment of gratitude that it’s all so complex?: Questions & final rambles (more or less)

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1. Grandma’s Wisdom & Google Deep Dives: Where the Curiosity Sparked.

It started like it always does, a conversation I overheard, with a sprinkle of personal confusion mixed with some googling in the night before I’m finally go to sleep. I was over at my grandma’s place for like one those weekly Sunday lunches, and we got to talking about, uh, my general mood (which has been totally relatable in a college life kinda way.) So, my grandma, being like, my grandma – full of wisdom or at least the belief that she is – was like “Try some saffron!”

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I honestly just kind of stared at her. Like… you want me to spice my mental stability with boujee food stuff? I’d only known about it as that fancy ingredient people put in dishes on the cooking show that i secretly enjoy. Turns out grandma also believed her own grandma would make her use it. so yeah it came from her own line of thinking or what ever. so it’s like some family think tradition or thing they are saying from person to another.
So I went to sleep feeling totally intrigued by the fact that it had something in it. I mean…saffron has to be more than fancy flavor or i’d eat my hat.

2. Saffron Back in the Day: More than Just Food Coloring (and Really Expensive!)

Ok so like..i started my dig and yeah. history lesson that it’s old news that saffron is just flavor dye thing, way more that what I first tought. The funny thing, like funny haha not funny o.O it wasn’t a surprise to me that people went wild about it.. Apparently, it was always like, a Big Deal, throughout history that this stuff, would not make no sense unless some history lessons on it or somethin’, you feel?

Think like… a commodity worth more than some pieces of silver, probably. For a spice, man! It turns out it’s one of those “gotta painstakingly pluck the threads from tiny flowers and, it takes an outrageous ammount of flowers to make like the teeniest amount of actual saffron” sort of situations. Kinda mind boggling that its flowers not only seeds to harvest it (kinda obvious, but you never truly grasp untill you have a research on it) like the saffron thread is literally inside a flower… crazy stuff man, just crazy stuff!. I have a very brief glimpse on the process it was also all “super tedious” that it needs hand-picking, so yeah.. labor and money involved!
This is where my tiny mind actually grasps, why people valued so highly since day 1 . It would mean the world that, this “Gold threads”, not literally gold but in a gold level pricing! so yes this “red-gold”, must be super expensive, with many different levels of reasons why it became expensive and sought-after across various cultures and time periods… that being said, the fun began when they actually started experimenting on it!

3. The Big Players: What Different Cultures Thought About Saffron’s Powers.

** Ancient Egypt: Pain and Parties?**

Egypt, the first players here! The Egyptians weren’t like, chilling and getting over here with no clue on what saffron is capable of. The history I gathered kinda suggests that they probably mixed this fancy spice with oils for a kind of a high life kinda massage thing (with possible pain reliever benfits, which i’m about to dig deeper) . They didn’t put it like for only “health purposes”, they even tossed the golden threads with stuff to put color in textiles for dye purposes to clothes, and they’d have all that make it to be the ingredient for beauty cosmetics (and parties probably, because what would Egyptians with make up on? ) They just gave so many different uses for just color changing ingredient or that’s what they tought back then? so very interseting from there view on life.

** Ancient Greece & Rome: The Spice of Life**

The ancient Greek, not less wild than the Egyptians tbh!, got into it with it in a whole another level of use and fun. Greeks like saffron more on like its’s beauty potential (make up on fleek?)and with its potential as something that gives good mood and fun vibes!. Meanwhile, the Romans ( always trying to be cool!) I gathered they sprinkled the heck out of their fancy villas and for some perfums to “enhance experiences”, I do’t wanna think the implications on what “enhancing experience” means since this should stay polite! so moving on…

** Ayurveda in India: A Balancing Act**

Ok, this was interesting, because they didnt approach the use the same with different types of cultural thinking. I knew there’s also Ayurveda that they talked about in class, with herbs. This ancient system from India sees saffron like one of those things that makes everything “balanced and good”, so no big “use” like the previous players, but like they’d be using it to support things like a strong stomach health, that you will have no “ups and downs”, while helping it calm you if your too hyper! like, it makes sense kinda! with a bit of ancient holistic kinda thought. It’s considered super versatile like… basically like magic juice! Or maybe tea that I can add something? Idk!

** Traditional Chinese Medicine: Flow State, But Make it Saffron**

And China doesn’t left behind either when it comes to alternative remedies with herbs!. So from what i gathered from my 2 second digging time on the topic, Traditional Chinese medicine ( TCM ) kind a thinks of it the saffron helps your Qi ( chi ?) it was hard to spell in my notes i apologize. So they believe this thing helps energy or your very core , your very inner workings of yourself, moving without getting stuck!. I’m not an expert on all of this ofc, but you get the gist. Basically they had more scientific uses too than other countries i think… and it might come out soon from the research i dug on internet or somethin!

Middle East: The Oldest Users?

It might be difficult to establish who truly are the oldest user for this saffron spice, it was just mind boggling to grasp with all my new knoweldge from that’s what they all did (mostly), But yeah i got it that some cultures in middle east, may or may not been on board with this “red threads” kinda of a “first user in the scene” deal since from some things it is written or passed down generations!. Its possible that the people that first encountered saffron and have tried out with the uses in ancient times. Maybe there is some deeper lore to this? I’d really wish for someone smarter to deep dive it one day.

4. How Do you Even Grow This Stuff?: Quick trip in the science of saffron cultivation (or lack of knowelge about it in my head lol).

Like, seriously, how is this so complicated? Saffron crocus ( Crocus sativus) if someone ever wanted the botanical names of it or something) , isn’t like most plant on earth since its flower and you only take out its thingies or like thread inside for a product! So no fruits or like seed pods! No wonder it costs a ton if the harvesting is “like this”… its mind-boggling man.. It really only thrives in super specific areas too like certain weather for some reason?! i don’t know why but im not that nerdy… i kinda stopped to learn about weather types too…

So, apparently, it’s super reliant on humans since it’s super fragile since we need a bit of caring!. Not very self sufficient unlike me that lives on its own LOL!. Its only a short harvesting periods once or two on fall! all manual labour, so many hands picking the petals before it is used to go deeper and find the thread, so you get an image for it. Then they gotta painstakingly (like I said in section 2 lol) separate these delicate stigmas ( fancy word to threads lol) from flowers… this is just wild if I was them. So yeah I understand it even more about this “expensive thing!” that i only now am realizing its crazy nature behind the cultivation part, just nuts man…

5. So, How’s It Supposed to Work? A Little Peek Into Saffron’s Science, but keep it brief plz.

Okay, this is the “where I lose everyone and also myself” part, but we will try to make it simple!. Saffron has a handful of these compounds that seems to be making it so, how is this thing have some sort of potential? One name that it’s like every time it is mentioned is this called crocin, and some other one like this picrocrocin (what ever). That some sort of responsible that what ever you taste and give this “pretty red color”… the research starts here. The point here it’s these specific little tiny “special thingies”, which do stuff inside the brain that might just be a possible explanations to all of historical beliefs. We can’t say for sure this part…but they make like, signals that make our mood change?. Like… they are basically chemical little messengers? that has potential or it was a placebo after all?!
Its wild stuff man! how we take for granted, what we consume each day in a microscopic level that changes the chemistry inside. Its too philosophical for me…let’s keep it moving with the rest shall we?.

6. The Main Gist of Modern Saffron Studies

Right, here it is the, current research ( at least for 2 weeks old if its current right??). They are not like fully decided or that its 100% all truth, they are trying to be open about how science really should be with facts but also possibilities.. so bear with me. Here are some of them, according to recent “stuff”:

** Mental health & mood boosating? Maybe so.**

This is the fun stuff since everyone kinda wants to feel the best possible, even if it isn’t all possible (lol). This was one my major motivators to go into the “Saffron is just magic spice?” rabbit hole when my grandmother offered. So, like, lots of researches they said the active compounds inside can do “magic in the brain” (well kinda…lol), improving stuff your mood swings , and helping those annoying “mental clouding”… making a slight increase on all of that!, in simple words… a better state of mind overall!. Some studies ( not sure on how many so I will not go in detail but lots of “peer reviews” are all out) shows that saffron is useful if you deal with daily stress or like the occasional gloomy episodes ( aka Monday mood every single day.) And, yeah, i feel like some placebo magic with my mental struggles after the long time knowing about it.

** Brain Booster and Cognitive Sharpener?! hmm….**

Ok here’s comes the interesting part that the saffron might make you go like Einstein too.. but maybe in slow-mo!. It is being put to study now that those little active stuff it has might help us focus better, and the ones who have “not so well memory” from life can make us be slightly sharp again? i need some for the classes lol!. I saw the internet say that saffron can act on memory cells of the brain, not 100% sure if i truly grasph the implication, or if someone made a big jump or conclusion but anyway! lets hope on the possibility that the studies may prove something, if there’s actually someone to properly invest into the stuff . Its something people should invest, in my honest opnion.

** Other Health things they might not be too legit, but, you know, research…**

The web also gave me that other types of areas that saffron could maybe have “powers”, but i doubt them honestly since im not well with those medical studies so my opinion its worthless so, yeah. For the eyes , maybe there is a chance? because i did saw an article that the threads had “benefits” from a source I barely understand so you got the vibe. Other claims like period related issues, heart condition (maybe too?) it’s hard to fully grasped if any of those has true real implication on all those or they are simply placebo-like results for research to exist with, just, more… science that I don’t fully understand at the end of it all.. but the study it’s there anyways if that interest anyone more nerdy than me.

7. Saffron’s not magic..but kind of impressive (conclusion kinda-ish?)

So, here’s what my scattered brain took from all that mess. Saffron ain’t no miracle or cure all super drug, sorry to burst anyone’s bubbles (mine included!) I must said… However, it’s totally fascinating, that some spice can affect us, from so much historical use for those ancient people, that now can actually have science backing its potential after all this time. That is honestly mind blowing. It has such rich historical significance of all kind that even with no solid facts about “it’s the solution to any disease!” it still is impressive from all that we know so far and i wonder what’s new tomorrow on research or what not.

The point is not how much does is can be use but more on the “is it worth the investment” that my brain kept saying in the all duration from research to even typing here! Its too complex stuff.. like wow, too complex

8. Can we all take a moment of gratitude that it’s all so complex?: Questions & final rambles (more or less)

Here’s comes the time for the big life question i thought over my time when going deep into the “world of saffron!” and my little discoveries! Like.. why?, I still kind don’t grasp how those people found its power, so like what were they thinking exactly when finding the stuff? or what make then say it can help from “xyz”, it was more experiment with no control? or maybe it was through tradition in each cultural “recipe book”, I don’t really have any ideia what it can be..I still want to keep going for a longer trip into Saffron more and see where my nerdy self leads me.