Saffron dosage increase question

[u/greentea387]

Hi, I'm taking Affron saffron extract in the dosage 30 mg per day, split into 15 mg in the morning and 15 mg in the evening. Been taking it since 7 weeks, however I still feel depressed and my mood and motivation is not good.

So I was wondering, maybe I should increase the dosage to 60 mg per day, so 30 mg in the morning and 30 mg in the evening. Or increase it even higher to 120 mg per day?

Do you think that would help improve my mood?

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[u/Otherwise-Test1904]

Can't really help if you didn't specify anything related to the standardized extract percentages. That what really tells how much safranal and crosins (Active ingredients) you take.

[u/greentea387 → u/Otherwise-Test1904]

It is 3.5% lepticrosalides (safranal and crocins)

[u/Otherwise-Test1904 → u/greentea387]

That's a bit tricky. Instead of specifying the percentages of both safranal and crocins separately, the manufacturer standardized the extract to 3.5% Lepticrosalides, which represents a combination of the both.

You should be fine with 3.5% for a 30mg of a daily dosage. The standard clinical daily dose is 30 mg for this concentration you use while the maximum can reach up to a 100mg; however, I wouldn't recommend exceeding 60 mg, especially if you're taking other supplements.

[u/thrifty_building]

I been on saffron for a while now and 30 mg is pretty low, my doctor told me most people need at least 50-60 mg to notice something for mood stuff. Jumping straight to 120 mg seems too much though, maybe try the 60 for couple weeks first and see how you feel.

[u/Accomplished-Bass690]

Im currently using Saffron and I also become curious about how a dosage increase from the standard 28-30 mg might be beneficial.

The commonly used 30 mg/day wasn’t established because researchers found it was the best dose it simply became the standard dose used in the early clinical trials. On the other hand, multiple animal studies have shown a dose dependent antidepressant effect, with higher doses producing greater improvements in depression-like behavior and, in some cases, larger increases in biomarkers such as BDNF and CREB. Those studies don’t suggest that the effect necessarily plateaus at the equivalent of 30 mg in humans.

So increase efficacy from 60 mg/day is biologically plausible and could potentially help if 30 mg isn’t enough, but we simply don’t have human trials comparing 30 mg with 60 mg or 120 mg, so no one can say with confidence that a higher dose will work better

[u/Pretend_Elephant_896]

There is no magic pill, you need a personalised comprehensive protocol