Saffron for Treating Age-Related Macular Degeneration
In addition to 2 to 3 daily servings of green leafy vegetables, berries are considered a healthy choice for the preservation of eye health. As we age, our critical retinal pigment epithelium layer starts to break down. However, we may be able to decelerate that aging with blueberries. Human RPE cells bathed in blueberry anthocyanins had fewer free radicals and a lower proportion of age-ed cells, suggesting that blueberries and other red, blue, and purple pigmented fruits and vegetables may help prevent age-related macular degeneration. Protective properties have also been demonstrated in vitro on RPE cells from purple sweet potato anthocyanin as well as the yellow pigment in turmeric and an amla (Indian gooseberry) extract. However, the only human interventional trials on berries for vision were a month-long trial of a bilberry extract that demonstrated significantly less eye strain after iPad use compared to placebo and a study showing three weeks of blueberry juice or freeze dried blueberry powder both significantly improved photostress recovery time (the time needed to recuperate visual acuity after bright light exposure) by about 5 seconds. Only one pigmented food has been put to the test in macular degeneration patients: the spice saffron.
Saffron is so potent that the whole spice can be stuffed into capsules to pit head-to-head against placebo. Those with early-stage age-related macular degeneration were randomized to a tiny pinch (20 mg, about 8 threads) of saffron versus placebo for three months. Compared to the placebo group, the saffron group experienced a significant improvement in retinal flicker sensitivity. Our ability to pick out high frequency light pulses (rather than seeing the flickering light as a steady beam) diminishes with age. It’s a sensitive test of retinal function, but is of questionable clinical value. However there was a small improvement in visual acuity in 80 percent of the saffron subjects, (being able to see one line further down on an eye chart) versus none improving of the placebo group. This is particularly important for those with age-related macular degeneration for whom vision tends to get worse over time, not better.
What about a more substantial pinch (50 mg, about 20 threads)? Compared to placebo, three months of this larger dose led to a similar improvement in visual acuity in macular degeneration patients, suggesting more is not necessarily better. Saffron is the most expensive spice there is, selling for about $200 an ounce, so being able to get away with a 20 mg dose (about 15 cents a day) rather than a 50 mg dose (closer to 40 cents a day) could add up over the long run. Even smaller doses may work too, but they just haven’t been tested.
What about the tiny pinch over a year instead of just three months? Early stage macular patients were given 20 mg of saffron a day for an average of 14 months and average visual acuity improved by two eye chart lines. They also reported an improvement in contrast and color perception, reading ability, low-light vision, and overall quality of life. The problem is the study lacked a control group, so it’s hard to put much stock in subjective measures of improvement. Interestingly, a 6 month randomized double-blind placebo controlled trial found no objective acuity improvement in either the placebo group or a 30 mg a day saffron group, yet reported that the patients unwittingly in the saffron group gave subjective reports of better vision and general wellbeing. The researchers suggest this may be an antidepressant effect, and indeed a meta-analysis of a dozen randomized double-blind placebo0controlled trials of saffron for depression found it beat out placebo and was found COMparable to antidepressant drugs.
The largest saffron vision trial to date was a double-blind placebo controlled crossover trial in which 100 older adults with mild or moderate age-related macular degeneration were randomized to 20 mg of saffron a day or placebo for three months, then switched to the opposite group for an additional three months. When on the tiny daily pinch of saffron there was a significant, yet modest improvement in visual acuity, and this was the case for both those on and off best practice therapy (the beta-carotene free A-REDS supplementation), suggesting an additive benefit.
In addition to 2 to 3 daily servings of green leafy vegetables, berries are considered a healthy choice for the preservation of eye health. As we age, our critical retinal pigment epithelium layer starts to break down. However, we may be able to decelerate that aging with blueberries. Human RPE cells bathed in blueberry anthocyanins had fewer free radicals and a lower proportion of age-ed cells, suggesting that blueberries and other red, blue, and purple pigmented fruits and vegetables may help prevent age-related macular degeneration. Protective properties have also been demonstrated in vitro on RPE cells from purple sweet potato anthocyanin as well as the yellow pigment in turmeric and an amla (Indian gooseberry) extract. However, the only human interventional trials on berries for vision were a month-long trial of a bilberry extract that demonstrated significantly less eye strain after iPad use compared to placebo and a study showing three weeks of blueberry juice or freeze dried blueberry powder both significantly improved photostress recovery time (the time needed to recuperate visual acuity after bright light exposure) by about 5 seconds. Only one pigmented food has been put to the test in macular degeneration patients: the spice saffron.
Saffron is so potent that the whole spice can be stuffed into capsules to pit head-to-head against placebo. Those with early-stage age-related macular degeneration were randomized to a tiny pinch (20 mg, about 8 threads) of saffron versus placebo for three months. Compared to the placebo group, the saffron group experienced a significant improvement in retinal flicker sensitivity. Our ability to pick out high frequency light pulses (rather than seeing the flickering light as a steady beam) diminishes with age. It’s a sensitive test of retinal function, but is of questionable clinical value. However there was a small improvement in visual acuity in 80 percent of the saffron subjects, (being able to see one line further down on an eye chart) versus none improving of the placebo group. This is particularly important for those with age-related macular degeneration for whom vision tends to get worse over time, not better.
What about a more substantial pinch (50 mg, about 20 threads)? Compared to placebo, three months of this larger dose led to a similar improvement in visual acuity in macular degeneration patients, suggesting more is not necessarily better. Saffron is the most expensive spice there is, selling for about $200 an ounce, so being able to get away with a 20 mg dose (about 15 cents a day) rather than a 50 mg dose (closer to 40 cents a day) could add up over the long run. Even smaller doses may work too, but they just haven’t been tested.
What about the tiny pinch over a year instead of just three months? Early stage macular patients were given 20 mg of saffron a day for an average of 14 months and average visual acuity improved by two eye chart lines. They also reported an improvement in contrast and color perception, reading ability, low-light vision, and overall quality of life. The problem is the study lacked a control group, so it’s hard to put much stock in subjective measures of improvement. Interestingly, a 6 month randomized double-blind placebo controlled trial found no objective acuity improvement in either the placebo group or a 30 mg a day saffron group, yet reported that the patients unwittingly in the saffron group gave subjective reports of better vision and general wellbeing. The researchers suggest this may be an antidepressant effect, and indeed a meta-analysis of a dozen randomized double-blind placebo0controlled trials of saffron for depression found it beat out placebo and was found COMparable to antidepressant drugs.
The largest saffron vision trial to date was a double-blind placebo controlled crossover trial in which 100 older adults with mild or moderate age-related macular degeneration were randomized to 20 mg of saffron a day or placebo for three months, then switched to the opposite group for an additional three months. When on the tiny daily pinch of saffron there was a significant, yet modest improvement in visual acuity, and this was the case for both those on and off best practice therapy (the beta-carotene free A-REDS supplementation), suggesting an additive benefit.
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