The spice saffron was compared to donepezil (Aricept), a leading drug treatment for slowing the progression of Alzheimer’s disease cognitive impairment.
Saffron vs. Aricept
Doctor's Note
For more on Alzheimer’s disease, check out these videos:
Reducing Glycotoxin Intake to Prevent Alzheimer’s
Preventing Alzheimer’s with Turmeric
Treating Alzheimer’s with Turmeric
Also see my prequel video: Saffron for the Treatment of Alzheimer’s.
2017 Update: Since this video was released, I’ve done several more on saffron. See:
- Saffron for the Treatment of PMS
- Wake up & Smell the Saffron
- Saffron vs. Prozac
- Best Food for Antidepressant-Induced Sexual Function
- Saffron for Erectile Dysfunction
For additional context, also check out my associated blog posts: Natural Alzheimer’s Treatment; Alzheimer’s Disease: Up to half of cases potentially preventable; Saffron vs. Prozac for Depression; and Is Coconut Oil Bad For You?
If you haven’t yet, you can subscribe to my videos for free by clicking here.
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See the prequel to this video, Saffron for the Treatment of Alzheimer’s, the corresponding blog post, Natural Alzheimer’s treatment and leave any questions you have about this exciting research below.
I noticed on WebMD, they say a specific saffron product will help with Alzheimer’s. Does it need to be this product from Iran? I noticed the study is by Iranian researchers. Here’s what WebMD said: “Alzheimer’s disease. Some research shows that taking a specific saffron product (IMPIRAN, Iran) might improve symptoms about as well as the prescription drugdonepezil (Aricept) over 22 weeks of treatment.”
Thanks!
What’s the best way to add Saffron to the diet? How many mg?
So 15mg twice a daqy. Is there any evidence for its use as a preventative for those of us with family history?
I second that…Is it preventative? Thank you:)
I just checked it out on Amazon. Saffron would cost about $200 for a year. That’s only 1/10 of aricept and apparently it helps with cholesterol as well. Probably full of antioxidants as well. You can’t lose.
It is exciting to discover that something as simple and reasonably-priced as saffron would work equally as well as Aricept. It would be a bonus if it helped to lower cholesterol as well – a win-win situation for prevention of both conditions.
Keep up the good work.
Love the idea of using saffron.
As an FYI, Aricept went off patent Nov 2010, and a generic (donepezil) is now available in some places (although NOT from my mother’s insurance provider, who still charges as if they are selling the on-patent drug!) as cheap as $10/month. But who would want the generic drug, if saffron provides the benefit without side effects?
30 mg transposes into about how many stigmas per day?
Each flower yields 7mg dried saffron, and I think there are 3 stigmas per flower, so 30 mg should be about 13 stigmas. There’s research on saffron and infertility, cancer, PMS, obesity, and erectile dysfunction. I’ll be rolling out more videos evaluating the latest science on spices–stay tuned!
For some context, please check out my associated blog post Alzheimer’s Disease: Up to half of cases potentially preventable!
Question for you, Dr. Greger:
Just viewed a lecture on the Vegetarian Society of Hawaii’s website by Steve Blake onAlzheimers. About 47 minutes into the lecture he reviews research on Ginko Bilobo, Gotu Kola, and saffron. he concludes that there is more support for the use of Ginko Bilobo and Gotu Kola than saffron. At his website, naturalhealthwizards.com is a book on the subject, which may contain more info. Am wondering if you have an opinion?
Than you,
The most beneficial probiotic organism overall is Bacillus subtilis natto, which produces dozens of beneficial chemicals including scyllo-inositol and subtilisin (nattokinase), which combine to stop the progression of Alzheimer’s better than saffron. The best food source of Bacillus subtilis natto is the Japanese fermented soybean food called, natto.
If you suspect the onset Alzheimer’s, eat both natto and saffron regularly. The other beneficial chemicals manufactured by Bacillus subtilis natto include vitamin K2/MK-7, vitamin K2/MK-8, vitamin PQQ, vitamin C, pyrazine, gamma-polyglutamic acid, catalase, surfactin, conjugated isoflavone-phosphate, butyrate, unusual polysaccharides, glycolipids, hyaluronic acid, coenzyme Q10, and bacitracin Tracy.
Bacillus subtilis natto has been shown in studies to feed and protect the lactic acid bacteria (lactobacilli and bifidobacteria), which manufacture many beneficial chemicals including butyrate, propionate, acetate, conjugated linoleic acid, conjugated linolenic acid, unusual polysaccharides, and lactic acid.
If our diets contain docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), then our lactobacilli and bifidobacteria can manufacture conjugated docosahexaenoic acid and conjugated eicosapentaenoic acid, both of which have been shown in studies to exert substantially greater health benefits than regular DHA, regular EPA, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), and conjugated linolenic acid.
Meanwhile, the bad bacteria manufacture endotoxins, enterotoxins, and free radicals which kill off the good bacteria and cause inflammation, cause diarrhea, and inflict DNA damage to human cells.
Unlike lactobacilli and bifidobacteria, Bacillus subtilis does not have the ability to cling to our intestinal walls. Compared to the Japanese who eat natto regularly, Americans consume only about one-one thousandth as much Bacillus subtilis from their diets (mostly from raw green vegetables) but American intestines contain about one-tenth as much Bacillus subtilis as the intestines of Japanese who eat natto regularly. This indicates that Bacillus subtilis is strongly welcomed by the other good bacteria.