Last updated: September 26, 2026 · Originally published: September 11, 2026 · By Eternal Elixir Editorial
Saffron supplement benefits with human-trial support are a better mood, fewer feelings of stress, and better self-rated sleep quality, from 28 to 30mg a day of a standardised saffron extract taken for four to twelve weeks. Most of that evidence comes from Australian trials of one extract, affron, and the effects are real but modest.
The dose matters more than most labels admit. In one trial, 28mg a day improved mood against placebo while 22mg of the same extract did nothing. This guide covers each trial, what to look for on a label, the side effects and interactions, and what saffron has not been shown to do.
Key takeaways
- In a four-week trial of 128 adults with low mood, 28mg a day of affron improved mood scores against placebo, and 22mg a day did not.
- In the largest trial, 202 adults, 72.3% on saffron reached a meaningful improvement in mood scores over 12 weeks, against 54.3% on placebo.
- Sleep quality ratings improved in two Perth trials of 28 days, but evening cortisol did not change.
- Speak with your doctor first if you take medicine that affects mood or blood-thinning medication, and do not use it if pregnant or breastfeeding.
- Our Saffron Extract 30mg holds 30mg of affron per capsule, one a day, 90 capsules for $49.99, which is $0.56 a day.
Eternal Elixir makes Saffron Extract 30mg, and it is our pick because it uses the extract from the trials at the trial dose: one capsule of affron standardised to 3.5% Lepticrosalides a day.
Saffron Supplement Benefits: What Actually Holds Up in Human Trials
Saffron is the dried stigma of the Crocus sativus flower. Its active compounds are crocins, crocetin and safranal, and supplements use extracts standardised to a set amount of them. Four randomised, placebo-controlled trials of the affron extract carry most of the evidence, and three were run in Perth.
| Trial | Who took part | Daily dose | Length | Main result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kell, 2017 | 128 adults with self-reported low mood, no diagnosis | 22mg or 28mg | 4 weeks | 28mg improved mood, stress and anxiety scores against placebo. 22mg had no effect |
| Lopresti, 2020 (Perth) | 63 healthy adults aged 18 to 70 with sleep complaints | 14mg twice a day | 28 days | Better sleep quality ratings and restorative sleep scores than placebo. No reported adverse effects |
| Lopresti, 2021 (Perth) | 120 adults with unsatisfactory sleep | 14mg or 28mg, 1 hour before bed | 28 days | Better sleep quality ratings and mood on waking. Evening melatonin rose, evening cortisol unchanged. Both doses similar |
| Lopresti, 2025 (Perth) | 202 adults aged 18 to 70 with low mood below a diagnosis | 28mg | 12 weeks | Mood score improved 2.92 points more than placebo. 72.3% vs 54.3% reached a meaningful change. Other measures no different |
Mood and stress: the four-week result that set the dose
Kell and colleagues at the University of Southern Queensland gave 128 adults who reported low mood, but had no diagnosis, either 28mg a day of affron, 22mg a day of the same extract, or a placebo for four weeks. The 28mg group had a large drop in negative mood and in symptoms of stress and anxiety compared with placebo. The 22mg group showed no effect. The authors named the main weakness themselves: both the screening and the results relied on self-report. One author worked for Pharmactive, the company that makes affron.
Sleep: better quality, not more hours
Two 28-day trials in Perth tested sleep. In the 2020 trial, 63 healthy adults with sleep complaints took 14mg of affron twice a day or a placebo, and the saffron group reported better sleep quality and more restorative sleep. In the 2021 trial, 120 adults with unsatisfactory sleep took a placebo, 14mg or 28mg an hour before bed. Saffron improved sleep quality ratings and mood on waking, but most other sleep-diary measures did not change, and the two doses worked about the same.
That second trial also measured hormones in saliva. Evening melatonin rose on saffron, and evening cortisol did not change. We come back to the cortisol point below.
Twelve weeks: the largest trial, and its honest caveat
The biggest saffron trial so far appeared in The Journal of Nutrition in 2025. Lopresti and colleagues gave 202 Australian adults aged 18 to 70, whose low mood fell below the threshold for a diagnosis, either 28mg of saffron or a placebo daily for 12 weeks.
On the main measure, the low-mood score of the DASS-21 questionnaire, saffron beat placebo by 2.92 points, and 72.3% of the saffron group reached a meaningful improvement against 54.3% on placebo. The other secondary measures showed no difference between groups, and sleep improved only in the people who started with the worst sleep. The authors pointed out the large placebo response. The trial was sponsored by Pharmactive, and two of its authors work there.
Read together, the four trials give a consistent but modest picture. Saffron may support mood, feelings of stress and sleep quality in adults who are struggling mildly, over weeks rather than days. If your low mood is persistent, getting worse or affecting daily life, see your GP. A supplement is not a substitute for that conversation. For the full mood evidence, read our guide to saffron for mood and stress, and for sleep, saffron for sleep.
The 28 mg Threshold: Why Most Saffron Supplement Benefits Live or Die on the Label
This is the most useful finding on the page. In the Kell trial, the 22mg and 28mg groups took the same extract, in the same kind of capsule, for the same four weeks. Six milligrams separated a large effect from no effect at all.
So the milligram figure on a saffron label only helps if you know what the milligrams are. A capsule of 30mg of plain saffron powder and a capsule of 30mg of extract standardised to 3.5% Lepticrosalides are different products, and only the second matches the trials above.
| What the label says | What it tells you | Matches the trials? |
|---|---|---|
| “Saffron 30mg”, no standardisation stated | A powder weight. The amount of active compounds is unknown | No |
| A herb-equivalent figure, such as “equivalent to dry stigma” | How much raw material went in, not how much active compound is in the capsule | Not directly |
| “affron 28mg, standardised to 3.5% Lepticrosalides” | 0.98mg of the standardised active complex, the amount used in the mood trials | Yes |
| “affron 30mg, standardised to 3.5% Lepticrosalides” (ours) | 1.05mg of the same complex, slightly above the trial amount | Yes, at or just above |
Cooking saffron is a poor substitute for the same reason: its strength varies with grade and origin, and nobody has trialled a kitchen dose. For a brand-by-brand comparison of what is sold in Australia, see our saffron supplement comparison.
How Saffron Works, and the Cortisol Claim Worth Correcting
How saffron acts in people is not settled, and most proposed mechanisms come from laboratory work. What has been measured in a human trial is narrower, and it contradicts a popular claim.
You will often read that saffron “lowers cortisol”. In the 2021 Perth sleep trial, which measured cortisol directly in evening saliva samples, cortisol did not change on saffron compared with placebo. Evening melatonin did rise, and sleep quality ratings improved anyway.
So if you want to lower a measured cortisol result, that trial is evidence against saffron being the tool. The fair version of the pitch is that saffron seems to change how people feel about their mood and sleep, not their stress-hormone reading. For other options in this space, our guide to nootropic supplements in Australia covers the alternatives, and magnesium L-threonate benefits covers a mineral with its own sleep trials.
Dose, Timing and Cost Per Day in Australia
The trials point to a simple routine: one daily dose of 28 to 30mg of a standardised extract, at the same time each day. For sleep, the Perth trial gave it an hour before bed. For mood, the trials used once-daily dosing, and consistency mattered more than the hour.
| Your reason | Dose in the trial | Give it | What the trial found |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low mood and stress | 28mg once daily | 4 weeks | Improvement against placebo. 22mg produced none |
| Sleep quality | 14 to 28mg, 1 hour before bed | 28 days | Better sleep quality ratings and mood on waking |
| Longer-running low mood | 28mg once daily | 12 weeks | 72.3% reached a meaningful improvement, against 54.3% on placebo |
Our label says one capsule daily with a meal, at the same time each day, morning or evening. On cost, compare products per daily dose rather than per bottle. Eternal Elixir Saffron Extract 30mg is $49.99 for 90 capsules, one capsule a day, so 90 days for about $0.56 a day as of Sep 2026. Three bottles at 15% off cost $127.47, or about $0.47 a day, and ship free because the order is over $100. Our product page states each batch is tested by a third-party laboratory for identity, potency and purity, including heavy metals, with the certificate available on request.
Who it suits: adults who want the trialled extract at the trialled dose, and who are willing to take it daily for at least four weeks before judging it.
Who it doesn’t suit: anyone who is pregnant or breastfeeding, anyone on mood-affecting or blood-thinning medicine without their doctor’s agreement, and anyone hoping to lower a cortisol reading.
Saffron sits comfortably alongside other evening supplements. Some people pair it with Magnesium L-Threonate 2000mg, which has its own sleep trials, or take an adaptogen such as Korean Panax Ginseng 1600mg in the morning. Our Korean ginseng guide covers that evidence. For wider options, see our comparisons of adaptogen supplements and magnesium supplements in Australia.
Side Effects, Interactions and Who Should Be Careful
At trial doses, saffron extract has a clean record. The 2020 sleep trial reported no adverse effects, the 2021 trial reported no significant adverse effects, the 2025 trial reported no serious adverse reactions, and the Kell trial authors reported no side effects. All four were short, from four to twelve weeks.
Much higher doses are a different matter. In a one-week safety study in 30 healthy volunteers, 400mg of saffron tablets a day lowered standing systolic blood pressure, and saffron slightly lowered some blood counts, including platelets, and raised sodium, urea and creatinine. The researchers noted all of these stayed within normal ranges. Those were saffron stigma tablets rather than a standardised extract, at many times the 30mg in a capsule, but it is a reason not to take more than the label says.
- Medicines that affect mood. One trial gave affron alongside prescribed antidepressant medication to 160 adults for eight weeks, under medical supervision. That does not make combining them a do-it-yourself decision. If you take any medicine that affects mood, speak with your doctor before adding saffron.
- Blood-thinning medication. Our label advice is to speak with your doctor first, and the same goes for an upcoming surgery.
- Pregnancy and breastfeeding. Do not use it. None of these trials tested it in pregnancy or breastfeeding.
- Persistent low mood. If low mood is persistent, worsening or affecting your daily life, see your GP first.
For how we apply the same evidence-first approach to another adaptogen, see our guide to Korean Panax ginseng benefits, and for a magnesium safety comparison, our guide to magnesium L-threonate side effects.
What Saffron Has Not Been Shown to Do
Many saffron pages list a dozen benefits. The trials above support three: mood, feelings of stress and self-rated sleep quality. The eyesight and memory claims you may see come from research in people with specific medical conditions, which is a different question from what a healthy adult can expect. Claims that saffron lowers cortisol were not supported when cortisol was measured. And none of these trials measured sleep objectively, so the effect on actual sleep time is unknown.
Saffron Supplement Benefits: Your Questions Answered
What happens if you take saffron daily?
Daily use is how it was tested. At 28 to 30mg a day of a standardised extract, saffron was well tolerated in trials of four to twelve weeks, with no serious adverse reactions reported. The mood and sleep changes built up gradually over weeks rather than appearing on day one.
What to avoid when taking saffron?
Avoid taking more than the label dose, because a week of 400mg a day of saffron tablets shifted some blood measures in a safety study. Speak with your doctor before combining it with medicine that affects mood or with blood-thinning medication. Do not use it if pregnant or breastfeeding, and avoid unstandardised products if you want the dose used in the trials.
Add Saffron Extract 30mg to cart · $49.99
When should I take saffron, morning or night?
If sleep is your reason, the 2021 Perth trial gave it an hour before bed. If mood is your reason, the trials used once-daily dosing, and taking it at the same time each day matters more than the hour. Our label says one capsule with a meal, morning or evening.
What are the potential downsides of taking saffron?
Three. Cost: standardised extract is not cheap, because saffron itself is not. Patience: the trials ran four to twelve weeks, so you need at least a month to judge it. And the placebo response in saffron trials is large, so some of what people feel may be expectation. Buying the trialled extract at the trialled dose is the part you can control.
Is saffron worth taking as a supplement?
If your goal is mood, feelings of stress or sleep quality, and you will take 28 to 30mg of a standardised extract daily for at least four weeks, the trial evidence is reasonable and the effects are real but modest. If your goal is a lower cortisol reading, the evidence points the other way.
Does saffron bring down cortisol levels?
Not in the best direct measurement. The 28-day Perth sleep trial measured evening cortisol in saliva and found no change on saffron compared with placebo, while evening melatonin rose. Sleep quality ratings still improved.
Is saffron hard on the liver?
The trials of saffron extract at 14 to 30mg reported no serious adverse reactions, though they were short. In a one-week study of much higher doses, saffron tablets shifted some blood measures within normal ranges. If you have a liver condition or take regular medication, check with your doctor first.
The Bottom Line
Saffron has one of the better evidence bases among botanicals for mood, feelings of stress and sleep quality, most of it Australian and most of it on affron at 28 to 30mg a day. The effects are modest and take weeks. The dose and the extract on the label decide whether you are buying what was tested.
Keep reading: our saffron supplements compared, the magnesium L-threonate comparison, or browse the full range.
Sources
- Kell G, Rao A, Beccaria G, et al. affron a novel saffron extract (Crocus sativus L.) improves mood in healthy adults over 4 weeks in a double-blind, parallel, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Complement Ther Med. 2017;33:58-64. PubMed 28735826
- Lopresti AL, Smith SJ, Metse AP, Drummond PD. Effects of saffron on sleep quality in healthy adults with self-reported poor sleep: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. J Clin Sleep Med. 2020;16(6):937-947. PubMed 32056539
- Lopresti AL, Smith SJ, Drummond PD. An investigation into an evening intake of a saffron extract (affron) on sleep quality, cortisol, and melatonin concentrations in adults with poor sleep. Sleep Med. 2021;86:7-18. PubMed 34438361
- Lopresti AL, Smith SJ, Marx W, et al. An examination into the effects of a saffron extract (Affron) on mood and general wellbeing in adults experiencing low mood: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. J Nutr. 2025;155(7):2300-2311. PubMed 40414301
- Lopresti AL, Smith SJ, Hood SD, Drummond PD. Efficacy of a standardised saffron extract (affron) as an add-on to antidepressant medication for the treatment of persistent depressive symptoms in adults. J Psychopharmacol. 2019;33(11):1415-1427. PubMed 31475623
- Modaghegh MH, Shahabian M, Esmaeili HA, et al. Safety evaluation of saffron (Crocus sativus) tablets in healthy volunteers. Phytomedicine. 2008;15(12):1032-7. PubMed 18693099
- Eternal Elixir, Saffron Extract 30mg product page (label, directions, cautions, testing statement), read September 2026.
