New research suggests saffron could help you sleep better

6 March 2020, 12:19

New research has revealed the spice could help you get better quality sleep. Picture: Getty

By Alice Dear

Are you struggling to get a good night sleep at the moment? The answer to your issues cold be hiding in your spice cupboard.

Getting a good night of sleep is integral to keeping your mind and body healthy, and keeps you alert and ready to face anything the following day might throw at you.

However, millions of people across the world struggle to get to sleep, stay asleep, or get good quality sleep overnight.

Of course, there's hundreds of tips and tricks out there, but you might not have heard this one before.

According to new research from Murdoch University, the spice saffron could help improve your sleep.

The study found people with poor sleep slept better after consuming 14mg of saffron twice a day. Picture: Getty

Murdoch University used volunteers for the study who had self-reported symptoms of poor sleep.

These volunteers were not being treated for depression, were physically healthy and were not on medication.

They consumed a 14mg dose of saffron extract twice a day for 28 days, and found that the spice did improve their quality of sleep.

The results found that the saffron made the most difference within the first seven days.

Millions of people across the world struggle to sleep, are you one of them? Picture: Getty

Dr Adrian Lopresti, lead researcher, said: "Our previous research showed saffron was an effective add-on to pharmaceutical antidepressants in patients experiencing mild-to-moderate depression.

"Because many of these people reported improvements in their sleep, in this study we focused on healthy adults who were generally medication-free but had experienced poor sleep lasting greater than four weeks.

The lead researcher said that more studies need to be carried out. Picture: Getty

"In addition to the improved sleep, the study showed that saffron was well tolerated with no reported adverse effects.

"Our early research is indeed positive and there is evidence that taking a standardised saffron extract is associated with improvements in sleep quality."

He went on: "However, to verify these findings, further studies using larger sample sizes, treatment periods and volunteers with varying characteristics is required."