Saffron

This came up this am,then started to think about what goes on with Wellbutrin and TNF.

Also interesting that the side effects were digestive issues.

Old Mike

http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-12-saffron-mental-illness.html

Sure enough saffron inhibits tnf or its receptors.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23326291

All kinds of supplements,but most in extract form, perhaps best to take the whole spice unless the extracts

contain the antioxidants. Looks like the best place to buy real saffron is ebay.

 

Post Edited (Old Mike) : 12/4/2014 8:20:56 AM (GMT-7)

it's very interesting. I knew about the good health properties of saffron but as Indian spices somehow don't go well with me, i wasn't so much interested in it. Now i've clicked on the Polish sites about saffron and i've read that in Poland there were many clinical trials on crocin as related to breast cancer. According to their results, when crocin was applied on the breast cancer cells, it caused their apoptosis. so tonight i'll make my favourite shirini nargili:
Shirini Nargili - Coconut Macaroons

Ingredients:

2 cups shredded unsweetened coconuts
1 cup sugar
3 large egg whites
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 teaspoon liquid saffron (a small pinch of crushed saffron, dissolved in hot water)
1 teaspoon rosewater
1/2 teaspoon juice of a lime

Method:
In a medium size mixing bowl, beat the egg whites, add the sugar and continue to whisk until smooth.
Add the remaining ingredients and stir for a few minutes until well blended.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Using a spoon, put the batter on the sheets, spacing them 2 inches apart.
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 12-15 minutes or until edges are golden.
Remove from the oven and cool.

Twiggs: I don't know extracts depending on the solvent will miss some components.
The whole spice might be better, but hard to measure what you are getting,good prices on ebay for the whole spice.

Difficult to measure in milligrams for the whole spice,but perhaps there are ways to figure it out,without a balance.
I will probably try in the future if my current experiment fails.

Also want to add that just about everything helps with mouse/rat colitis, and they get better on their own after

dss is withdrawn, at least in WT mice.

For instance 1 gram=about 500 threads or 2 teaspoons,not crushed.

so 1000mg/500=about 2mg/thread

so 15mg=about 7.5 threads


Old Mike

Post Edited (Old Mike) : 12/3/2014 1:48:24 PM (GMT-7)

Freddy: You have seen this thread,that is what I have got on the subject.

Have you tried searching google/medline for more info, if there is any.

OM

https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=38&m=3135542

Where can we find real (not counterfeit) saffron at a good price? I love the saffron rice and would make it regularly if I could get saffron at a reasonable price...

I saw this thread, so I thought I would jump in. If you have a middle eastern food store near you, you most likely can find saffron there. Most of the packages are from Iran. In larger cities, there are Iranian food stores and that would be the best place, although no matter where you find it, in a shop or online, it's going to be expensive. The best quality will be Iranian (Persian) if you're looking for all red threads. The Spanish saffron has a lot of yellow threads and is "inferior" to saffron experts, but I don't know what is in the saffron that is desirable that you're looking for. Is it 'essence' or the threads themselves?

For use in cooking, you crush a few threads in a little mortar and pestle (or you can use a little plate and the back of a spoon) and put it all in hot water (about 4 oz.) so the color and essence comes out of the threads. This can take several hours. The thread pieces will have lost their color and the water will be reddish. This water is then poured over the rice as it's steaming in the pot on the stove.

Basically, it's the hot water that gets the essence and color out of the threads. I had a Polish friend who said some people actually put saffron threads in their hot tea.

www.sadaf.com is one site that sells saffron but there are others, I'm sure. Many of the online sources are in California.

Guardian7 said...
Thanks for sharing.

Saffron is an ingredient in some Indian dishes (along with the other popular anti-inflammatories turmeric, ginger, etc). Would explain the low rates of psychiatric illnesses in India.



Best.

..and potentially also exploding rates of IBD in 2nd generation and beyond of people who have settled in the UK from India?

I remember loving saffron in the Indian dishes I had in London as a child (my child system knew what was good for me perhaps!) but these days, due to its cost I suppose, Indian food outside of the most expensive restaurants does not contain saffron.

Thank you to those who posted recipes and links.