Saffron as a treatment for erectile dysfunction? According to a handful of clinical studies and anecdotal reports, this seasoning appears to have some erection-friendly properties, but it’s an unlikely — and probably impractical — candidate for ED treatment on a large scale.
Although not quite worth its weight in gold, saffron is the very expensive seasoning that gives the unique taste and yellowish color to the rice in such popular Spanish dishes as paella and arroz con pollo. Current market prices for a gram of saffron range from a low of 4.5 euros ($5.27) to a high somewhere between 8 and 10 euros ($9.36 to $11.70). Extremely high quality saffron has sold for prices as high as 35 euros ($40.96) per gram.
Small-Scale Studies Conducted
A handful of small-scale studies have indicated that saffron — either in oral form or as the active ingredient in a topical gel — has helped overcome ED symptoms, most notably in men with diabetes- and drug-related impotence.
In one such study conducted by a team of Iranian researchers, most of them affiliated with Iran’s Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, a saffron-based topical gel was tested on diabetic males with ED. Researchers recruited 50 male diabetics with ED who were then divided randomly into groups of 25 each.
The first group was treated daily with a saffron-based topical gel, while the second was treated with a similar looking topical gel that contained a placebo. At the end of one month, erectile function in the men treated with the saffron-based gel was significantly better than that observed in the men in the placebo group.
Researchers published their findings in the October 2015 issue of the “Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Medicine.”
Another Promising Study
Similarly promising results were found in a study of oral saffron therapy among men whose ED symptoms were attributed to the antidepressant fluoxetine (also sold under the brand name Prozac). This study was conducted by another Iranian team, this one composed of researchers from the Psychiatric Research Center at Tehran University of Medical Sciences.
Participating in the study were 36 patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder, all of whom were stabilized on fluoxetine but suffering from ED caused by the antidepressant. Researchers randomly divided the study participants into two groups of equal number. The first group was given 15 milligrams of saffron twice daily, and the second received a placebo identical in appearance to the saffron tablets.
At the end of the four-week study period, those who received saffron reported significantly greater improvement in their erectile function than those who had received placebo. The findings of this study were published in the October 2012 issue of “Psychopharmacology.”
Saffron Not Available as an ED Treatment
Despite the positive results from these small-scale studies, saffron is not available in medicinal form for the treatment of ED. Given the high price of the active ingredient and the limited evidence of its benefits, such products may never come to the market.
Fortunately for those who are experiencing ED symptoms, Viagra and the other oral ED drugs known as PDE5 inhibitors are readily available and have been proved both effective and safe for most men. If the convenience of ordering your Viagra online appeals to you, you owe it to yourself to check out all that longtime online facilitator eDrugstore.com has to offer. To learn more, pay a visit to its Erectile Dysfunction page.
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