How to Take Saffron for the Best Effect and the Benefits of Saffron Tea and Saffron Wine for Gout

Saffron, also known as crocus, is a precious traditional tonic. Saffron has many uses and very comprehensive effects. So how do you take saffron for the best effect? What benefits does drinking saffron tea have? Can saffron wine treat gout?

1. Saffron wine cannot treat gout

It cannot. The claim that saffron wine treats gout is not reliable. Gout is a recurrent inflammatory disease caused by excessive production of uric acid in the body or poor excretion of it, which raises blood uric acid levels, causing urate crystals to deposit in various joints.

In traditional Chinese medicine, gout is believed to begin with wind-cold-dampness obstruction and, over time, transform into heat that causes pain. Saffron has the effects of invigorating blood and dissolving stasis, and dispersing stasis and opening knots, but it has no effect of dispelling cold and removing obstruction. Moreover, there is currently no medical research or authoritative institution certification that the components in saffron are effective for treating gout, so gout patients should be cautious about using saffron wine to treat gout!

Gout patients should not drink saffron wine. Gout patients are not suited to drinking alcohol; drinking alcohol is one of the important causes of gout attacks, because when alcohol is metabolized it requires a large amount of water, which increases blood concentration and directly raises blood uric acid concentration in the body, triggering inflammation. Also, the ethanol in alcohol can promote the breakdown of purines, directly raising blood uric acid.

2. What benefits does drinking saffron tea have

1. Effects and functions against mental disorders: antidepressant, anti-anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, etc.

2. Effects and functions in treating premenstrual syndrome (PMS).

3. Effects and functions in treating neurodegenerative diseases: Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease.

4. Effects and functions in treating cerebrovascular diseases: cerebral infarction, cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury, and traumatic brain injury.

5. Effects and functions in improving learning and memory impairment: learning and memory impairment caused by chemical substances, learning and memory impairment caused by aging, and vascular dementia.

6. Effects and functions in treating cardiovascular diseases: myocardial ischemia, myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury, and myocardial hypertrophy.

7. Effects and functions against atherosclerosis: treating atherosclerosis, improving endothelial cell dysfunction, antioxidant effects, reducing the accumulation of cholesteryl esters in macrophages, and antithrombotic effects.

8. Effects and functions in regulating blood lipids.

9. Effects and functions against diabetes: improving insulin resistance and lowering blood sugar.

10. Long-term use of saffron tea also has effects such as lowering blood pressure, antibacterial action, anti-inflammatory and pain relief, anti-cancer, antioxidant, whitening, anti-pulmonary fibrosis, anti-renal fibrosis, and treating gastric ulcers, retinopathy, fatty liver, epilepsy, and convulsions.

3. How to take saffron for the best effect

We recommend directly steeping saffron in water and drinking it. The method for drinking saffron steeped in water is to use 5 to 10 saffron threads each time, refill with water about 3 times, and then eat the threads together with the liquid; you can add an appropriate amount of honey to improve the taste. Drinking saffron steeped in water is the simplest and most convenient way to use it; eat the threads and keep using it, and this gives the best effect.

Method for drinking saffron steeped in water:

Each time, steep 5 to 10 saffron threads in about 200 milliliters of water, refill with water about 3 times, and then eat the threads together with the liquid. Drinking saffron steeped in water has no special requirements for the teacup; an ordinary cup is fine.

If you are using saffron steeped in water for the first time, you can appropriately reduce the amount of saffron. If you are used to drinking saffron tea, you can gradually increase the amount of saffron.

Saffron has a distinctive fragrance, and after steeping in water its taste is relatively mild, so you can add honey to improve the taste.