In the herb garden of traditional Chinese medicine, there are two medicines named safflower, respectively called safflower and saffron. Although their medicinal properties and functions are basically the same, they are plants of two different families and genera, and their prices differ greatly.

The two medicines have many aliases

Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) is the dried flower of the annual herbaceous plant safflower in the Asteraceae family, with aliases such as grass safflower, red-blue flower, and thorn safflower. It is pungent in flavor and warm in nature, enters the Heart and Liver meridians, and is produced in Henan, ** and other places. It has the effects of activating blood and promoting menstruation, removing stasis and relieving pain.

Saffron (Crocus sativus) is the stigma of the perennial herbaceous plant saffron crocus in the Iridaceae family, with aliases such as Tibetan saffron and saffron crocus. It is native to Europe and Central Asia. In the past, it was mostly introduced to the interior from places such as India and Iran via Tibet, hence the name Tibetan saffron. It can also be cultivated in small amounts in Zhejiang, Beijing, Jiangsu and other places in China. This medicine is sweet in flavor and slightly cold in nature, and enters the Heart and Liver meridians.

Similar effects, different prices

Both saffron and safflower have the effects of activating blood, transforming stasis and promoting menstruation, but saffron is stronger and also has the effects of cooling blood and detoxifying, making it especially suitable for those with warm-heat disease where heat has entered the blood aspect causing macules, or with heat stagnation and blood stasis.

There are mainly two points in the clinical application of saffron:

1. Used for various blood stasis syndromes. Saffron has the effect of activating blood and removing stasis, and is often used for dysmenorrhea, amenorrhea, irregular menstruation, incomplete lochia after childbirth, waist and abdominal pain, abdominal mass pain, and swelling and pain from traumatic injuries caused by blood stasis. It can be decocted alone or combined with other blood-activating medicines to enhance efficacy. For example, to treat dysmenorrhea and amenorrhea, it is used together with motherwort, Salvia miltiorrhiza, etc. To treat incomplete lochia after childbirth, it is used together with Angelica sinensis, Radix Paeoniae Rubra, etc. This product, while activating blood, also has the function of dispersing stagnation and opening knots, and can be used for various syndromes of lumps and bindings.

The difference between safflower and saffron

Safflower

Warm in nature, pungent in flavor, activates blood and promotes menstruation, disperses stasis and relieves pain. Used for amenorrhea, dysmenorrhea, retention of lochia, abdominal masses and lumps, and traumatic injuries. Suitable for various blood stasis syndromes such as varicose veins, peripheral neuritis, poor blood circulation, and numbness or bruising of the legs and feet.

Saffron

Saffron is a precious Chinese medicinal material with strong physiological activity. Its stigma is used medicinally in Asia and Europe, and has sedative, expectorant, and antispasmodic effects. It is used for the treatment of stomach disease, menstrual regulation, measles, fever, jaundice, hepatosplenomegaly, and other conditions.

Difference in names

As a kind of Tibetan medicine, saffron was already world-famous during the Ming Dynasty. However, Tibet in China is not the place of origin of saffron. It is native to the Mediterranean region of Europe and Greece. There it was originally used as a dye.

In ancient times, saffron generally came to China by land, from the Mediterranean, then through Spain, Persia and other countries, crossing the Himalayas to reach the interior. Tibet was an unavoidable place on this route. Over time, people came to believe that this kind of safflower was produced in Tibet, so they gave it the name "Tibetan saffron." Safflower is the dried flower of the Asteraceae plant safflower, also known as grass safflower, with main producing areas in ** and other places.

Difference in dosage

For safflower, the legal dosage stipulated in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia is 3 to 9 g, while each time saffron is taken, it is best to keep it within 10 grams, because there are records of cases in which, due to saffron's relatively strong excitatory effect on the nervous system, some people experienced dizziness and other symptoms caused by excessive excitement after taking large amounts of saffron, and some people with sensitive constitutions developed allergic urticaria and skin rashes.

Difference in price

The price of saffron is about ten times that of safflower.

Difference in effects

Safflower: activates blood and promotes menstruation, disperses stasis and relieves pain. Used for amenorrhea, dysmenorrhea, retention of lochia, abdominal masses and lumps, traumatic injuries, and sores with swelling and pain.

Saffron (West safflower): activates blood and transforms stasis, cools blood and detoxifies, relieves depression and calms the mind. Used for amenorrhea and abdominal masses, postpartum blood stasis obstruction, warm toxin macules, depression and chest oppression, and palpitations with mania.

Saffron can comprehensively improve the body's immunity. Saffron's unique magical effects are widely used by Chinese and foreign medical circles to prevent and treat cerebral thrombosis, angiitis, myocardial infarction, blood deficiency and body weakness, irregular menstruation, postpartum blood stasis, generalized pain, traumatic injuries, neurasthenia, palpitations and mania, and other diseases. Modern pharmacology has found that saffron has a strong anti-cancer effect.

The effects of safflower can promote menstruation and treat blood disorders. It can tonify and purge, break and nourish, move and guide, but its blood-nourishing effect is far inferior to that of saffron.

How to identify

Saffron: the powder is orange-red. After this product is placed in water, orange-yellow color can be seen descending in a straight line and gradually spreading, the water is dyed yellow, there is no precipitate, and the product has no smell when smelled.

Safflower: the powder is orange-yellow. After being placed in water, the color is obviously different from saffron, and the product has a smell when smelled.

Place saffron under a microscope for observation, and then it can be seen that the saffron flower head is trumpet-shaped, with a crack at one end and fine serrations at the other end. Fake products definitely will not have these characteristics.

In addition, saffron has long been used as a folk abortion drug. Therefore, pregnant women and friends who want to become pregnant should use saffron with caution. When purchasing saffron and safflower, be sure to distinguish between them.

Saffron - Saffron's effects and functions | Saffron in water | Foot soaking | How to eat | Saffron's side effects

Saffron

Saffron's effects and functions

Saffron's effects:
[Traditional Chinese medicine view] Activates blood and removes stasis while further promoting collateral flow, expels stasis and transforms pain while also promoting menstruation, cools blood and detoxifies while also nourishing blood
[Western view] Treats headache, toothache, promotes urination, nourishes the spirit, beautifies, tonifies yang, detoxifies, lowers blood pressure, activates blood
1. Yinshan Zhengyao: Mainly treats heart depression and accumulated stagnation, qi oppression that does not disperse; long-term consumption makes people feel joyful.
2. Pinhui Jingyao: Mainly disperses stagnation and regulates blood, relieves chest and diaphragm oppression, opens the appetite and promotes eating and drinking; long-term use nourishes the lower origin, improves complexion, and treats typhoid with mania.

The effects of drinking saffron in water

1. Nourishes blood and activates blood. Saffron tea has the effect of nourishing and activating blood. After women take it, it can make their complexion rosy, their spirit abundant, and them more beautiful and charming. Secondly, saffron tea has significant effects on symptoms such as irregular menstruation in women, postpartum blood stasis, facial spots, and generalized pain.

The price of saffron

Saffron has multiple effects such as activating blood and transforming stasis, promoting menstruation and relieving pain, and is a relatively precious tonic, so its price is generally high. Some premium-grade saffron of relatively good varieties generally costs several hundred per gram, while saffron in ordinary pharmacies generally ranges from more than 50 to 80 per gram, and if it is saffron sold online, the price is generally slightly lower, usually several tens of yuan per gram, but sellers need to be chosen carefully.

Saffron's effects and how to eat it

How to eat saffron:
1. The general way to eat it is to take 5-8 threads each time and soak them in water to drink, drinking for three days and stopping for one day, or once every other day. With 6 to 8 flower threads per day, soaked in water to drink 3 or 4 cups of water, persistent use for prevention and health care can produce very good beauty and health-care effects. Used in such small amounts over the long term, its medicinal nature is mild and the effect is quite good, but the key is persistence.

The effects and functions of soaking feet in saffron

Soaking feet in saffron can lower blood pressure, soften blood vessels, and free the tendons and activate collaterals. It can effectively improve immunity and improve sleep quality. Using saffron foot bath liquid, through bathing, the skin surface mucosa, activated subcutaneous nerve cells, and 36 acupoints on the human feet absorb it, absorbing and transforming the energy molecules in the medicine to cause an overall pharmacological effect on the body, thereby achieving the effect of comprehensively improving the body's functions and enhancing the body's immune function.

Saffron's side effects

The adverse reactions of side effects from consuming saffron are mainly manifested as: abdominal discomfort, abdominal pain, diarrhea, or even gastrointestinal bleeding, abdominal colic, excessive menstruation in women, etc., mainly related to safflower's excitatory effect on the intestines and uterus.

How to eat saffron

1. Saffron tea. Preparation method of saffron tea: take 5 to 10 saffron threads, soak them in boiling water and drink; after refilling with water 3 to 5 times, take them together with the flower threads. Contraindications for using saffron tea: pregnant women, those during menstruation, and hemorrhagic patients should use it with caution!

Identification of true and false saffron

1. Water soaking method: take two or three threads and immerse them in water; it can be seen that orange-yellow descends in a straight line, the water is dyed yellow, but the flower does not fade. Although the flower is red, the water is bright light yellow. There should also be no powdery precipitate; if there is precipitate, it must be adulterated. In addition, when soaked in water, if the flower turns brown or white or another color within a very short time, or if it breaks apart, then it is also fake. The flower should be bright red and should not fade or break apart.

The difference between West safflower and Tibetan saffron

West safflower and Tibetan saffron are two names for one thing; they are the same substance. So there is no difference. Tibet in China does not produce saffron, because back then saffron spread from Persia to India, and then entered the Central Plains via Tibet, so it was called Tibetan saffron. Saffron also has another name, fanhonghua; it is native to Persia (today's Iran) and countries along the Mediterranean coast. There have recently been records of successful introduction and cultivation in China.

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