Saffron
Saffron is the most heavily promoted "eye supplement" for ageing eyes and macular degeneration. Its trials are few, small and mostly on indirect measures; the largest found a gain too small to notice, and the literature clusters in a few research groups, one of which has commercial ties to a branded product.
Don't add saffron to your eye care. If you have macular degeneration or glaucoma, stick with treatment your eye doctor recommends, including the AREDS formula where it applies.
What it is
Saffron is the spice from the Crocus sativus flower. As an eye supplement it is usually taken at 20–30 mg a day, mainly for age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the disease that damages the centre of the retina.
Too few trials to pool
There is no Cochrane review and no meta-analysis of saffron for macular degeneration. The most recent independent systematic review, published in 2026, gathered ten clinical trials of saffron in eye disease and found them too few, too small and too varied in design and outcome to pool any of them.[1] Most saffron trials are small, several are open-label (everyone knows what they are taking), and the literature clusters within a few author groups and saffron-producing regions.
The largest trial: well under a line on the eye chart
The largest randomised trial gave 100 people with mild or moderate macular degeneration saffron and placebo for three months each, in turn. Saffron improved vision by 0.69 letters, well under one line on the eye chart and too small to matter clinically.[2]
In a 12-month open-label extension, vision actually drifted slightly worse (by 1.6 letters on the eye chart, which the authors suggest may reflect cataracts progressing), even as an electrical measure of retinal function (the electroretinogram) improved.[3] An indirect marker moving while vision does not is the pattern that keeps saffron in the "preliminary" category.
Who is making the case
The 2026 review that argues for saffron as a retinal protector was written by the group that ran nearly all of the trials it reviews. Its first author is affiliated with a saffron company, and two authors are named as co-inventors on the patent for the branded eye-saffron product the review recommends. That is grounds for caution about both publication bias and conflict of interest.[4]
Glaucoma: a four-week pilot
In a randomised pilot of 34 people with primary open-angle glaucoma already using two pressure-lowering eye drops, adding 30 mg of oral saffron extract a day left eye pressure about 3 mmHg lower than placebo at four weeks. The effect disappeared once saffron was stopped.[5] A short pilot on top of existing treatment is not a reason to rely on saffron for glaucoma.
What to do
- Skip saffron for eye health. The data are preliminary and mostly on indirect measures.
- If you have intermediate macular degeneration, the supplement with real evidence is the AREDS formula, taken under an eye doctor's guidance.
- If you have glaucoma, keep to the drops or laser your eye doctor prescribes; see Vision.
Further reading
- Ferrara S et al. Does Crocus sativus (Saffron) Have an Influence or Effect on Ocular Health: A Systematic Literature Review. J Evid Based Integr Med 2026.[6]
- Broadhead GK et al. Saffron therapy for the treatment of mild/moderate age-related macular degeneration: a randomised clinical trial. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 2019.[7]
- Maggi MA et al. Saffron as a Retinal Neuroprotectant: A Narrative Review of Preclinical Studies and Clinical Results. Antioxidants (Basel) 2026.[8]
- Jabbarpoor Bonyadi MH et al. The ocular hypotensive effect of saffron extract in primary open angle glaucoma: a pilot study. BMC Complement Altern Med 2014.[9]