Comment · Mon, October 13, 2025 · ND Owner
Curious, if one takes saffron for very long period of time when one goes off does that mean the brain will have a hard time making happy chemicals then? I want to take Cognance but am looking for explanations on why I shouldnt be scared to take it? It seems completely frankenstein.
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cacklingwhisper · 13 points
Bacopa has lots of science now but unfortunately its a -motivation killer- an so Cognance was invented.
But Cognance is also altered, like how can I know its basically Bacopa but better and risk-free? Like I dont want to take a mad experiment into my body.
As for Saffron Im going through a tough time so looking for better mood boosters than st john worts (literally it makes lights brighter than they naturally are a lot of science now behind potential retina damage).
What they were answering
waaaaaardds · 1 points
These are supplement with very little or modest effects. They're not drugs. You'll likely feel nothing anyway.
u/MisterYouAreSoDumb · ND Owner
Actually, saffron has been shown to be as effective as SSRIs with fewer side effects.
The idea that natural supplements are going to give very little or modest effects is just not proven with the data. The pharmaceutical industry wants people to continue to think this way, but finally researchers are starting to take supplements more seriously, and are designing comparison studies more often than in the past. As someone that has gone through depression and been on SSRIs in the past, and someone that has likely taken more things than 99.9% of the people in the world, do not assume that just because something is an extract of a natural plant that it won't give significant effects. These supplements need to be properly standardized to the specific bioactive compounds, and dosed appropriately, though. That's the biggest issue. It's not that supplements aren't super effective. It's that most brands in this industry are selling dogshit to consumers, then making them believe supplements as a whole are not very effective.
Take a look at the results of some saffron testing we recently did.
Look how much more saffranals and crocins you get with our saffron. Only Triquetra was close. Hell, look at Life Extension and Nutricost... If you are taking their saffron, you might think it has very little or modest effects as well. However, that's not because saffron itself can't be super effective. It's that the specific brand you are buying is shit. We have done this testing on thousands of samples over the past 12 years, from tons of our competitors. There is no real pattern either. Sometimes Life Extension is good. Other times like this one they are shit. Same for Triquetra. Their lion's mane is absolute garbage, but this saffron we tested was not.
Here is recent lion's mane testing we did.
This one Swanson was the closest. I say closest, but they were still 32.5X less erinacine A than us, but still more than the rest of the competition. Triquetra was straight zero here. So you can't even just assume a brand is good for most things anymore. It's really product-by-product specific. However, this is a big part of why people think supplements have little to no effects. We just exist in an industry where most brands are total crap, and consumers have no real idea how bad the state of things are. It cheapens real quality supplements, and perpetuates a perception that doesn't have to be reality.