A REVIEW of studies on over-the-counter treatments targeting depressive symptoms has found that St John's Wort and saffron may show effects similar to prescription antidepressants.
The antidepressive properties of St Johns Wort are well established, but the therapeutic use of saffron is less well known outside of the Middle East.
Interestingly, all but one study on saffron was conducted in Iran, and most of these by the same research group, so the findings would need replication in other settings to be considered robust.
Among other products with 10 or more trials, the findings also suggested that probiotics and vitamin D are more likely to reduce depressive symptoms than a non-active placebo treatment, while the majority of trials looking at omega-3s found it did not help with depression.
Some products that are gaining in popularity, such as melatonin, magnesium, and curcumin, showed mixed effects on depression across multiple clinical trials.
It is important to note that the studies were generally conducted on people with depressive symptoms or subclinical depression, so results may not apply to people with diagnosed depression.
Read the paper HERE.
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