Bill Harvey: Appetite for construction

Now, I don’t wish to go all hippy on you, but I have been thinking about the long history of many foodstuffs with medical benefits that are only now being adopted in western medical trials with impressive effects. Turmeric as an anti-carcinogen, ginger as an anti-emetic and so on. But, as a fully paid-up Brummie curryholic, I couldn’t help but notice the increasing number of reports in high status referred journals concerning the benefits of saffron for eye health.

The brightly coloured powder, farmed from the crimson stigma and styles of a crocus, was first used in Persia millennia ago and felt to have healing qualities. Recently, studies have found saffron supplementation to improved retinal flicker sensitivity in humans with early age-related macular degeneration, others show evidence of its sustained benefits to central retinal function.