REVIEW article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutrition, Psychology and Brain Health
Integrative effects of saffron and physical activity on endurance performance, quality of life, cognitive, emotional, and metabolic outcomes in age-related and neurodegenerative diseases
Provisionally accepted
Kehai Wang1*
Lingyun Li2- 1Department of Emergency Intensive Care Medicine Center, The Affiliated Hospital of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan, China
- 2Shandong University of Finance and Economics, Jinan, China
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Age-related diseases, including cardiovascular disorders, type 2 diabetes, neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, and age-related eye diseases, represent leading causes of disability and mortality worldwide. Growing evidence highlights the therapeutic promise of non-pharmacological interventions, notably saffron (Crocus sativus L.) and structured exercise, both of which exert pleiotropic effects through antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and neuroprotective pathways. In this review, we summarize current experimental and clinical data on saffron's bioactive compounds, crocin, crocetin, and safranal, and their capacity to modulate lipid metabolism, insulin sensitivity, mitochondrial function, and protein aggregation. Parallel findings from exercise research demonstrate improvements in cardiovascular function, glycemic control, neuroplasticity, and ocular health. Importantly, emerging studies reveal synergistic benefits when saffron supplementation is combined with physical activity, resulting in amplified improvements in vascular remodeling, glycemic regulation, neurotrophic signaling, and behavioral outcomes. These complementary interventions target shared molecular pathways, including PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling, SIRT1–PGC-1α activation, Nrf2-mediated antioxidant defense, and modulation of inflammatory cytokines. Taken together, saffron and exercise represent safe, accessible, and multi-target strategies that may delay or attenuate the progression of aging-related diseases. Future large-scale, long-term clinical trials are warranted to establish optimal protocols and to integrate these interventions into preventive and therapeutic frameworks for healthy aging.
Keywords: saffron, Exercise, Aging, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease
Received: 04 Sep 2025; Accepted: 27 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Kehai Wang, wangkehai4@gmail.com
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.