Best ingredients for mood

The form of vitamin D the body makes from sunlight and the most effective supplemental form for raising blood levels.

Typical: 1,000–2,000 IU

A branded, root-only ashwagandha extract standardized to at least 5% withanolides.

Typical: 300–600 mg

A generic, non-branded ashwagandha root extract standardized to at least 5% withanolides.

Typical: 300–600 mg

A concentrated turmeric rhizome extract standardized to 95% curcuminoids, the form used in most joint and inflammation research.

Typical: 500–1,500 mg

An amino acid found naturally in green tea that promotes a calm, focused state without sedation.

Typical: 100–200 mg

Cyanocobalamin is the synthetic, highly stable form of vitamin B12 used in most supplements and fortified foods.

Typical: 100–1,000 mcg

Folic acid is the fully oxidized, synthetic form of folate used in food fortification and most supplements.

Typical: 400–800 mcg

Lion's mane is an edible tooth fungus whose fruiting body and mycelium contain hericenones and erinacines alongside beta-glucan polysaccharides.

Typical: 500–1,000 mg

Methylcobalamin is one of the two coenzyme forms of vitamin B12 that the body uses directly, in this case for the methionine synthase reaction that recycles homocysteine and supports methylation.

Typical: 100–1,000 mcg

Bifidobacterium longum is one of the dominant bifidobacteria of the adult human colon.

Typical: 1–10 B CFU

An acetylated form of the amino acid cysteine that is the rate-limiting precursor for glutathione, the body's principal intracellular antioxidant.

Typical: 600–1,800 mg

A root extract from an arctic and alpine plant, standardized to rosavins and salidroside, that is used in energy, focus, and stress formulas.

Typical: 200–600 mg

A cruciferous root grown in the Peruvian Andes, dried and milled into a powder used in libido, energy, and hormone-balance formulas.

Typical: 1,500–3,000 mg

Pyridoxine hydrochloride is the standard, inexpensive, and highly stable form of vitamin B6 used in nearly all multivitamins and B-complex products.

Typical: 1.7–50 mg

An acetylated form of carnitine that crosses the blood-brain barrier more readily than carnitine itself and donates acetyl groups for acetylcholine synthesis.

Typical: 500–2,000 mg

The immediate precursor to serotonin, extracted commercially from Griffonia simplicifolia seeds.

Typical: 50–300 mg

An extract of German chamomile flowers standardized to apigenin, the flavone behind much of its calming reputation.

Typical: 220–1,100 mg

L-5-methyltetrahydrofolate is the main circulating form of folate and the form cells use directly for homocysteine remethylation, so it bypasses the MTHFR enzyme step that is less active in people carrying the common 677C>T variant.

Typical: 400–1,000 mcg

The brain's main inhibitory neurotransmitter, sold as a supplement for relaxation and sleep.

Typical: 100–500 mg

An essential amino acid and the dietary precursor to serotonin and melatonin.

Typical: 500–2,000 mg

Myo-inositol is a sugar alcohol the body makes from glucose and the most abundant inositol isomer in cells, where it forms the backbone of phosphatidylinositol signaling lipids and the second messengers that relay insulin and hormone signals.

Typical: 2–4 g

Chemically identical cholecalciferol extracted from lichen rather than sheep's wool lanolin, which lets a product carry vegan and vegetarian claims while keeping the D3 form that raises and holds serum 25(OH)D better than D2.

Typical: 1,000–2,000 IU

Black cohosh is a North American herb whose root and rhizome have been studied for decades in women going through menopause.

Typical: 20–40 mg

A leaf extract of lemon balm, a mint-family herb with a citrus aroma, used in calming, sleep, and focus formulas.

Typical: 300–600 mg

An extract of the dried stigmas of Crocus sativus, the world's most expensive spice, standardized to crocins or safranal and used in mood, appetite, and eye formulas.

Typical: 30 mg

SAMe is the body's principal methyl donor, made from methionine and ATP, and participates in neurotransmitter synthesis, phospholipid methylation, and cartilage proteoglycan production.

Typical: 400–1,600 mg

Chasteberry is the dried fruit of Vitex agnus-castus, a Mediterranean shrub with a long history in women's health.

Typical: 20–40 mg

An extract of the flowering tops of Hypericum perforatum standardized to hypericin and often hyperforin, the most studied botanical for mood.

Typical: 600–900 mg

A branded saffron stigma extract standardized to 3.5% Lepticrosalides, a marker fraction of crocins and safranal, developed for low-dose mood formulas.

Typical: 28 mg

Theacrine is a purine alkaloid structurally related to caffeine, found in kucha tea and cupuaçu.

Typical: 50–200 mg

A branded curcumin formulation in which curcumin is embedded in solid lipid particles to protect it from degradation in the gut and support delivery of free curcumin into circulation.

Typical: 400–800 mg

An extract of the aerial parts of Passiflora incarnata, a climbing vine used in calming and sleep formulas.

Typical: 250–500 mg

A leaf extract of tulsi, an aromatic basil revered in Ayurvedic tradition and used in modern formulas as a gentle adaptogen for stress and metabolic balance.

Typical: 300–1,000 mg

A branded turmeric extract that recombines curcuminoids with turmeric essential oil (turmerones) rather than using a synthetic carrier.

Typical: 500–1,000 mg

An extract of the root of a Pacific Island pepper plant, traditionally prepared as a ceremonial drink and now used in relaxation and stress formulas.

Typical: 120–240 mg

A salt of lithium with orotic acid sold at microgram-to-low-milligram lithium doses, hundreds of times below prescription lithium carbonate.

Typical: 1–5 mg

A metabolite of arginine that acts as a neuromodulator, binding imidazoline and NMDA receptors and influencing nitric-oxide synthase.

Typical: 500–1,500 mg

An extract of a small creeping herb used across Asian traditional systems and now included in cognitive, skin, and circulation formulas.

Typical: 500–1,000 mg

A seed extract of velvet bean standardized to L-DOPA, the direct precursor of dopamine, used in mood, motivation, and men's vitality formulas.

Typical: 250–500 mg

Pyridoxal 5'-phosphate is the active coenzyme form of vitamin B6 and the form measured in blood to assess B6 status.

Typical: 1.7–50 mg

Methylliberine is a purine alkaloid found in kucha tea leaves and coffee, structurally close to theacrine but with a faster onset and shorter duration.

Typical: 100–150 mg

Folinic acid (5-formyltetrahydrofolate) is a reduced, metabolically active folate supplied as its calcium salt.

Typical: 400–800 mcg