Many people will have heard about the benefits of taking vitamin D during the colder darker months but did you know there are plenty of other supplements capable of doing some heavy lifting for your mental health?

Ingredients such as saffron, ashwagandha, rhodiola and 5-HTP have all been used to soothe nerves, boost mood and stabilise happy hormones for hundreds of years. Plus, according to clinical trials, in the right doses, these ingredients can all have a positive impact on mental wellbeing.

There are several reasons you might be feeling anxious or struggling with low mood. The stresses of work and responsibilities of life can often leave us feeling burnt out and unable to cope. Chronic low mood can also be a symptom of perimenopause and andropause and, often, shifting hormone levels at different stages of the menstrual cycle can leave you feeling out of whack, too.

Feeling stressed all the time can also prevent you from sleeping well, and poor sleep can lead to a cycle of feeling anxious during the day, so many people turn to supplements to soothe worried nerves and improve their rest and recovery.

We looked into which supplements might help with promoting feelings of calm and stability and which might be best for giving you a boost and beating the symptoms of SAD (seasonal affective disorder). Read on to find out which ones hit the mark.

How we tested

Over the course of several weeks, we took a variety of supplements from trusted brands, and tracked any changes in mood. We took note of whether we slept better, felt less anxious and whether we felt more emotionally regulated after trying each remedy. Each supplement we tried contained slightly different ingredients and we took price and packaging into account, too, rating each product on its content, cost and whether the results matched the credentials.

The best mood-boosting supplements for 2024 are: