Every intervention Outliyr has scored for mood, ranked by its BioHarmony score for this use case rather than its overall rating. The number beside each name is how well that one thing works for mood; the tier beside it is what it is worth once safety, cost and effort are counted across everything else.
68 of 132 evaluated interventions score 3.0+ out of 10 for mood · 24 comparisons
The evidence points to a plausible use case without proving a universal response. Mahmoudi et al. 2026 is the best anchor here because it reports 34 randomized trials, 1769 participants and improved…
Tarleton 2017 anchors the most relevant signal. Magnesium fits mood when low intake, stress load, mineral loss, or a form-specific target makes deficiency correction plausible. The score stays bounded because effects are…
Medium pooled effects in meta-analyses; anger and irritability show largest gains. Vann-Adibe 2025 remote HRVB meta of 18 studies (n=1,352) confirms negative-emotion benefit. The score stays bounded because HRV Biofeedback evidence for…
Kihara 2002 makes the claim plausible but incomplete. The existing rationale points to this narrower claim: Post-session mood improvement is one of the most reliable subjective effects. The support is strongest as…
Ji 2024 found photobiomodulation improved depression symptoms with an SMD of -0.55 across 11 trials. That is a real clinical signal, though protocols and populations vary. Red Light Therapy may work through…
Mood benefits likely come from improved self-awareness, arousal control, and sleep regulation. The PTSD signal in Voigt 2024 supports emotional-regulation relevance, but general mood claims should stay modest. Use as an adjunct…
Soh 2024 anchors the most relevant signal. Glycine fits mood because glycine participates in sleep signaling, glutathione, collagen, methylation, and nervous-system balance, depending on the endpoint. The score stays bounded because many…
Implanted VNS is FDA-approved for treatment-resistant depression, while Conway 2025 found mixed primary and secondary antidepressant results over 12 months. The score stays bounded because Vagus Nerve Stimulation evidence for mood can…
Snyder 2016 reports T Trials main paper, n=790; sexual-function benefit, some mood/depressive-symptom benefit, no primary vitality or walking-distance benefit. Zarrouf 2009 points in the same direction, but route, dose, baseline status, and…
The evidence shows a modest acute mood lift from hard aerobic intervals, with a meta-analysis reporting a small effect size (dabout 0.3) in healthy adults Poon 2024. Norwegian 4x4 training targets mood…
Lang 2024 supports direction more than certainty. The existing rationale points to this narrower claim: Moderate aerobic exercise improves depressive symptoms in many meta-analyses and is often easier to sustain than high-intensity…
Berk 2008 (n=75) found a meaningful MADRS advantage (mean difference -8.05, 95% CI -13.16 to -2.95), and a meta-analysis Fernandes 2016 pooled five trials (n=574) to a small significant SMD of 0.37.…
Jolliffe 2021 anchors the most relevant signal. Vitamin D3 + K2 fits mood when deficiency, bone risk, immune seasonality, or fat-soluble nutrient gaps are present. The score stays bounded because benefits are…
Nagano 2010 anchors the most relevant signal. Lion's Mane fits mood when the goal is gentle mushroom-based support for cognition, mood, nerve biology, or gut-immune signaling over weeks. The score stays bounded…
Alsanie et al. 2026 is the best anchor here because it reports 22 randomized trials, 1391 participants and improvements in stress, anxiety, and depression, with dose and duration effects and low-certainty limitations.…
Talbott 2013 supports the strongest part of the claim. The existing rationale points to this narrower claim: the cited study reported Profile of Mood States improvements in tension, anger, and confusion. the…
The intended Martiny 2010 depression paper supports a transcranial low-voltage PEMF signal in treatment-resistant depression, but the audit flagged the v0 PMID as wrong and the replacement PMID as only a candidate.…
Toniolo 2017 reports Augmentation; 67% vs 18% remission at 6 g/day. The score stays conditional because Creatine Monohydrate still needs better outcome data for this exact use case. The practical move is…
Mood support is indirect through stress reduction and stimulant smoothing. Moshfeghinia 2024 supports psychiatric-symptom improvement across limited mental-disorder trials, while monotherapy mood evidence remains modest. That makes L-Theanine more defensible when mood…
Dhillon 2024 reports 25-article systematic review; mixed preliminary clinical evidence, heterogeneity, and need for stronger trials. Zhou 2024 points in the same direction, but route, dose, baseline status, and outcome tracking decide…
Users widely report a reliable post-sauna mood lift, and the systematic review by Hussain 2018 found self-reported wellbeing benefits across pooled studies. The proposed pathways include endorphin and beta-endorphin release, the relaxation…
Mood support is moderate and indirect. Voznesenskaia 2010 reported quality-of-life improvements rather than formal mood-scale deltas in the n=728 cohort. The strongest depression-relevant data is animal-only: Tallerova 2011 outperformed imipramine on TNF-alpha…
Mood signal is strongest in older adults and stressed users, with small elderly data from Maggioni 1990 plus HPA-axis studies. This is population-specific mood support, not broad antidepressant evidence. The score stays…
Direct depression or anxiety trials are thin. Any mood effect likely comes through pain relief, movement confidence, circulation, and exercise-like stimulation rather than a primary mental-health mechanism. Recent Whole-Body Vibration reviews focus…
Zozulia 2008 reports Corrected key human anxiety comparator study; 62 patients, Selank versus medazepam; old v0.x anxiety identifier was unrelated. Medvedev 2014 points in the same direction, but route, dose, baseline status,…
Earthing for the mood use case rests on a handful of early studies that measured self-reported affect after a single grounding session. The pilot showed a statistically significant rise in positive affect,…
The evidence points to a plausible use case without proving a universal response. Appleton et al. 2021 is the best anchor here because it reports corrected PMID source and small-to-modest effect judged…
Rothenberg 2025 anchors the strongest signal. The existing rationale points to this narrower claim: Mood evidence remains historical and mixed. Older psychiatric exploration exists, but the safer modern interpretation is cautious because…
Semaglutide can improve metabolic health and body confidence in some users, while appetite and reward dampening can flatten mood in others. Wilding 2021 supports weight loss, but weight loss is not the…
The evidence points to a plausible use case without proving a universal response. Jung H et al. 2026 is the best anchor here because it reports systematic review and meta-analysis of 54…
Cold plunge for mood lift has the most consistent acute signal in the literature. Cain 2025 PLOS ONE meta-analysis (n=3,177 across 11 studies) found significant stress reduction at 12 hours post-exposure. Yankouskaya…
The evidence points to a plausible use case without proving a universal response. Chen X et al. 2026 is the best anchor here because it reports 41 randomized trials, 2,287 participants and…
Tirzepatide has been studied extensively for weight loss, but none of the nine randomized trials included a primary mood endpoint. Observational posts and patient forums describe neutral-to-positive changes in affect, yet these…
Zhang 2007 reports Mechanistic in vivo anxiety model supporting glycine receptor pathway. The score stays conditional because Taurine still needs better outcome data for this exact use case. The practical move is…
Harrison 2009 anchors the most relevant signal. Rapamycin fits mood when mTORC1 modulation, autophagy, immune aging, or senescence biology is the actual target. The score stays bounded because human longevity endpoints remain…
The evidence points to a plausible use case without proving a universal response. Leung GKW et al. 2025 is the best anchor here because it reports 33 randomized trials and 2821 individuals…
Mood effects are plausible through arousal or monoamine pathways but remain lightly replicated. The strongest support comes from Dinda B. et al. 2015, but the practical rating stays bounded by study size,…
Shahmirzadi 2020 is the cleanest verified anchor for this report. The existing rationale points to this narrower claim: No mood signal in the literature or community reports strong enough to separate Ca-AKG…
The Sarris 2009 KADSS trial enrolled people across an anxiety-depression spectrum and reported improvements in both anxiety and depressive symptoms, but the antidepressant signal is weaker and less replicated than the anxiolytic…
The evidence points to a plausible use case without proving a universal response. Zeng X et al. 2026 is the best anchor here because it reports 11 randomized trials and 1,511 participants…
Mood relevance is weak because tryptophan is counterbalanced by other LNAAs competing at transporters. No direct mood trial was verified.
Mood may improve when glycemic volatility improves in type 2 diabetes, but metformin has no direct mood indication. B12 depletion can work in the opposite direction if unmonitored.
Mood improvements appear as secondary outcomes in post-COVID, fibromyalgia, TBI, and PTSD-adjacent literature. Zilberman-Itskovich 2022 reports secondary mood gains within a sham-controlled long-COVID trial. Mood is not a primary established indication for…
Mood benefit is indirect via oxidative-inflammatory burden and fatigue reduction. No strong direct depression or anxiety RCT base.
Mood benefit is inferred from resistance-training effects, effortful movement, and self-efficacy. WB-EMS-specific mood RCTs are thin, so this remains indirect despite plausible exercise-mediated endorphin and confidence effects.
Acute hard exercise can lift mood, but maximal sprints are uncomfortable enough that the post-session lift is inconsistent. Most evidence is indirect through fitness rather than direct mood trials.
Overlaps with the depression signal but broader mood claims in healthy users are not supported. Community reports here are inconsistent.
Armstrong 2012 supports mood impairment from mild dehydration in healthy young women; correction is likely fastest when symptoms are dehydration-linked.
Fatigue, irritability, and low mood are documented symptoms of vitamin C deficiency that improve with repletion, and the brain's high vitamin C concentration supports a plausible role in neurotransmitter synthesis. Some small…
Polyphenol-rich diets associate with lower depression risk in cohorts, but this is confounded by overall diet quality and lacks direct class-level RCT support.
Dopaminergic and serotonergic system interactions in animal models. Human mood evidence is not established, so this remains an exploratory neurochemical score rather than a depression or anxiety treatment claim.
Plausible mood benefit via 5-HT1A activity and anxiety reduction, but no robust human depression or mood RCTs; the signal is indirect.
Acute alertness and mood elevation reported anecdotally; chronic use associated with anxiety, irritability, panic, and insomnia per Shekelle 2003 which showed 2.2-3.6x increased odds of psychiatric, autonomic, and GI symptoms. Not a…
Any mood lift is best interpreted as an exercise effect; direct BFR-specific mood trials are not established.
GHK-Cu has indirect anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective signals, but no direct antidepressant or mood RCT. Pickart 2012 supports a cognitive-health mechanism review, not mood efficacy.
Mood-lift reports exist, and BDNF mechanisms are relevant to mood biology, but Semax has no controlled human mood trial and should not be positioned as an antidepressant.
NAC has independent psychiatric data and glycine affects NMDA signaling, but the GlyNAC combination has no direct mood trial, so the case is indirect.
No direct mood, depression, or anxiety trials. Any benefit would be indirect through inflammation and is unproven.
Mood appeared only as a secondary observation in the human record, and a distinct minority of users report the opposite effect, a flattening of affect.
Rodent studies reported antidepressant-like and anxiolytic effects through serotonergic and BDNF signaling (Wang et al. 2018). Real but narrow behavioral data, animal-only.
Double-edged. Mild anxiolysis could support mood at low doses, but the community mood-blunting signal at 100+ mg or chronic daily use is a meaningful tradeoff. Amsterdam 2012 found exploratory antidepressant activity in…
No direct mood or depression RCT base; mechanistic links through inflammation are speculative for this compound.
Traditional adaptogenic use and community reports suggest better well-being in some users, but no RCT has tested mood endpoints directly.
Immune-mood links are real in general medicine, but thymosin alpha-1 has no direct depression, anxiety, or mood RCT. Use this as exploratory only.
Body-image and quality-of-life improvements appear in HIV lipodystrophy evidence, but tesamorelin is not a mood treatment. Mood benefit is most likely secondary to body composition, sleep, or metabolic improvements.
No direct mood RCT base for exogenous ketones. Any benefit is indirect via energy or focus.
Indirect via fatigue and stress pathways; no direct depression or anxiety RCT base for any of the three mushrooms.
Nothing matches those filters.
Monthly out-of-pocket cost at the most accessible legitimate channel, at the dose the score was given for. 26 of 68 are not priced yet; those cells are left blank rather than guessed.
| Intervention | Monthly cost | At dose | How you get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saffron | Not priced yet | ||
| Magnesium | $10–$20 | 200-400 mg glycinate elemental | Over the counter |
| HRV Biofeedback | $5 | 20 min/session at individual RF (4.5 to 6.5 bpm) | Over the counter |
| Infrared Sauna | $36–$73 | 55-60 degrees C, 20-30 min | Over the counter |
| Red Light Therapy | $17–$43 | 10-20 min at 6-12 inches, full chest/face/back rotation | Over the counter |
| Neurofeedback | Not priced yet | ||
| Glycine | $2–$3 | 3 g oral glycine | Over the counter |
| Vagus Nerve Stimulation | $4–$8 | 10-20 min auricular tVNS at comfortable perceptible intensity | Over the counter |
| TRT (Testosterone Replacement Therapy) | $50–$300 | Clinician-selected formulation at the lowest dose likely to restore physiologic testosterone | Prescription |
| Norwegian 4×4 | Not priced yet | Over the counter | |
| Zone 2 Cardio | Not priced yet | Over the counter | |
| NAC (N-Acetylcysteine) | $5–$15 | 600 to 1,200 mg/day | Over the counter |
| Vitamin D3 + K2 | Not priced yet | ||
| Lion’s Mane | $20–$40 | 3 g/day fruiting body extract | Over the counter |
| Ashwagandha | $15–$30 | 300 mg KSM-66 with breakfast and 300 mg with dinner | Over the counter |
| Tongkat Ali | $20–$40 | 200 mg/day Physta standardized extract | Over the counter |
| PEMF (Pulsed Electromagnetic Field Therapy) | $3–$117 | 20-30 min mat session | Over the counter |
| Creatine Monohydrate | Not priced yet | ||
| L-Theanine | $3–$8 | 200 mg L-theanine + 100 mg caffeine | Over the counter |
| Molecular Hydrogen | Not priced yet | ||
| Traditional Sauna (Finnish Dry-Heat) | $50 | 15 to 20 minutes at 80 to 100 C | Over the counter |
| Bromantane (Ladasten) | $12–$30 | 30 mg | Grey market |
| Phosphatidylserine | $20–$50 | 300 mg/day total, split as 100 mg three times daily or 300 mg once daily with food | Over the counter |
| Whole-Body Vibration | $50–$100 | 30 Hz, roughly 0.3g, 10-20 min standing | Over the counter |
| Selank | $30–$60 | 0.15% intranasal spray, roughly 1-3 sprays per nostril per day depending on actuation size | Grey market |
| Earthing | Not priced yet | Over the counter | |
| Omega-3 | $20–$40 | 1-2 g/day combined EPA+DHA | Over the counter |
| Methylene Blue | $13–$40 | 0.5-5 mg oral | Over the counter |
| Semaglutide | $199–$349 | 0.25 mg weeks 1 to 4, 0.5 mg weeks 5 to 8, 1.0 mg weeks 9 to 12, 1.7 mg weeks 13 to 16, 2.4 mg week 17 onward | Prescription |
| Modafinil | $18–$35 | 200 mg oral tablet | Prescription |
| Cold Plunge | Not priced yet | Over the counter | |
| Time-Restricted Eating | Not priced yet | ||
| Tirzepatide | $299–$449 | 2.5 to 5 to 7.5 to 10 to 12.5 to 15 mg | Prescription |
| Taurine | $3–$10 | 1-3 g, 30-60 minutes before sleep | Over the counter |
| Rapamycin | $15–$50 | 3 mg | Prescription |
| Ketogenic Diet | $100 | Standard keto, 40-50 g total carbohydrate/day | Over the counter |
| Sabroxy (Oroxylum indicum Extract) | Not priced yet | ||
| Ca-AKG (Calcium Alpha-Ketoglutarate) | $15–$30 | 1 g/day generic Ca-AKG oral | Over the counter |
| Kava (Piper methysticum) | Not priced yet | ||
| Celebrex (Celecoxib) | Not priced yet | ||
| Essential Amino Acids | Not priced yet | ||
| Metformin | $4–$30 | 500 mg with dinner for 1 week, then 500 mg twice daily for 1 week, then increase by 500 mg/week toward 1000 mg twice daily as tolerated | Prescription |
| Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy | $3,000–$6,000 | 2.0 ATA for 90 minutes with air breaks | In clinic |
| Astaxanthin | Not priced yet | ||
| Full-Body EMS | Not priced yet | ||
| Rucking (Weighted Walking) | Not priced yet | ||
| Sprinting (Sprint Interval Training) | Not priced yet | ||
| Curcumin | $15–$40 | 500 mg curcuminoids | Over the counter |
| Electrolytes | Not priced yet | ||
| Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid) | Not priced yet | ||
| Polyphenols (Dietary) | Not priced yet | ||
| BPC-157 | $40–$80 | 250 to 500 mcg SC 1 to 2x/day near injury site | Grey market |
| Full-Spectrum Hemp (CBD) | Not priced yet | ||
| Ephedrine | Not priced yet | ||
| Blood-Flow Restriction Training | Not priced yet | ||
| GHK-Cu | $30–$100 | 0.5-3% topical serum or cream | Over the counter |
| Semax | $12–$60 | 300-600 mcg/day of 0.1% spray | Grey market |
| GlyNAC (Glycine + N-Acetylcysteine) | $10–$30 | Glycine and NAC at ~100 mg/kg/day each | Over the counter |
| Ergothioneine | Not priced yet | ||
| Noopept (Omberacetam) | $5–$27 | 20 mg | Grey market |
| J-147 | Not priced yet | ||
| Apigenin | $15–$35 | 25-50 mg pure apigenin 30-60 min before bed | Over the counter |
| Spirulina | $10–$25 | 1 to 4.5 g/day | Over the counter |
| Shilajit | $25–$50 | 500 mg purified shilajit | Over the counter |
| Thymosin Alpha-1 | $100–$400 | 1.6 mg subcutaneous | Prescription |
| Tesamorelin | $250–$500 | 2 mg subcutaneous daily in the evening | Prescription |
| Exogenous Ketones | $38–$300 | Ester 10 to 25 g BHB | Over the counter |
| Adaptogenic Mushrooms (Reishi, Cordyceps, Chaga) | $15–$40 | 1.5 to 1.8 g/day standardized extract | Over the counter |
Head-to-head reports and category rankings that name a winner on this use case.
Ranked by the live Focus and cognition subrating, not the overall score. Methylene blue leads at 6.5–7.0/10 despite a lower overall, 6.0–6.5/10. Bromantane climbs from ninth to fourth.…
This page ranks by hormonal fit, not overall BioHarmony score. TRT leads at 9.0–9.5/10. Phosphatidylserine sits fifth at 5.5–6.0/10 despite the second highest overall score here, 7.0–7.5/10. That…
Semax scores 7.1/10 against noopept's 6.2/10 and wins five of the eight use cases both reports score. Noopept is oral, cheaper at $5 to $27 a month, and…
Melatonin, dosed low. It scores 7.5–8.0/10 against apigenin's 5.5–6.0/10 and wins the sleep rows outright. The morning hangover apigenin markets against comes from taking too much, not from…
Both score anxiety 7.5–8.0/10, so the tie-breaker is time. L-theanine works in about an hour and you take it when you need it. Ashwagandha takes eight weeks and…
Bromantane, for anything you plan to repeat. It scores 7.0–7.5/10 against phenylpiracetam's 5.5–6.0/10 and wins every shared use case that is not a floor tie: energy 6.2/10 to…
Neither, yet. Both have zero human trials, zero human pharmacokinetics and research-only access. PE-22-28 scores 4.5–5.0/10 and dihexa 4.0–4.5/10, and the gap is entirely safety: dihexa potentiates the…
Epitalon, if sleep is the question. It scores sleep quality 6.5–7.0/10 against pinealon's 1.5–2.0/10, because it acts on the pineal gland and melatonin output while pinealon is a…
Magnesium glycinate is magnesium bound to glycine, so if you take it you already take both. That kills the question for sleep. The real decision: magnesium scores higher…
The scores tie at 6.0–6.5/10 and 6.0–6.5/10 and every shared subrating sits within half a point, so the numbers decide nothing. Access and evidence decide it. Gonadorelin is…
Kisspeptin-10 scores 6.0–6.5/10 and TRT 5.5–6.0/10, and TRT still wins 13 of the 15 use cases both reports score. The higher number reflects dependency and reversibility, not effect.…
Lion's Mane scores 7.0–7.5/10 and the reishi, cordyceps and chaga blend category scores 5.0–5.5/10. If cognition is the goal, buy the one species: lion's mane takes cognition-focus 7.0/10…
Saffron, at 7.5–8.0 out of 10 for mood. The evidence points to a plausible use case without proving a universal response.
Of the top-scoring options, Glycine is the least expensive at about $2 a month, scoring 6.5–7.0 out of 10 for mood.
68 of the 132 interventions evaluated for mood score 3.0 out of 10 or better, which is the cut-off for appearing on this page.
