Onnit New Mood Review (2026): Two Serotonin Precursors, No Melatonin
Quick answer: New Mood is a capsule sleep-and-stress supplement from Onnit, the supplement brand Unilever acquired in 2021. Two capsules provide 150mg 5-HTP, 400mg L-tryptophan, 40mg magnesium, 20mg vitamin B6, 30mg niacin, 25mcg (1,000 IU) vitamin D3, and a 450mg “Tranquility Blend” of valerian root, chamomile, lemon balm and jujube seed extracts with no individual amounts disclosed. It costs $29.95 for a 15-serving bottle or $59.90 for 30 servings at the time of writing, with a 15% subscription discount and a “Keep It” money-back guarantee that lets you keep the product and still get refunded. There is no FDA warning letter or class action against New Mood itself, though Onnit’s Alpha Brain has faced advertising lawsuits. The formula combines 5-HTP with L-tryptophan, both serotonin precursors, so it is not a fit for anyone on antidepressants.
Onnit built its name on Alpha Brain, the nootropic Joe Rogan has promoted for years, and New Mood is its evening counterpart, pitched at stress and sleep rather than focus. Search “Onnit New Mood review” and the results are mostly small supplement blogs and retailer listings rather than a single dominant authority, so it is easy to end up reading marketing copy dressed up as a review. This page goes through the label, checks each ingredient’s dose against the research, and lays out the real price and guarantee terms. We have not tested this product ourselves; everything below comes from the sources linked in the text.
What New Mood is, and who makes it
New Mood is sold by Onnit Labs, the Austin, Texas supplement and fitness brand founded by Aubrey Marcus in 2010. Unilever announced its acquisition of Onnit in April 2021, so the company now sits inside a large consumer-goods parent rather than operating as an independent supplement startup. Onnit markets New Mood as a “Daily Stress Support” formula aimed at mood, relaxation and sleep onset, not strictly as a sleep aid, which is worth knowing going in.
It is a dietary supplement, not a drug, so it has not been evaluated by the FDA for insomnia or anxiety. The label serving is two capsules, taken in the evening, with a stated daily maximum of six capsules.
The full formula, with doses
These are the amounts per two-capsule serving, as reported from Onnit’s own product listing at the time of writing:
| Ingredient | Per serving | Evidence at this dose |
|---|---|---|
| Vitamin D3 | 25mcg (1,000 IU) | Reasonable for a common shortfall; not a sleep ingredient |
| Niacin (B3) | 30mg | Not a sleep ingredient; standard supplement dose |
| Vitamin B6 | 20mg | Well above the RDA; supports tryptophan/serotonin conversion |
| Magnesium | 40mg | Weak; a modest fraction of a useful sleep dose |
| Onnit Tranquility Blend® (valerian root, chamomile, lemon balm, jujube seed) | 450mg total, undisclosed split | Mixed to weak; cannot be compared to trial doses |
| L-Tryptophan | 400mg | Moderate overall; below the dose used in trials |
| 5-HTP | 150mg | Promising but limited; serious interaction risk |
Two things worth flagging before the evidence. First, the Tranquility Blend is a proprietary blend: Onnit discloses the 450mg total and the four botanicals inside it, but not how much of each. Second, New Mood stacks two serotonin precursors, L-tryptophan and 5-HTP, in the same serving. Individually each carries an interaction warning; together the caution applies twice over.
Ingredient by ingredient: what the research supports
5-HTP, 150mg: promising for mood, unclear alone for sleep, real interaction risk
5-HTP raises serotonin, the precursor your body uses to make melatonin. The evidence for mood is the more solid side: a trial comparing it with the antidepressant fluvoxamine found 5-HTP performed comparably, though researchers describe the evidence as promising rather than definitive. For sleep specifically, the evidence is thinner and mostly comes from multi-ingredient formulas rather than 5-HTP alone, which makes it hard to credit 5-HTP by itself for any effect New Mood has on sleep onset. The dose New Mood uses, 150mg, sits below the 300–500mg range typically used in trials. The bigger issue is safety: combining 5-HTP with an SSRI is described as potentially lethal because of serotonin syndrome risk, and documented cases of supplement-drug-interaction serotonin syndrome exist in the medical literature, including a case report progressing to compartment syndrome.
L-Tryptophan, 400mg: real research, dose below the useful range
Tryptophan is the amino acid your body converts to serotonin and then melatonin. A 2022 meta-analysis in Nutrition Reviews found supplementation reduced time awake after sleep onset, with benefits seen at doses of roughly a gram or more. New Mood’s 400mg is well under that. Like 5-HTP, tryptophan is a serotonin precursor, so it carries the same antidepressant-interaction caution.
Onnit Tranquility Blend (valerian, chamomile, lemon balm, jujube), 450mg total: mixed, and impossible to dose-check
Valerian is the most-studied sleep herb and still one of the least conclusive. NCCIH states plainly that “the evidence on whether valerian is helpful for sleep problems is inconsistent,” and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine’s 2017 guidelines recommended against using it for chronic insomnia. Chamomile has somewhat better support: a 2024 meta-analysis found modest improvements in self-reported sleep quality, and a small trial in older adults found similar results. Lemon balm’s standalone sleep evidence is weaker and mostly studied in combination with valerian rather than alone. Because Onnit does not publish the split within the 450mg blend, there is no way to know whether any single botanical is present at a dose that matches its trials.
Magnesium, 40mg: weak at this dose
Magnesium is worth correcting if your diet runs short, but the sleep evidence overall is thin and mixed, with reviews describing the quality of available trials as low. At 40mg, New Mood’s dose is a small fraction of what most sleep-focused trials and typical supplemental doses use (magnesium glycinate products aimed at sleep commonly run 100–400mg), so this is more of a nutritional top-up than an active sleep ingredient here.
Vitamin B6, D3 and niacin: supporting nutrients, not sleep actives
B6 (20mg) is well above the adult RDA of roughly 1.3–1.7mg and supports the enzymatic conversion of tryptophan to serotonin, so its inclusion makes biochemical sense alongside the two serotonin precursors, though it will not independently make you sleepy. Vitamin D3 and niacin address common nutritional gaps rather than acting on sleep directly.
Our read on the formula: New Mood leans on two serotonin precursors rather than melatonin, which is a real difference from most sleep supplements, including YU Sleep. That approach has genuine research behind it for mood and, more weakly, for sleep, but it also means the single biggest thing to check before buying is what else you take, because the interaction risk here is doubled up rather than single.
Price and guarantee, at the time of writing
Onnit’s New Mood listing shows two sizes: a 15-serving bottle at $29.95 and a 30-serving bottle at $59.90, both for one-time purchase. Onnit also offers a subscription option, described by third-party retailers as a 15% discount with delivery intervals customers can choose. Because we could not independently load Onnit’s own checkout page to confirm the current subscription terms, treat the discount figure as reported rather than verified against the live cart.
Onnit’s guarantee is marketed as the “Keep It” money-back guarantee: if you are not satisfied, you contact the company for a refund and are not required to ship the product back. That is a genuinely unusual and buyer-friendly structure compared with most sleep supplements, including Relaxium and YU Sleep, both of which require an unopened return.
Complaints and red flags, from the public record
No FDA letter or class action found against New Mood itself
We found no FDA warning letter and no class action naming New Mood specifically. Onnit’s other flagship product, Alpha Brain, is a different matter: in 2025, plaintiffs filed a class action alleging Alpha Brain’s cognitive-enhancement claims were not supported by evidence. That case concerns a different product’s marketing, not New Mood’s formula or safety, and as of this writing it is an allegation that has not been resolved by a court. We mention it only because it speaks to how the same company has marketed its flagship supplement, not because it says anything about New Mood directly.
Ownership change worth knowing about
Onnit is no longer an independent founder-led brand; it has operated under Unilever ownership since 2021. That does not tell you anything about formula quality one way or the other, but it is a relevant fact if part of your decision rests on buying from a small, independent supplement company.
How to read all of this: New Mood does not carry the kind of complaint record, FDA letter or class action history that some heavily-advertised sleep supplements do. The bigger practical issue is the undisclosed botanical blend and the doubled-up serotonin-precursor interaction risk, not the company’s track record.
Who it might suit, and who should skip it
Might suit you if you…
- Want to avoid melatonin entirely and try a different mechanism
- Take no antidepressant or serotonergic medication
- Like the idea of a no-return-required refund policy
Skip it if you…
- Take an SSRI, SNRI, MAOI, triptan or tramadol (both the 5-HTP and the L-tryptophan)
- Are pregnant or breastfeeding
- Drink alcohol at night or take other sedatives (the valerian in the blend adds to them)
- Want a fully disclosed label with no proprietary blends
Safety notes. 5-HTP and L-tryptophan both raise serotonin, so combining either with SSRIs, SNRIs, MAOIs, triptans, tramadol or St John’s Wort raises the risk of serotonin syndrome; ask your prescriber before combining them. Valerian may add to the effect of alcohol and other sedatives. Do not drive or operate machinery after taking any sedating supplement, and see a doctor if poor sleep has lasted more than a few weeks or you snore heavily or stop breathing at night.
What we’d look at instead
If your main problem is a racing mind at bedtime rather than daytime stress, YU Sleep is the product we would compare New Mood against, and the one we would try first for reasons we set out in why we recommend it first. It is a sublingual liquid, and its formula is red tart cherry, 5-HTP, vitamins B6 and B2, magnesium glycinate, apigenin, lemon balm, L-theanine, GABA and melatonin at 0.9mg. It contains no valerian root, ashwagandha or passionflower.
Where the comparison is fair:
- Full formula split. YU Sleep does not use a proprietary blend for its botanicals; New Mood’s 450mg Tranquility Blend hides the valerian, chamomile, lemon balm and jujube split entirely.
- Melatonin. If stacked serotonin precursors with no melatonin haven’t worked for you, YU Sleep’s low 0.9mg melatonin dose is a genuinely different mechanism to try, alongside its own 5-HTP.
- Guarantee. Onnit’s no-return-required “Keep It” guarantee is arguably more convenient than YU Sleep’s standard 60-day money-back policy, which is worth a plain callout rather than glossing over.
Where it is not a clean win, and we want to be plain about it:
- Price. New Mood is far cheaper to try: $29.95 to $59.90 a bottle against YU Sleep’s $138 for two months, $177 for three months (the pack we would pick), or $294 for six, with no single-bottle option. If budget is the deciding factor, New Mood is the cheaper way to test whether a non-melatonin approach helps you at all.
- The serotonin issue, doubled. New Mood combines 5-HTP and L-tryptophan; YU Sleep contains 5-HTP alone. Anyone on antidepressants should not take either product without medical clearance, but New Mood’s stacked precursors make the caution more pressing, not less.
- Purpose. New Mood is marketed primarily for stress and mood, with sleep as a secondary benefit. If sleep onset is your specific problem, that positioning alone is a reason to look at a product built around it first.
And if you are simply magnesium-deficient or mildly stressed rather than dealing with real insomnia, a plain magnesium glycinate supplement at a proper dose may do as much as either product, for less money.
Want a fully disclosed formula instead?
YU Sleep: 0.9mg melatonin plus 5-HTP in a sublingual liquid, 60-day money-back guarantee. $138 for two months, $177 for three, $294 for six. It is a long sales page, and the pricing block is about two-thirds of the way down.
See today’s price — from $138 →Prices at the time of writing, set by the seller and subject to change.
Frequently asked questions
Is Onnit New Mood good for sleep?
It may help some people relax before bed, mainly through the 5-HTP and L-tryptophan, but it is marketed primarily for stress and mood rather than as a dedicated sleep aid, and it contains no melatonin. The doses of its calming botanicals (valerian, chamomile, lemon balm) are hidden inside an undisclosed 450mg blend, which makes them hard to evaluate.
What is in Onnit’s Tranquility Blend?
Onnit discloses that the 450mg blend contains valerian root, chamomile, lemon balm and jujube seed extracts, but does not publish how much of each ingredient is in the total. That makes it a proprietary blend in the same sense as Relaxium’s Valerest, just with the ingredient list disclosed rather than hidden entirely.
Can I take New Mood with antidepressants?
Ask your prescriber first. New Mood contains both 5-HTP and L-tryptophan, two serotonin precursors, and combining serotonergic supplements with SSRIs, SNRIs, MAOIs, triptans or tramadol raises the risk of serotonin syndrome. The same caution applies to YU Sleep, which contains 5-HTP.
How does Onnit’s refund guarantee work?
Onnit markets a “Keep It” guarantee: if you are not satisfied, you contact the company for a refund without being required to send the product back, which is more convenient than the return-the-bottle policies most sleep supplements use.
Disclosure: Sleep Align is reader-supported. The YU Sleep link above is an affiliate link, so we may earn a commission if you buy through it, at no extra cost to you. We have no affiliate relationship with Onnit. We have not tested this product ourselves; this review is based on published product information and the sources linked above. Prices and terms are as published at the time of writing and can change. This is general information, not medical advice.