From Sleep Aids to Recovery Systems: Mood and Sleep Supplements Evolve

The average American has reached historically low sleep averages and experiences severe fatigue on a regular basis.

In a 2026 U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Health Statistics Report, 16.6% of American adults said they experience severe fatigue most days or every day, and 71% have severe fatigue that interferes with normal function some days.

Gallup reported in 2024 that the average American sleeps only 6.5 hours per night, the lowest amount it ever recorded. More than half (57%) of poll respondents said they would feel better if they got more sleep — also a record high. Moreover, the percentage of U.S. adults who anticipate high-quality lives in five years declined to 59.2%, the lowest level reported. Economic stress is a major factor, as 55% of Americans reported hardship maintaining their standard of living as a result of price increases.

The American Psychological Association’s (APA) 2025 Stress in America survey noted that societal division, conflict, and loneliness are also leading causes of stress. Half or more of Americans are feeling isolated from others (54%), left out (50%), and lacking companionship (50%). Further, 83% of those reporting stress from societal division have at least one physical symptom, such as nervousness or anxiousness (42%), fatigue (40%), and headaches (39%).

Most American adults (54%) told APA that job insecurity was significantly impacting their stress. And during the previous workday, 50% of U.S. employees told Gallup they experienced a lot of stress, up from 42% in 2010-2016.

NIQ found in a 2025 survey that 63% of consumers reported they prioritize their sleep and mental health more than five years ago, and are planning to do more stress management activities like spending time in nature (60%), massage and muscle relaxation (40%), yoga and meditation (35%), and aromatherapy (24%).

According to a survey commissioned by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, 48% of Americans utilize a sleep tracking device today. However, many experience a paradoxical relationship with their wearables; among the 56% of adults who tracked their sleep with consumer-grade sleep technology, 12% reported sleep-related worry, and 17% said they didn’t trust the data, exacerbating the issue.

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A Transforming Sleep Supplements Market

Rahul Roy, director of vitamin and specialty retail at SPINS, said melatonin is still a big part of the sleep supplements category, but innovation is focused on ingredients that achieve more than sedation, like magnesium (+33.5% sales growth in the past year), L-theanine (+23.7%), and GABA (+13.2%). New product launches are centered around stress-sleep connections in response to emerging ingredient R&D and consumer interest, he said.

The sleep-supplements segment SPINS tracks grew 5.4% to reach $1.35 billion in the past year, while mood support products grew 2% to reach $908.6 million. “There’s another interesting dynamic beneath that topline as well. Sleep dollars are up 5.4% but units are essentially flat, down 0.1%, with an average retail price up 5.5%. Mood support is still growing +2.0% but that follows +30.3% growth the prior year, so there has been a pretty significant normalization in that part of the market.”

According to Roy, this year’s rising star ingredient is saffron. In products SPINS tracks, “It is still relatively small at $45.3 million, but sales have more than doubled over the past year, up 106%, with a 201% 2-year CAGR.”

The biggest draw for supplements, compared to other stress and sleep management strategies, is that “they’re accessible, relatively easy to incorporate into daily routines, and can complement those lifestyle changes.”

A Euromonitor survey of more than 3,000 adults fielded in February found the most common stress management routines were “exercise or physical activity (31%), followed by resting or avoiding activity (27%), consulting a healthcare provider (21%), and taking vitamins or supplements (17%),” said Sonali Jagadev, research analyst at Euromonitor.

In a survey of over 500 U.S. consumers by Knit, 33.5% said sleep was the most difficult health challenge they needed to address and 45% want better solutions, followed by stress (32%), with 38% looking for better solutions, indicating that they feel underserved by today’s market.

When consumers were shown three hypothetical products at the same price point, they found a melatonin-free sleep gummy most appealing: 80% found it appealing, 65% signaled intent to purchase, and 72% considered the product credible. “People are looking for better [sleep and stress] solutions, and no product or brand has fully earned their confidence,” Knit reported. 

Instead of framing mood support and sleep supplements as quick fixes, “we are seeing sleep stacks or sleep hygiene protocols that promote mental relaxation, nutrition recommendations, and behavior change as a package deal,” said Jenna Stangland, advisor at Momentous.

“The market is recognizing that sleep, stress, mood, and physical comfort are all part of one connected system,” said Steve Fink, vice president of marketing at PLT Health Solutions. “It makes less and less sense to formulate as if each outcome exists in isolation … We’re increasingly thinking about the full day-night cycle and all the different things that can disrupt it.”

PLT now designs studies on its mood- and sleep-supportive ingredients to evaluate both daytime measures of mood, emotional resilience, energy, and sleep quality. “That’s where the category is going: toward ingredients and formulations that address a cause of poor sleep and show benefits across the entire sleep experience,” Fink said. 

The market is moving toward a “holistic, mind-body perspective that emphasizes the reciprocal relationship” between stress, physical comfort, relaxation, and sleep quality, said Maggie McNamara, vice president of global marketing at Saanroo.

Older consumers were once the primary consumers of stress and sleep support products, but that’s shifted substantially, Jagadev noted. In a 2026 survey by Euromonitor, 71% of Gen Z respondents said that stress and anxiety have either a moderate or severe impact on their daily lives. She also noted that claims are moving past generic language like “helps you sleep” or “reduces stress,” in favor of claims like “supports restful and restorative sleep,” “promotes calm and relaxation,” “supports mood and emotional well-being,” “supports focus and cognitive performance the next day,” and more.

“We can think of at least five opportunities” to be more targeted in sleep formulations, said Michael Anthonovage, vice president of product development and innovation at Vitaquest. These include: pre-sleep decompression; sleep initiation; sleep maintenance; restorative sleep; and next-day performance.

“That type of evidence allows the industry to make much more precise formulation and substantiation decisions,” he said. Accordingly, there are specific metrics required to support outcomes often misconceived as interchangeable, including perceived stress (Perceived Stress Scale and related measures); mood/affect (PANAS, POMS, and other mood inventories); sleep-related symptoms (ISI and PSQI); sleep physiology (latency, total time, wake after sleep onset, efficiency); and next-day effects.

The Biology of Sleep & Stress

Human physiology, and understanding biological mechanisms by which natural products can support sleep and stress, is becoming more heavily emphasized in R&D.

“There is growing interest in the HPA-axis (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal) regulation, GABA/glutamate balance, circadian biology, autonomic nervous system activity, inflammatory signaling, and the microbiota-gut-brain axis rather than focusing exclusively on melatonin signaling,” said Anthonovage.

“Stress, mood, and sleep are not isolated conditions but parts of a continuous, self-reinforcing cycle,” said Shaheen Majeed, global CEO and managing director of Sabinsa. “For most people with sleep complaints, the underlying driver is stress, elevated cortisol, or an overactivated nervous system that cannot down-regulate at night. Rather than focusing only on sedation, researchers are rigorously examining the HPA axis. Cortisol levels follow a natural rhythm … When chronic stress disrupts that rhythm, elevated evening cortisol prevents the neurological shift toward sleep.”

Sleep architecture measures generating intrigue beyond sleep onset include pathways that extend slow-wave sleep, preservation of REM architecture, and serotonergic and dopaminergic pathways that offer an alternative to suppressing central nervous system activity, said McNamara.

Similarly, endocannabinoid system modulation is being examined, expanding beyond CBD to minor cannabinoids and endogenous fatty acids like PEA, “which downregulate inflammation and hyperarousal without inducing next-day cognitive fog or receptor desensitization,” McNamara noted. While these mechanisms are long associated strictly with physical comfort, new research shows links to sleep quality, too.

The endocannabinoid system’s role in managing nighttime aches and pains is under-recognized overall, Fink concurred. “I think that’s an important model for the future. We shouldn’t evaluate sleep ingredients simply by asking whether they make people sleepy. We should ask whether they remove a specific barrier to sleep and help people wake up feeling better.”

Looking at the full night of sleep has given rise to sustained-release melatonin formats, noted Lauren Clardy, senior director of scientific affairs at Maypro, which offers MicroActive sustained-release melatonin to disperse over a 7-hour window. “Research on prolonged-release melatonin has demonstrated improvements in sleep onset, sleep quality, and morning alertness … The delivery profile can be just as important as the ingredient itself.”

“Traditional melatonin approaches create a sharp spike followed by a rapid decline, opposite to natural overnight patterns,” said Rajat Shah, co-founder of Nutriventia. “This pharmacokinetic mismatch explains why immediate-release melatonin helps some people fall asleep but often fails to prevent middle-of-the-night awakenings.”

Another proposed pathway that Clardy pointed to for stress management is endogenous production of heat shock proteins (HSP). “It offers a different way of thinking about sleep: addressing physiological stress further upstream rather than focusing only on what happens  at bedtime.”

“We’re seeing more interest in pathways involved in GABAergic signaling, adenosine and sleep pressure, neurotransmitter balance, and physiological effects of hyperarousal,” said Stangland. “There’s growing interest in compounds like L-theanine, glycine, magnesium, and botanicals that may influence these pathways rather than acting as a traditional sleep-inducing agent.”

L-theanine is still underappreciated, she said. “It may support a more relaxed state without necessarily impairing daytime function. A 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis of 19 randomized trials found improvements in subjective sleep onset, daytime dysfunction, and overall sleep quality,” without morning fatigue.

The feedback loop between stress and poor sleep creates cognitive dysfunction during the day, so the category is increasingly looking at BDNF, a growth factor long siloed in cognitive research, Majeed noted. “The role of BDNF in neuronal repair, synaptic plasticity, and the brain’s ability to recover from the cumulative burden of chronic stress and sleep disruption is only now receiving serious attention.” While the association is “coherent and clinically supported,” the marketing needs to catch up, he added, noting this biomarker can also be key to regulatory defensibility of structure-function claims related to stress. 

Pairing validated, endpoint-specific questionnaires with objective sleep metric data is becoming a standard for the category, said Nora Khaldi, PhD, founder and CEO of Nuritas, noting that a pilot trial on the company’s PeptiSleep incorporated questionnaires on global sleep domains, anxiety measures, and sleep tracker data. “Cross-referencing the two is what separates a credible, defensible endpoint from a marketing number.”

Clardy noted unique stress and sleep challenges faced by women. “Hormonal transitions can have an enormous impact on sleep, mood, stress, and overall well-being. Perimenopause and menopause are obvious examples, but we need to think more broadly about how women’s needs change across the lifespan,” rather than keeping “sleep” and “women’s health” in separate silos. “To me, that is what the mind-body approach really means: understanding what is driving the sleep concern rather than treating sleep as an isolated endpoint.”

Cortisol

Cortisol “is the output of the same neuroendocrine axis that governs the mind’s stress and mood response as well as the body’s sleep-wake cycle, making it a true mind-body target,” said Khaldi. Cortisol inhibits or regulates the HPA axis, impacting both mood and sleep architecture; and ongoing sleep deprivation creates the feedback loop.

“It’s critical to rebalance the counter-regulatory hormones that govern diurnal rhythm itself, not just sedate you for one night,” she said. Paired with good sleep hygiene, resetting this underlying system can lead to long-term changes and offers an alternative to sedating the central nervous system. “That’s a meaningfully different safety and mechanism story, but most formulators and consumers haven’t quite caught up to it yet.” 

Products that manage cortisol differ profoundly from typical sleep and stress products that rely on more sedative qualities. “Acute relaxation, a single-dose subjective state change, is fundamentally different from chronic stress resilience,” said Shah. “A person can sleep 9 hours but spend most of that time in fragmented, non-restorative stages. Reducing perceived anxiety in questionnaires is different from normalizing the endocrine system.”

Recent product launches centered on cortisol balance include Cavu’s Cortisol Support, a dietary supplement featuring ThymoQuin USP-grade black seed oil, which has been shown to modulate the gut-immune axis to influence cortisol regulation.

KA-EX Cortisol Stress Reducer is a Swiss-product that contains phosphatidylserine, L-tryptophan, amino acids for muscle repair, electrolytes, and a variety of vitamins and bioactives. The brand recently entered the U.S. market and reported that clinical studies have demonstrated 36% faster normalization of blood cortisol levels and improvements in recovery measures, including REM sleep, heart rate variability, and subjective energy and mood. 

Midi Health’s Daily Cortisol Support features magnesium, L-theanine, KSM-66 Ashwagandha, phosphatidylserine, and magnolia bark. The product specifically targets women aged 40 and older, honing in on broader midlife hormonal changes.

Gut Feelings

The gut-brain axis offers formulators novel pathways that traditional sleep support ingredients and sedating agents don’t act on, noted Majeed. The microbiome regulates neurotransmitter production, inflammatory signaling, and stress response; a balanced microbiome can improve the overall neurochemical environment, he said. “Communication between the gut and the brain occurs via the vagus nerve, the immune system, short-chain fatty acids, tryptophan metabolism, and direct neurotransmitter production by gut bacteria,” Majeed said. “General claims that probiotics support mood or cognition are insufficient,” as research is strain-, dose-, and population-specific.

Overall, multi-system formulas that combine validated probiotics with adaptogens and potential cognitive support add-ons are trending, he said, and formulas that don’t take a systems biology approach are “becoming obsolete.” Because probiotics take weeks to significantly impact validated mood scales, biomarkers, or sleep outcomes, consumer education is a challenge, he noted.

The connection between stress and gut dysfunction is bidirectional. “GABA is synthesized in the gut. Serotonin precursor availability depends on specific bacterial species and nutrient status,” said Shah. “When stress chronically elevates cortisol, it directly damages the intestinal epithelium, suppresses beneficial bacteria, and reduces neurotransmitter precursor synthesis. This impaired gut function feeds back into worsening stress, sleep, and mood.”

“Dysbiosis is often the consequence, not the primary cause,” she added. “Probiotic supplementation has limited impact if the environment promoting dysbiosis remains unchanged,” so while typical adaptogens aren’t marketed as gut-brain solutions, their effects on stress, sleep, and mood can help to restore gut health measures. 

Compared to mood, the evidence of sleep being significantly influenced by the microbiome, inflammation, and the HPA axis is still emerging, “so I think this is an area to watch rather than overstate,” said Stangland. “But it represents a much broader view of sleep as a whole-body physiological process. We’re increasingly interested in microbial metabolites such as short-chain fatty acids, neuroactive compounds, and their potential influence on inflammation, stress signaling, and neurotransmitter pathways.”

Precision in microbiome composition, diet, symptoms, and metabolomics will identify responder populations, dramatically transforming this segment, she added. “I don’t think that means every consumer will have a personalized supplement pack based on a microbiome test, but I expect the industry to become much more sophisticated about identifying the right ingredient, dose, and combination for the right person and the right outcome.”

Postbiotics and ingredients with well-characterized microbial metabolites will be particularly attractive for their stability and consistency advantages, said Anthonovage. “The future of gut-brain products will therefore be less about generic probiotic inclusion and more about clinically characterized strains, defined metabolites, targeted consumer phenotypes, and stronger human substantiation.”

There’s no question about the microbiome’s influence over mood and sleep. “The commercial question is which strain or postbiotic, in which population, at what dose, for which measurable outcome,” he added.

More botanicals are shown to have significant effects on the microbiome, in turn unlocking gut-mediated pathways linked to stress management, noted Sébastien Bornet, vice president of global sales and marketing at Horphag Research. The company’s French oak extract Robuvit has been shown to have effects on mood, stress, and fatigue-related symptoms, with the proposed mechanism of action being related to metabolites derived from the ingredient’s roburins and flavonoids, which upregulate the production of urolithin A and B. These two endogenous compounds boost the body’s protein production and mitochondrial rejuvenation, contributing to cellular energy.

While mushrooms are better known for cognition, Brian Zapp, marketing director at Applied Food Sciences (AFS), noted that their gut effects can also support stress and mood. “We are beginning to connect specific microbial changes with cognitive and emotional outcomes … Butyrate is a postbiotic signaling molecule that helps connect the gut environment to the other body systems involved in focus, mood, and emotional well-being,” helping brands create a stress support product with a more holistic narrative. “Consumers [are becoming] more familiar with the idea that brain health does not start and stop in the brain.”

The industry still paints the mushroom category with a broad brush, without proper appreciation of inter-species differences, Zapp noted. “Lion’s mane is associated with memory and focus, while reishi has a very different role for sleep. Over the next several years, I think we will move away from generic ‘mushroom blends’ and toward more purposeful, species-specific formulations built around a defined consumer state.”

Some ingredients and products tapping into the gut-brain-stress relationship include Designs for Health’s NeuroCalm Peptide, launched earlier this year, which features the stress-modulating peptide Lactium and a postbiotic version of the commensal L. gasseri CP2305, designed to promote emotional balance, healthy digestion, cortisol regulation, and restorative sleep.

Olly’s Precise Probiotics with Stress Support offers digestive and immune supportive probiotics along with Bifidobacterium longum 1714, clinically studied for its role in supporting normal cortisol and energy levels. 

Verb Biotics’ GABA Probiotic LP815 has been shown in a randomized human clinical study to improve sleep quality, reduce stress, and boost production of GABA in 138 participants.

Magnesium Spotlight

Magnesium sales have been trending up since at least 2024, when SPINS reported substantial year-over-year growth rates for products containing magnesium citrate (+26.4%), magnesium glycinate (+124.9%), and magnesium L-threonate (+49.3%).

In the past year, magnesium products tracked by SPINS grew 33.5% overall to $1.96 billion (a 32.4% 2-year CAGR). A surprising amount of that growth is made up of single-ingredient magnesium products, according to Roy. “Shoppers are also getting much more specific about the form. Magnesium glycinate has become heavily associated with relaxation and sleep, while forms like L-threonate are starting to connect brain and cognitive health.”

“This trend wasn’t pure hype,” said Khaldi. “The calming effects of magnesium via GABA-A and NMDA receptor modulation have real mechanistic backing and clinical trials. Creators, including dietitians on TikTok, leaned into that credibility, which likely helped magnesium grow as a sleep support supplement … It’s worth noting that magnesium is inexpensive and easy to source,” making it a reliable foundational ingredient brands build on, pairing it with newer, more targeted solutions.

Because magnesium contributes to neurobiology, muscle relaxation, and stress physiology, it fits neatly into holistic narratives. “It plays a role in neural signaling and is involved in hundreds of physiological processes, so there is a rationale,” Stangland noted, though evidence is mixed in various sleep or anxiety related outcomes. “I view magnesium as a promising and biologically plausible tool within a broader sleep-support strategy, rather than a proven sleep aid.”

“It’s familiar, affordable, easy for consumers to understand, and strongly associated with relaxation, muscle function, and nervous system support,” noted Fink. While it’s essential and physiologically important, however, its effects on sleep aren’t consistent for everyone.

The industry is realizing that magnesium isn’t just a “checkbox” ingredient, said Shah. Optimizing dose, form, and delivery mechanism matters. “When combined with ingredients addressing distinct mechanistic pathways, it becomes part of a genuinely effective system … Smart formulators now focus on addressing root causes through integrated solutions rather than including magnesium as expected.”

“I think we need to be careful not to position magnesium as though it is simply another sleep-inducing ingredient,” said Clardy. “Its role is broader, and the evidence can depend on the population, magnesium status, form, dose, and endpoint being measured. An increasingly important part of the magnesium conversation is, therefore, delivery.”

Overall, research suggests that the strongest responses to magnesium supplementation related to sleep quality are in those with low status at baseline. “That may be where the magnesium story becomes compelling,” said Anthonovage, rather than assuming everyone will respond equally.

Future Projections

Looking forward, Fink said the biggest market change will be “a move away from generic sleep aids toward driver-based, consumer-specific sleep systems.” Melatonin will lose its prominence outside of low doses on an as-needed basis, with “formulations built around complementary mechanisms instead of long ingredient lists,” he projected.

“Sleep and mood support will become more integrated and mechanism-driven,” Majeed said, covering a full-day cycle and displacing products that only address the hour before bedtime. “As testing becomes more accessible and formulations more sophisticated, consumers will expect solutions that reflect their specific biological profile rather than a one-size-fits-all sedating product.”

While wearable, consumer-grade tech isn’t a substitute for a clinical sleep study, “consumers are much more aware of sleep quality and patterns, not simply hours spent in bed. That awareness will increasingly influence both product development and clinical research,” said Clardy.

She also noted greater personalization and segmentation. “The category will move toward more personalized solutions based on who the consumer is, what is disrupting sleep, and what their own sleep patterns are telling them.”

“A supplement that helps someone feel more relaxed is not necessarily improving their sleep architecture, and a product that improves subjective sleep quality may not necessarily address anxiety or low mood,” noted Stangland. “The opportunity is to develop products around the physiological need and desired outcome, rather than treating all mind-body concerns as interchangeable.”

Over the next 3-5 years, Anthonovage said he expects several fundamental changes. “Sleep products will become less melatonin-centric; formulas will target specific sleep phenotypes rather than generic sleep support; day/night systems addressing resilience and nighttime restoration will grow; clinical substantiation will combine validated questionnaires with objective sleep measurements; gut-brain, psychobiotic, and postbiotic approaches will become more sophisticated and strain-specific; and next-day performance will become almost as important as the number of hours slept.”