Best rhodiola supplement

We checked seven brain supplements and seven single capsules that contain rhodiola, and these five findings matter most if you're buying.

• No product names SHR-5

  Every placebo-controlled trial in this guide used one extract, SHR-5.¹²³⁴ None of the 14 products on this page names it. Seven print the 3% rosavins and 1% salidroside standardization instead, the same type of extract, and that's what we check them against. Three quarters of Double Wood's capsule is an extract standardized to salidroside alone.¹⁵

• Two stacks use a different ingredient

  Thesis Motivation and Thesis Stress Reset use fermented salidrosides, at 60 mg and 30 mg. None of the trials tested that.

• Two stacks give under a third of the studied floor

  Mind Lab Pro and Hunter Focus give 50 mg of rhodiola, against the 170 mg we check for, and Hunter Focus doesn't print a standardization.

• We check labels against 170 mg, not 100 mg

  The 100 mg pilot found better physical fitness, mental fatigue and motor-test scores than placebo, but no change on a proofreading or tapping test. Its authors called the dose probably too low, and the dose itself is uncertain. So we check against 170 mg, the dose that improved a fatigue score in physicians on night duty.²⁷¹

• The second branded extract has no placebo trial

  The studies of WS 1375 had no placebo group, so their results can't be separated from expectation.⁵⁶

Nootropics Depot's capsule gives 500 mg of the SHR-5-type extract, past the 170 mg floor in one capsule, with a lab report that measured the rosavins, and it's the one we'd choose. Life Extension's 250 mg capsule is the same extract type, also past the floor in one, with no lab report, and so are Nutricost's and NOW's 500 mg capsules. Momentous's 100 mg capsule is NSF Certified for Sport, but you'd need two to reach 170 mg.

We also audited Gaia Herbs Rhodiola Rosea and Thorne Rhodiola and don't recommend them. Gaia's capsule prints rosavins but no salidroside, and Thorne's prints no standardization, so neither shows the studied extract. Gaia scores 5.7 out of 10 and Thorne 5.8.¹⁹²⁰

This table ranks the audited brain supplements that contain rhodiola, with the amount each one gives, its form, and what each formula costs for the studied floor.

The cost column scales each brain supplement's full daily price to 170 mg of rhodiola, as a fraction of a serving, not a dose to take. It doesn't show the price of the rhodiola alone. Thesis Motivation and Thesis Stress Reset use fermented salidrosides, a different ingredient, so their shortfall and cost figures don't compare with the root-extract rows.

If rhodiola is why you're buying, the five single capsules above cover the 170 mg floor for 23 to 67 cents a day, one capsule for Nootropics Depot, Life Extension, Nutricost and NOW and two for Momentous.^912141718 Nootropics Depot's latest lot report found 15.7 mg of rosavins a capsule, a little over the 15 mg its 3% claim works out to, from a lab the brand set up.¹⁰¹¹ Momentous's capsule is NSF Certified for Sport.¹³

Rhodiola is worth trying if stress has left you tired during night shifts or exams. We wouldn't buy it to sharpen a rested brain. Four small studies against a placebo found less fatigue with one extract, but the evidence is moderate at best.¹²³⁴

The studies tested physicians on night duty, students taking exams, cadets under fatigue and adults with stress-related fatigue. All were under strain and did better than placebo on fatigue measures.¹²³⁴

Olsson 2009 was the one trial in people with stress-related fatigue. Both groups improved, but rhodiola did better on the burnout scale and some attention measures.⁴

The trials were small, and one author co-wrote three of the four studies against a placebo. The second branded extract has only open-label studies, where participants know what they're taking.¹²³⁵⁶

Rhodiola rosea is also sold as golden root or arctic root and its extracts are made to a set strength, about 3% rosavins and 1% salidroside in the trial extract.

It suits you if you want to feel less fatigued through a hard stretch of shifts or deadlines. It doesn't suit you as a daily memory or focus supplement, because no trial against a placebo here tested that in rested people.

The EU's herbal monograph says arctic root medicines should only be used by adults over 18, and not for longer than two weeks without medical advice. For safety in full, the European Medicines Agency's assessment of rhodiola is the most complete public review, and it rests on traditional use rather than trials.⁸

The trials tell you how much rhodiola to look for on a label, and how long they gave it.

Study dose benchmark

170 mg a day

Doses in studies with a benefit

170 mg to 680 mg a day

Most-studied dose

Single doses of 370 or 555 mg of SHR-5 extract, or 576 mg a day for 28 days

Time to any effect

Within hours of a single dose in one trial. Two to four weeks of daily use in the other placebo-controlled fatigue trials.

The fatigue trials against a placebo used 100 to 576 mg a day of SHR-5. At 100 mg, the pilot found better fitness, fatigue and motor-test scores, though its authors thought the dose too low and the dose itself is uncertain. The next dose up was 170 mg a day, which improved a fatigue score in physicians on night duty, and that's the amount we check labels against.²¹⁷

A single dose of 370 or 555 mg worked about equally well. Olsson 2009 used 576 mg a day for four weeks.³⁴

A 100 mg capsule is below that, so you'd need two. Capsule sizes can't match every trial dose. Four to six 100 mg capsules cover the 370 to 576 mg trials, and one 500 mg capsule falls inside that range.

Our dose range runs to 680 mg because a six-week trial in adults with mild to moderate depression gave 340 or 680 mg a day. That trial measured mood, not fatigue or focus.¹⁶

Our evidence grade for rhodiola rests on the human trials, the positive ones and the ones that found nothing.

ModerateSmall controlled trials of one extract, SHR-5, found less fatigue under stress. Studies of a second extract had no placebo group.

All four studies against a placebo used the SHR-5 extract and found less fatigue under stress.

The findings point in the same direction, but the benefits were small and each trial measured something different. The 100 mg pilot found improvements in fitness, fatigue and motor tests, and its authors thought the dose was too low.²

In Olsson 2009, both groups improved. The difference from placebo was smaller than the change from where they started.⁴

Two studies used the second branded extract, WS 1375, at 400 mg a day. Neither had a placebo group.

A 2012 systematic review brought the earlier fatigue trials together to assess rhodiola for physical and mental fatigue. It's the source for the Spasov and Darbinyan doses.⁷ G. Wikman co-authored the Darbinyan, Spasov and Shevtsov trials.¹²³

These are the ingredients rhodiola most often sits next to in brain supplements, and what the evidence says about each pairing.

• L-TheanineModerateNext to rhodiola in six of the seven stacks, all but Thesis Stress Reset. No trial of the pair.

In the brain supplements we audited, rhodiola sits next to caffeine in the stimulant formulas, next to bacopa in Mind Lab Pro, Hunter Focus and Nooceptin, and next to theanine in all but Thesis Stress Reset. We found no trial of rhodiola with any of them.

20 sources cited

1. Darbinyan V, et al. Rhodiola rosea in stress induced fatigue, a double blind cross-over study of a standardized extract SHR-5 with a repeated low-dose regimen on the mental performance of healthy physicians during night duty. Phytomedicine, 2000. Abstract read. Accessed Oct 21, 2026. PMID 11081987
2. Spasov AA, et al. A double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study of the stimulating and adaptogenic effect of Rhodiola rosea SHR-5 extract on the fatigue of students caused by stress during an examination period with a repeated low-dose regimen. Phytomedicine, 2000. Abstract read. Accessed Oct 21, 2026. PMID 10839209
3. Shevtsov VA, et al. A randomized trial of two different doses of a SHR-5 Rhodiola rosea extract versus placebo and control of capacity for mental work. Phytomedicine, 2003. Abstract read. Accessed Oct 21, 2026. PMID 12725561
4. Olsson EM, et al. A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study of the standardised extract SHR-5 of the roots of Rhodiola rosea in the treatment of subjects with stress-related fatigue. Planta Med, 2009. Abstract read. Accessed Oct 21, 2026. PMID 19016404
5. Edwards D, et al. Therapeutic effects and safety of Rhodiola rosea extract WS 1375 in subjects with life-stress symptoms, results of an open-label study. Phytother Res, 2012. Abstract read. Accessed Oct 21, 2026. PMID 22228617
6. Lekomtseva Y, et al. Rhodiola rosea in subjects with prolonged or chronic fatigue symptoms, results of an open-label clinical trial. Complement Med Res, 2017. Abstract read. Accessed Oct 21, 2026. PMID 28219059
7. Ishaque S, et al. Rhodiola rosea for physical and mental fatigue, a systematic review. BMC Complement Altern Med, 2012. Full text read (trial doses for Spasov 2000 and Darbinyan 2000). Accessed Oct 21, 2026. PMC3541197
8. European Medicines Agency. Rhodiolae roseae rhizoma et radix (arctic root), EU herbal monograph and public summary. Traditional use only, for adults over 18. Accessed Oct 21, 2026. EMA
9. Nootropics Depot. Rhodiola Rosea Capsules 3% Rosavins 500 mg, product page, Supplement Facts label, price and returns policy. Accessed Oct 20, 2026. nootropicsdepot.com
10. Omnient Labs for Nootropics Depot. Certificate of analysis, Rhodiola Rosea Capsules 500 mg, lot RRTCS1072026A, Jul 20, 2026, total rosavins 15.7 mg and salidroside 5.25 mg per capsule. Accessed Oct 20, 2026. Lot lab report (PDF)
11. Nootropics Depot. Meet our third party labs. Omnient Labs "was started as an ISO accredited lab to do advanced lab testing for Nootropics Depot." Accessed Oct 19, 2026. nootropicsdepot.com
12. Momentous. Rhodiola Rosea 100 mg, product page, Supplement Facts label and price. Accessed Oct 21, 2026. livemomentous.com
13. NSF Certified for Sport. Momentous Rhodiola Rosea, 60 capsules, listing. Accessed Oct 21, 2026. NSF Certified for Sport
14. Life Extension. Rhodiola Extract 250 mg, product page, Supplement Facts label, price and returns policy. Accessed Oct 21, 2026. lifeextension.com
15. Double Wood Supplements. Rhodiola Rosea Extract, product page, Supplement Facts label, price and the lot 2601-10 certificate summary. Accessed Oct 21, 2026. doublewoodsupplements.com
16. Darbinyan V, et al. Clinical trial of Rhodiola rosea L. extract SHR-5 in the treatment of mild to moderate depression. Nord J Psychiatry, 2007. Abstract read. Accessed Oct 21, 2026. PMID 17990195
17. Nutricost. Rhodiola Rosea Capsules 500 mg, product page, Supplement Facts label and price. Accessed Oct 21, 2026. nutricost.com
18. NOW Foods. Rhodiola 500 mg veg capsules, product page, Supplement Facts label, price and returns policy. Accessed Oct 21, 2026. nowfoods.com
19. Gaia Herbs. Rhodiola Rosea, product page, Supplement Facts label, price and lab results page. Accessed Oct 21, 2026. gaiaherbs.com
20. Thorne. Rhodiola, product page, Supplement Facts label, price and returns FAQ. Accessed Oct 21, 2026. thorne.com