Does Nutrafol Work? What the Company-Funded Studies Show
Four published studies, three with a placebo group, every one tied to the company. What each measured, how big it was, and what an independent reader can and cannot conclude.
Nutrafol has positive results in small trials, and every one of them is tied to the company. Three randomised, placebo-controlled trials, two in women and one in men, found benefits on hair counts or investigator ratings over six months; a fourth study had no placebo group. No independent team has yet repeated a Nutrafol trial that we could find, so the honest answer is "possibly, a little, for some people", not "yes".
This entry is information only, written from published sources on 22 September 2026 and not reviewed by a clinician.
The four studies
The direct answer: 40, 70, 98 and 112 people were enrolled in the four studies, and the men's trial finished with 85.
- 2018, women with self-perceived thinning. Six months, double-blind, 26 on the supplement and 14 on placebo, published in the Journal of Drugs in Dermatology. The main measure was the number of terminal and vellus hairs in a target area, counted from close-up photographs, and it rose significantly more on the supplement at 90 and 180 days. No adverse events were reported.
- 2021, peri-, post- and menopausal women. Six months, double-blind, 40 on the supplement and 30 on placebo, same journal. Terminal and total hair counts rose more on the supplement, and the paper reports shedding falling by 32.41% by day 180 compared with placebo.
- 2022, men and women of several ethnicities. Six months, single-blind, 47 men and 51 women, with no placebo group, in the Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology. Investigators rated improvements at 12 and 24 weeks. Without a placebo group, this design cannot separate the supplement's effect from the effect of taking part in a study.
- 2025, men aged 21 to 61. Six months, double-blind, 112 enrolled and 85 completed, in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology. More men on the supplement were rated improved by blinded investigators.
How many people each Nutrafol study took in
Who ran them
The direct answer: the company, its co-founder or its employees appear in every study.
The 2025 men's trial states it was funded by Nutraceutical Wellness Inc., the company behind Nutrafol, and two of its five authors are company employees. The 2022 study lists four authors as employees of the company. Both women's trials were co-authored by Sophia Kogan, whom Nutrafol's own press release of 12 October 2020 describes as its co-founder. Glynis Ablon, an author on three of the four, runs a research site that Nutrafol's press release calls independent, and the 2025 paper discloses that she has received research grants from the company.
Company-funded research is normal in this industry, and it is not proof that a result is wrong. It does mean the result has not yet passed the test the US Federal Trade Commission describes in its December 2022 health-products guidance: that replication in a second study by independent researchers reduces the chance that a single trial's result reflects unanticipated, undetected bias.
What the studies measured, and what they did not
The direct answer: the women's trials counted hairs; the men's trial relied on ratings; none compared Nutrafol with an established medicine.
Counted hairs in a marked patch of scalp are the stronger measure, and the two women's trials used them. The men's trial used blinded investigator ratings and questionnaires, which are useful but softer. None of the four compared the capsule with topical minoxidil or finasteride, so they cannot tell you whether it is as good as either. All were six months long, and the published record says little about what happens after people stop.
The 2023 JAMA Dermatology systematic review of 30 studies listed Nutrafol among products where the highest-quality evidence showed potential benefit, and asked for larger trials against active comparators. A 2026 meta-analysis of commercial supplements called the overall picture promising and said more rigorous, independent research is needed.
Why "before and after" photos are not evidence
The direct answer: a pair of photos cannot show what would have happened without the product, and lighting, haircut, angle and hair length can all change what you see.
That is why placebo groups exist. People search for Nutrafol before-and-after pictures in large numbers, and we do not publish any: our rule is no before-and-after imagery and no invented results. If a brand or reviewer shows you photos, ask how many people they tried it on and how many they did not show.
How to read any supplement trial yourself
The direct answer: five questions sort a strong trial from a weak one, and you can answer them from an abstract on PubMed.
- Was there a placebo group? Without one, improvement could come from time, attention or changed habits during the study.
- Was it blinded? If participants or assessors knew who took what, ratings can drift towards what people hope to see.
- How many people finished? Small groups make chance results more likely, and people who drop out can change the picture.
- What was measured? Counted hairs in a marked area are harder to fool than impressions and questionnaires.
- Who paid, and who wrote it? Look for the funding and conflict-of-interest statements at the end of the paper.
Applied to Nutrafol, the answers are: yes to a placebo in three of four studies, yes to blinding in those three, between 40 and 85 people per placebo trial, a mix of counts and ratings, and the company in every case. That combination is why our grading page for hair supplements puts Nutrafol in the "Some" band rather than higher.
So, does it work?
The direct answer: possibly, modestly, for some people with mild thinning; the evidence is real, small and company-run.
If that is enough for you to try it, make it a planned test: see a doctor first, note a start date, and give it the six months the trials used. Our Nutrafol review and score sets out the price of that test by plan, and Nutrafol for men looks at the men's trial in more detail. If you want to check plans, the link to Nutrafol's own site is an affiliate link; we may earn on a first order, and the grade stays the same either way.