Nutrafol review: what the studies show, and who paid for them
Nutrafol Men has one placebo-controlled trial behind it, run and paid for by the company that sells it, and it costs $79 a month on subscription. That is some evidence, not proof. Here is the whole record, the price by plan, the safety notes the marketing leaves out, and the cheaper first steps that pay us nothing.
On this page
Nutrafol Men is a hair supplement with a real but thin evidence base: one six-month, placebo-controlled trial in men, funded by the company that makes it, plus an open-label study whose authors include company staff. We score it 5 out of 10 on our published scale, because the trial record is small and entirely company-run and one of the brand's safety claims does not match its own published trial. This page is information only, written from published sources and not reviewed by a clinician; prices were read on nutrafol.com on 22 September 2026.
If you are losing hair, the first useful step is not a supplement at all. A doctor or dermatologist can tell you why it is happening, and some causes, such as thyroid disease or low iron, need a diagnosis rather than a capsule. That visit pays this site nothing, and we say so on every page.
The short verdict
The direct answer: Nutrafol Men may help some men with mild thinning a little, the only placebo-controlled evidence for it comes from its maker, and nobody independent has repeated the result. Treat it as an optional extra after a diagnosis, not as a first treatment.
What Nutrafol is, and what it is not
Nutrafol is a dietary supplement brand made by Nutraceutical Wellness Inc., in which Unilever took a controlling stake of up to 80% on 7 July 2022, according to Unilever's 2022 annual report. It is not a drug. In the US, supplements are regulated under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, and the FDA's own guidance says that under that law it does not have the authority to approve dietary supplements before they are marketed.
That is why every Nutrafol page carries the standard line: these statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration, and the product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. When you read "clinically tested" on a supplement, it means the company ran or commissioned a study. It does not mean a regulator reviewed the result. Our guide to how hair supplements are (not) regulated in the US explains what that does and does not protect you from.
The brand sells separate formulas for men aged 18 to 49 and for men over 50, plus women's formulas, a serum, shampoos and other add-ons. This review grades the men's capsule. Women's formulas are covered elsewhere in the portfolio; we only mention the women's trials where they explain the evidence for the shared ingredient blend.
What Nutrafol Men costs
The direct answer: $88 for a single month bought once, $79 a month on a monthly subscription, and less per month if you prepay three or six months. Nutrafol says subscriptions ship free and can be paused or cancelled at any time.
| Plan | Price | Months supplied | Works out per month |
|---|---|---|---|
| One-time purchase | $88 | 1 | $88 |
| Monthly subscription | $79 | 1 | $79 |
| 3-month subscription | $224 | 3 | about $74.67 |
| 6-month subscription | $422 | 6 | about $70.33 |
Twelve months of Nutrafol Men, by plan
Two things change the real cost. First, results claims on the brand's pages talk about three to six months, so a fair trial of the product is at least half a year of spending before you can judge it. Second, the brand runs a money-back offer on some subscriptions with conditions: when we read the terms they required a multi-month subscription, enrolling in its app and submitting photos. Read the current terms at checkout rather than relying on a summary, including ours. Our longer take on whether Nutrafol is worth the monthly cost sets that year of spending against what else the money could buy.
What is in the capsule
The direct answer: a blend Nutrafol calls Synergen Complex, whose headline ingredients on the men's page are saw palmetto, curcumin, Sensoril ashwagandha, a tocotrienol complex, marine collagen peptides and hyaluronic acid, plus vitamins and minerals. The idea is to hit several possible drivers of thinning at once: hormones, stress, inflammation and nutrition.
A many-ingredient formula has one honest weakness: even when a trial of the whole capsule is positive, it cannot tell you which ingredient did the work, and each extra ingredient is another thing to check against your medicines. A 2025 case report in JAAD Case Reports tabulated one Nutrafol label and found several nutrients above 100% of the daily value, including biotin and vitamin D. We go through every ingredient and what is known about it in Nutrafol ingredients, one by one.
What the studies show, and who ran them
The direct answer: three randomised, placebo-controlled trials have tested Nutrafol formulas, two in women and one in men, all small. The men's trial was funded by Nutraceutical Wellness Inc., both women's trials were co-authored by a Nutrafol co-founder, and we found no randomised trial of any Nutrafol formula run independently of the company.
| Study | Who took part | Design | People | Link to the company |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ablon & Kogan, J Drugs Dermatol, 2018 | Women with self-perceived thinning | 6 months, double-blind, placebo-controlled | 40 randomised | Co-author Sophia Kogan, whom Nutrafol describes as its co-founder |
| Ablon & Kogan, J Drugs Dermatol, 2021 | Peri-, post- and menopausal women | 6 months, double-blind, placebo-controlled | 70 randomised | Same co-author; Nutrafol announced the results in its own press release |
| Stephens et al., J Clin Aesthet Dermatol, 2022 | Men and women of several ethnicities | 6 months, single-blind, no placebo group | 98 enrolled | Four authors are company employees |
| Bhatia et al., J Cosmet Dermatol, 2025 | Men aged 21 to 61 | 6 months, double-blind, placebo-controlled | 112 enrolled, 85 completed | Funded by Nutraceutical Wellness Inc. |
How many people each Nutrafol study took in
The men's trial is the one that matters for this review. It enrolled 112 men and 85 completed it per protocol, 52 on the supplement and 33 on placebo. Its main measure was blinded investigator ratings of hair growth and quality, backed by a questionnaire the men filled in; significantly more men on the supplement were rated as improved. The paper also found no change in sexual function scores, which matters to men weighing it against prescription options. Its limits are the ones any reader should weigh: one trial, under a hundred completers, six months, ratings rather than counted hairs, and the sponsor's own staff among the authors.
The US Federal Trade Commission's health-claims guidance, issued in December 2022, puts the missing piece plainly: replication in a second study by independent researchers reduces the chance that a single trial's result reflects hidden bias. A 2026 meta-analysis of commercial hair supplements reached a similar place, calling the results promising but saying more rigorous, independent research is needed. Read the full walk-through in does Nutrafol work.
Side effects, and who should skip it
The direct answer: in trials the capsule was mostly well tolerated, but stomach upset happens, several ingredients carry their own cautions, and some people should not start it without a doctor's say-so.
- Stomach upset. In the 2025 men's trial, two participants withdrew because of moderate gastrointestinal upset that the investigators judged probably related to the supplement. Nutrafol's product page, read the same day, says its clinical studies saw no reported side effects. We think the trial paper is the more reliable of the two.
- Blood thinners and other medicines. Nutrafol's own ingredient page asks anyone with a medical condition or taking medicines, especially anticoagulant and blood-thinning drugs, to consult a physician first.
- Lab tests. Biotin in supplements can distort some blood tests, and the FDA has warned that it can cause falsely low troponin results, a test used to diagnose heart attacks. Tell whoever orders your blood work that you take it.
- Stacking. The 2025 case report describes a woman whose vitamin D level rose well above the normal range while she took Nutrafol on top of a separate vitamin D supplement, not knowing the capsule contained it.
- Liver. The same report lists turmeric, ashwagandha, horsetail and saw palmetto among ingredients with liver-injury grades in the US Drug-Induced Liver Injury Network scheme, and cites a published case of acute liver injury after Nutrafol use.
- Pregnancy and fish allergy. Saw palmetto may be unsafe during pregnancy or breastfeeding, according to the NIH's complementary-health centre, and the men's formula lists marine collagen, so anyone with a fish allergy should read the label first.
The full list, with sources, is in Nutrafol side effects and who should avoid it.
Nutrafol against the alternatives
The direct answer: on evidence, Nutrafol and Viviscal sit in the same band, both backed only by trials their makers paid for; single ingredients such as biotin sit lower; and the over-the-counter option that carries an FDA approval for pattern hair loss is topical minoxidil, which is a medicine, not a supplement, and pays us nothing.
| Option | What it is | Our evidence grade | List price | Pays this site? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nutrafol Men | Multi-ingredient capsule | Some | $79 a month on subscription | Yes, through our link once the programme approves us |
| Viviscal Men's or Women's supplement | Marine-protein tablet | Some | $40 for a one-month pack | Yes, a small percentage once approved |
| Vegamour GRO+ Advanced | Multi-ingredient capsule | Not graded: no published trial found | $78 subscription, 30-day supply | Yes, once approved |
| Biotin on its own | Single vitamin | Weak | Varies by store | No |
| Topical minoxidil | Over-the-counter medicine | Outside our supplement scale | Varies by store | No |
| A doctor or dermatologist visit | Diagnosis and prescription options | Not a product | Depends on your insurance | No |
A year of each branded supplement, at list price
Viviscal's women's trial from 2015, funded by Lifes2good, the company the paper names as the product's maker, randomised 60 women for three months. Our head-to-head, Viviscal vs Nutrafol, covers ingredients, allergens and cost side by side. If you still want to buy Nutrafol after reading this, you can check current Nutrafol plans; we earn a commission on a first order, and that never moves a grade.
The routes that pay us nothing
Some of the best first steps earn this site nothing, and we would rather you took them first.
- See a GP or dermatologist to find out what kind of hair loss you have. Pattern hair loss, shedding after illness or stress, thyroid problems and iron deficiency look alike in the mirror and are handled differently.
- Ask about a blood test before buying anything aimed at a deficiency. Our guide to iron, ferritin and vitamin D testing explains why a low result needs a cause found, not just a pill.
- Ask a pharmacist or doctor about over-the-counter topical minoxidil, sold in the US without a prescription since the 1990s. Store brands carry the same active ingredient as name brands. It is a medicine with its own label and warnings, and the label, not this site, is where directions come from.
- For men, ask a doctor about prescription options. Finasteride is FDA-approved for male pattern hair loss in men only; our comparison of saw palmetto vs finasteride explains why the supplement is not a like-for-like substitute.
How we scored it
Our score is a published sum, not a feeling. Trial design is worth up to 4 points, independence up to 2, safety candour up to 2 and price candour up to 2. Nutrafol Men scores trial design 2 of 4, because one placebo-controlled trial exists for the men's formula; independence 0 of 2, because we found no study run outside the company; safety candour 1 of 2, because the maker publishes medicine warnings but also claims no reported side effects; and price candour 2 of 2, because every plan price and subscription term is on its own site. That adds up to 5 out of 10. The same scale, and the evidence grades behind it, are laid out on our page of hair growth supplements graded by evidence.