Nutrafol Review: Do Natural Hair Loss Pills Work?

Nutrafol Review: Do Natural Hair Loss Pills Work?


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Many consumers are seeking na​​tural solutions for hair thinning and hair loss, because prescription drugs for these conditions often have side effects. Nutrafol is a hair care brand that claims to have a "natural approach" that's "clinically proven to support your hair growth."

But do Nutrafol supplements contain research-backed ingredients for hair growth? Did the clinical trials funded by Nutrafol prove the supplements to be effective? Do the supplements contain any unhealthy additives? And how do real users rate and describe the effects of Nutrafol?

In this article we'll answer all of these questions and more as we review the ingredients in Nutrafol Women and Nutrafol Men based on medical research to give our take on whether the supplements are likely to be effective for hair growth.

We'll also review the clinical trials funded by the brand, compare Nutrafol to another leading natural hair growth brand called Viviscal, and share real, unsponsored user reviews of Nutrafol products.

Nutrafol Women Ingredient Analysis

Nutrafol for Women Supplement Facts label

The ingredients in Nutrafol Women are shown above.

Seven of the active ingredients are a blend of vitamins and minerals like vitamin A and selenium. We have not come across any medical evidence that supplemental vitamin and mineral intake improves hair quality in patients without vitamin or mineral deficiencies. 

The dosage of some of the vitamins and minerals are quite high (exceeding the Daily Value), and taking a high dose of fat-soluble vitamins like vitamin A and vitamin D which aren't as easily excreted by the body may be a health risk. In early 2022, a different supplement company had to recall their products from the market because the high supplemental vitamin doses were causing toxicity in some consumers, according to the CBC.

Collagen derived from fish was shown in a 2022 clinical trial to cause hair regrowth, which suggests that the hydrolyzed marine collagen in Nutrafol Women may be effective.

Saw palmetto extract has been clinically shown to be effective for hair loss as we documented in our review of another hair loss supplement called Hair La Vie.

Hyaluronic acid was shown to cause hair growth in a clinical trial published in the BioMed Research International journal, however this was a test tube study so the data is less conclusive than a study with human trial participants.

Clearly there are some potentially effective ingredients in Nutrafol Women, but does the supplement cause hair growth in real women? We'll review both in the unsponsored video below (which includes before-and-after images) and in the next section that analyzes the results of the clinical trial funded by Nutrafol:

Nutrafol Women Clinical Trial Analysis

Nutrafol Women has been studied in a legitimate clinical trial published in the Journal of Drugs in Dermatology.

The purpose of the trial was to determine if Nutrafol Women caused hair growth and improved any hair quality parameters. Women took either Nutrafol Women capsules or placebo capsules over the course of six months.

Those taking Nutrafol Women had a 10% higher hair count after six months than the control group.

We're impressed by Nutrafol funding legitimate clinical research, and we can conclude that Nutrafol Women is effective for most women. 

Nutrafol Men Ingredient Analysis

Nutrafol Men Supplement Facts label

Nutrafol Men has a similar formulation to Nutrafol Women.

Saw palmetto extract is likely included at a higher dose, which seems appropriate because saw palmetto has an antiandrogenic effect according to clinical research. Men have significantly more natural androgens (steroid hormones) than women, which is part of why men generally lose hair earlier than women, and which is why this ingredient is likely effective.

Collagen and hyaluronic acid are included in Nutrafol Men, and we already determined these ingredients to be potentially effective in the ingredient analysis of Nutrafol Women.

Our main complaint about this supplement is that the vitamin and mineral doses are relatively high; similar to Nutrafol Women.

A TikTok user named Ethan Gaskill published one of the only unsponsored video reviews of Nutrafol Men that we could find, and he recommends the product:

@ethancgaskill One of my secrets for healthy hair and skin 😍✨@nutrafol #notsponsored #menshair #skin #fyp #goingpro #malebeauty #favoriteproducts #beautyproducts ♬ original sound - Ethan Gaskill

Nutrafol Men Clinical Trial Analysis

Nutrafol Men was tested in a clinical trial published in The Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology. Both men and women participated in the trial, and were assigned either Nutrafol Men or Nutrafol Women based on their sex.

The trial lasted 24 weeks, and 83.7% of male subjects experienced improvements by the end of the trial. 79.5% of female subjects experienced improvements as well.

Nutrafol Men was reported to be less effective in men with African ancestry. Asian hair showed a thicker hair diameter and faster growth while men with European ancestry experienced higher hair density.

We consider this trial to be slightly weaker than the trial on Nutrafol Women because it was not placebo-controlled, but we do consider Nutrafol Men likely to be effective based on these results. 

Does Nutrafol Cause Side Effects?

In most hair supplement reviews, we have to make an educated guess about whether or not the supplement will cause side effects based on its ingredients. But since both Nutrafol for Women and Nutrafol for Men have been studied in clinical trials, we can analyze the trial results to determine risk of side effects.

No serious side effects were reported in either of the clinical trials on Nutrafol.

In the Nutrafol Men trial, one patient experienced diarrhea but it's hard to say for certain whether that was caused by the supplement or diet because it resolved itself naturally.

We do not consider Nutrafol likely to cause side effects.

Where to Buy Nutrafol for the Best Price

Nutrafol is sold at several online retailers. Here's a price breakdown at the time of updating this article:

Walmart: $127.99 (third-party seller, link)

Brand website: $88 (link)

Amazon: $83.99 (link to official Amazon listing)

At the time of updating this article, Nutrafol Women is slightly cheaper on Amazon than on the brand's website for one-time purchases, but the brand's website has a better price on subscriptions.

Real Customers Review Nutrafol

Amazon is a more objective resource for customer reviews than a brand's website in our opinion. Nutrafol Women is the brand's most-reviewed product on Amazon with over 12,000 ratings.

The average review rating is 4.3 out of 5 stars.

The top positive review from a verified purchaser comes from a user named "Abby" who claims that Nutrafol supplementation caused a number of favorable changes to her hair and scalp:

"I have taken Nutrafol for about 6 months now, and am very happy with the changes I’ve seen since about 3-4 months in. The shedding has reduced to what I assume is a normal/healthy amount — less than I have had in years. The balding patches around my hairline have sprouted a ton of baby hairs that are continuing to grow along with the rest of my head — and the most shocking part for me was the lifelong short, fine hairs above my ears have had a ton of growth and are thickening to match the rest."

The top negative review from a verified purchaser is written by a user named "mellamia" who claims that Nutrafol causes negative side effects:

About an hour after I took the dose, I started feeling unwell. My ears were ringing, my hands were shaking, I was having frequent PVC's, I felt" jittery" inside (though my "vitals" were not significantly elevated... heart rate was 93 (73 is my "normal") and my blood pressure was 127/84 (my "normal" is 120/70)) I had a strange pain/ache/fatigue sensation from just at the upper jaw to slightly abovethe temples on both sides. I felt as though I may pass out."

Nutrafol vs. Viviscal

Nutrafol and Viviscal are arguably the most popular natural hair growth supplements, so consumers are often curious about which is more likely to be effective.

As we documented in our Viviscal review article, Viviscal has funded legitimate clinical research proving their supplements increase hair growth in both men and women.

We would recommend Viviscal over Nutrafol to women, because the hair growth results in the Viviscal clinical trial on women were more impressive.

We would recommend Viviscal over Nutrafol to men for different reasons. We consider the supplements to be equivalently effective, but Viviscal is significantly cheaper, so we'd recommend Viviscal for cost reasons.

Stay up-to-date on our research reviews

Conclusion

Nutrafol makes well formulated supplements for hair loss and thinning. We consider both Nutrafol Women and Nutrafol Men to be likely effective, given that both supplements are clinically shown to be effective in legitimate scientific research.

We commend Nutrafol for being one of the few cosmetics brands that funds clinical research that's published in peer-reviewed journals, as this is a higher quality standard than company-published research.

Our only concern regarding Nutrafol supplements is the relatively high doses of vitamins and minerals. It may be beneficial for patients to speak with a doctor or consider getting bloodwork done prior to taking these supplements for long periods of time.

We would recommend Viviscal over Nutrafol because the clinical trial results for Viviscal in women were more impressive in our opinion than the results for Nutrafol in women. The clinical results were similar in men but Viviscal is significantly cheaper.

Online customer reviews of Nutrafol are quite favorable.




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