Key takeaways
- We reviewed Nutrafol products to separate hard science from hype. Our tester found that the Nutrafol Postpartum Capsules successfully encouraged hair regrowth.
- Clinical studies show Nutrafol supplements work to gradually improve hair growth and thickness when taken consistently. However, studies may be sponsored by Nutrafol and have small sample sizes.
- The supplements are made with clinically backed, medical-grade ingredients that are free of drugs, hormones, and artificial additives.
You may experience hair loss from medical treatments, stress, age, overstyling, certain health conditions, and even simply because of your own gene pool. Some people can experience temporary postpartum shedding, too.
But regrowing hair or slowing hair loss is often possible. Nutrafol supplements are made from drug-free ingredients for different stages of life. Read on to see if these products could suit your needs.
You’ll notice that the language used to share information about Nutrafol products is pretty binary, fluctuating between the use of “male” and “female” or “men” and “women.”
Although we typically avoid language like this, we wanted to use the language the company uses to describe its products, as specificity and accuracy are key when reporting on products.
Nutrafol is manufactured by Nutraceutical Wellness Inc., a company based in New York City that reports making 100% drug-free products. Nutrafol has fast become the fastest-growing supplement for healthy hair and hair growth.
There are many hair loss products on the market, but Nutrafol has been clinically studied and shown to improve hair regrowth. It’s worth noting that Nutraceutical Wellness funded these studies, and they are generally limited in size. Although this doesn’t mean the results of these studies are invalid, there is potential for bias. To enhance the clinical confidence in the effectiveness and safety of these products, independent, blinded, and peer-reviewed research is needed.
Nutrafol stresses that it tailors its products to different life stages, as your body and hair change based on different stressors you may face. Therefore, it uses natural ingredients in its products. All products are quality tested, non-GMO, and made in the USA in an FDA-registered facility.
It’s important to note, though, that Nutrafol supplements are not FDA-approved, as vitamins and supplements do not undergo evaluation by the FDA.
What we like about Nutrafol
- All natural: Nutrafol contains 100% natural ingredients. It’s drug-free and focuses on vitamins and minerals instead.
- Clinically studied: The supplements sold by Nutrafol have gone through clinical testing with mainly positive results.
- Recommended by holistic doctors: According to Nutrafol, some scientists and doctors personally recommend Nutrafol supplements.
- Different pricing systems: There are pricing plans available for users based on their hair goals and budget.
What we don’t
- Not 100% effective: If you have advanced or certain types of hair loss, Nutrafol supplements may not work for you.
- Pricey: Single bottles are priced at $88.
- Lack of transparency: The supplement labels don’t tell you exactly how much of each active ingredient you get in the brand’s proprietary blends.
- Lack of data: Although there have been some positive clinical results and reviews, many of the related studies had financial ties to Nutraceutical Wellness, relied on participant self-assessment, and didn’t always include a placebo group.
- Not a telehealth platform: Nutrafol doesn’t prescribe common medications like finasteride or minoxidil like Hims or Keeps if that’s what you’re seeking.
Healthline editor Catherine Conelly used Nutrafol’s Postpartum supplement to combat the effects of postpartum hair loss after her first child. After having her baby in August 2022, she started experiencing hair loss around December and started taking Nutrafol’s supplements in late January 2023. She took the four-capsule dose daily for 6 months.
“You could really notice the loss along my hairline in the front when I pulled my hair back into a ponytail. It was noticeably more empty, if that’s a word you can use to describe your hairline. And even though, in theory, I knew this was a normal change and only temporary, it was very stressful to comb my hair and visibly see how much I was shedding. It felt like there would be none left.
“I wasn’t sure if hair growth supplements would actually work, because you can’t prevent this type of hormonal hair loss. It’s inevitable after a baby. However, I wanted to do everything I could to make my hair feel stronger and fuller, and set it up for regrowing faster.
“At the time, I didn’t have another pregnancy to compare it to in terms of how quickly my hair regrew with the supplements versus without. But I did start to see some results after a few months of taking Nutrafol,” she says.
It was definitely not a magic bullet that suddenly restored my hair, but I saw the regrowth happening, and my hair started to feel fuller again.
As Catherine explains, when your hair does start to regrow, it hits an awkward stage where you get those little wispies that stick straight out. “Nonetheless, it was a sign to me that my hair was growing back in the places where I experienced heavy shedding.”
See Catherine’s Nutrafol before and after photos and learn more about the Nutrafol Postpartum Capsules she tried below.
Before we include brands, services, or products in our articles, we put them through rigorous vetting to ensure they align with our approach to well-being and align with criteria we think are good indicators of safety, quality, and transparency.
Our Medical Standards and Insights team has carefully researched and vetted over 11,000 products and services. We fact-check health claims, evaluate ingredients, and look into each brand’s reputation before sharing products and services on Healthline.
To choose the brands on this page, we considered all the vitamin brands that passed our vetting process. Then, we personally tested some of them to narrow down our list even further.
You might already know that it’s typical to lose between 50 and 100 hairs every day. While new strands typically replace those lost hairs, this doesn’t always happen. Hair loss can be a gradual process that occurs over the years, or it can happen suddenly. It can be permanent or temporary, too.
Research shows hair loss has multiple causes, ranging from your diet to hormones and stress. To find out what might be affecting your hair, Nutrafol recommends starting by taking the company’s Hair Wellness Quiz.
Nutrafol aims to restore hair growth by reducing your levels of stress and androgens — hormones that contribute to growth and reproduction in men and women.
Ingredients found in the supplements, such as Sensoril ashwagandha, help build resistance to stress by
Cortisol can also signal hair follicles to prematurely shift from growth to rest, when the hair can no longer grow. This means that chronic stress may have a hand in disrupting hair growth.
Nutrafol also claims that its supplements work by neutralizing free radicals and inflammatory molecules that affect hair growth.
For hormonal hair loss
Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) is an androgen hormone that is a key factor responsible for hormonal hair loss. DHT is more present in men, but women also make it. DHT causes the hair follicle to slowly shrink, a process called miniaturization. Eventually, DHT can make the follicles close so the hair can’t grow back.
Lifestyle factors like nutrition, metabolism, and stress levels may influence hair thinning, but hormonal changes from pregnancy, menopause, and stress are also significant contributors to a DHT imbalance in women.
Saw palmetto, an extract from the ripe berries of the American dwarf palm, is one ingredient in Nutrafol that may correct DHT sensitivity. In an older
Stress-related hair loss
Nutrafol includes Sensoril ashwagandha, a medicinal herb that may help build resistance to stress by lowering elevated cortisol levels. An older
Primary ingredients like vitamin E have shown improvements in correcting oxidative stress, or an imbalance between free radicals and antioxidants in your body that may contribute to health conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease.
As a
Metabolism-related hair loss
Your cellular metabolism provides energy for your hair follicles to grow. Inflammation, a high glycemic diet (foods that raise blood sugar quickly), a hormone imbalance, or a thyroid imbalance may all lead to poor metabolism, which can leave your body with less energy for healthy hair growth.
Nutrafol targets metabolism with curcumin, an anti-inflammatory compound found in turmeric. Curcumin has been used for thousands of years as a medicinal herb.
Some
Personalized recommendations
With a subscription to Nutrafol, you’ll get access to the company’s naturopathic doctors. Based on the results of your quiz, the doctors can make personalized recommendations about products and lifestyle changes to help with your hair growth.
Nutrafol offers four different types of hair supplements: Women’s Balance, designed for peri- and postmenopausal women; the original women’s capsules (available in vegan and nonvegan options); men’s capsules; and the postpartum formula.
Nutrafol has three payment options. If you choose a subscription for any supplement, you will not be charged for shipping. However, if you buy one bottle, you will have to pay $6.95 for shipping.
All monthly subscription services include wellness coaching with a naturopathic doctor, hair mineral analysis testing, and a Headspace subscription. You can pause or cancel any subscription at any time.
- Per bottle: Each bottle costs $88, but it’s possible to find Nutrafol on sale occasionally. Note that if you would like to purchase one bottle, the option for that is under the “add to cart” button.
- Monthly delivery: If you opt for monthly deliveries, it’ll come out to $79 a month. You’ll receive a 1-month supply every month.
- 3-month delivery: A 3-month supply of supplements is $224. You’ll receive 3 months’ worth of supplements on a trimonthly basis.
- 6-month delivery: This plan costs $422. It includes a 6-month supply of your supplements, shipped every 6 months.
According to Nutrafol, the company uses 100% natural ingredients in its products.
Some of these include:
As with any supplement, Nutrafol is not regulated by the FDA. Before starting a new supplement regimen, always talk with a doctor. If you’re pregnant or nursing, be sure to speak with a healthcare professional before starting supplements.
Although Nutrafol claims its supplements should not cause side effects, some customers report experiencing side effects ranging from stomach issues to headaches and blurred vision.
Some of Nutrafol’s active ingredients are known to cause certain side effects. For instance, the
Ashwagandha may also
In a more serious incident, a recent 2024 case report suggested that Nutrafol supplements may have been linked to severe liver injury in a 26-year-old woman. The authors note that several ingredients in Nutrafol supplements, namely turmeric, ashwagandha, horsetail, saw palmetto, kelp minerals, and resveratrol, have the potential to cause liver damage, and the timing of her supplement use matched when her liver problems began.
Nutrafol claims that its clinical studies did not show any side effects from its products. However, the brand does not recommend its supplements to those under 18, pregnant people, or those trying to conceive. It also urges customers to speak with a doctor before buying Nutrafol supplements if they are taking anticoagulants or blood-thinning drugs.
Do your research into Nutrafol ingredients before committing to a purchase, and discuss your hair loss and any supplements you want to try with a doctor. Before trying Nutrafol, you should also talk with a doctor if you have allergies to any of the ingredients in Nutrafol or have preexisting health conditions.
Nutrafol has a wealth of competitors that offer other services and products beyond supplements.
• women experiencing pre- or perimenopause
• clinically-tested products
• its subscription service automatically replenishes your stock
• responses within 24-hours after sign-up
• responses within 24 hours after sign-up
Nutrafol’s website has several before-and-after photos of customers who have had positive results with the supplement. Most have slight thickening at the crown of the head or the part line.
On Amazon, Nutrafol has thousands of reviews for all formulas. More than half are 4- or 5-star ratings. However, many reviews say the product didn’t regrow their hair. Others mention side effects, such as heartburn.
Hair loss is fairly common. It could stem from a variety of causes, ranging from menopause to more serious conditions like cancer or a thyroid issue. If you begin to experience hair loss, it’s best to consult a doctor to talk through your symptoms and medical history to ensure it’s not a symptom of a larger problem.
You should especially consider talking with a doctor if you notice:
- a rash or pain on your scalp
- large amounts of hair loss
- itching or redness
- hair loss with other symptoms, such as heavy menstrual bleeding, fatigue, or swollen lymph nodes
- sudden or unexpected hair loss
- hair loss that affects your ability to live your everyday life
Reviews are largely mixed when it comes to the effectiveness of Nutrafol’s supplements. Although some clinical trials and reviews found the products to gradually work overtime, other users were unhappy with the results.
Nutrafol would most likely work for people experiencing minimal hair loss, as the supplements promote healthy hair growth and thickening.
Nutrafol is made with clinically backed, medical-grade ingredients. The supplements are free of drugs, hormones, and artificial additives. The products are also third-party tested for heavy metals, pesticides, chemicals, and microbiological safety.
Since formulas, ingredients, and supplements are all reviewed by scientists, no data suggest that Nutrafol products are unsafe. However, talk with a doctor before deciding to introduce the supplements into your diet.
The short answer: It’s unclear. Per Nutrafol’s website, you should take it regularly for 3 months, at which time you should start seeing results. If at this point you don’t see any results, connect with a naturopathic doctor before altering your regimen.
It’s possible that hair loss will return if you stop taking Nutrafol, depending on the type of hair loss you have.
According to the company website, you should start to see results in 3 months, assuming you’ve been taking the supplements every day.
Biotin (vitamin B7) can frequently be found in shampoos, conditioners, and supplements to support healthy hair growth and promote thicker, voluminous hair. However, there’s limited research to suggest that people who aren’t deficient in biotin can benefit from biotin-based products.
That being said, different solutions will work for people depending on several factors, such as the cause of hair loss, age, and the general state of the hair.
To choose the best hair loss treatment for you, talk with a doctor to determine the root cause and what’s most likely to help.
There are several downsides to Nutrafol. Nutrafol supplements can be expensive, and it can take months to see results. Plus, some of the active ingredients in Nutrafol supplements can cause side effects, from digestive symptoms to more serious complications such as medication interactions and liver damage.
Hair loss is a common issue in men and women, and it can affect one’s self-confidence and mental health.
Nutrafol offers hair loss supplements to increase hair thickness and growth, and the company claims clinical studies have proven this. Some customers mention positive results with hair growth after using the product, while others say it didn’t really work for them.
If you’re experiencing hair loss or starting a new supplement to relieve it, talking with a dermatologist or another healthcare professional is a good first step.