If natural remedies worked as well as they claim, you'd never see another bald man. However, there is very little clinical evidence that hair can be regrown naturally. The fact is, if you are in the 90% of men whose hair loss is genetic, you need a prescription-strength treatment. But since the natural route is so appealing, companies are happy to take your money. There's a saying about this in the world of marketing: "Where there's a wallet, there's a way".
The fact is, if you are in the 90% of men whose hair loss is genetic, you need a prescription-strength treatment
The short answer is, not very.
But let's dive deeper. After 6 months taking Nutrafol Men's Capsules—the most popular natural remedy for hair regrowth—74% of men in the active group (those taking Nutrafol) rated their hair as "improved". However, 54% in the placebo group equally rated their hair as improved. This means that half of guys literally taking nothing thought their hair had improved. And when we say improved, we don't mean by much. The table below shows a sample of how limited the improvement was compared to the placebo. (Source)
Furthermore, only 52% of men taking Nutrafol were happy with the appearance of their hair overall, compared to 36% of men taking the placebo (again, taking nothing). Even worse, only 15% in the placebo group were unsatisfied with their hair.
In conclusion, 85% of men felt neutral or unhappy with their hair after 6 months. All for a capsule that costs $224 for a 3-month supply. What does this tell us? That there is very little positive effect from taking even the highest quality supplements.
90% of hair loss is a genetic trait passed down from your parents—like eye color or height.
Having genetic hair loss means you were born with a sensitivity to dihydrotestosterone (DHT), a hormone that’s important during puberty but becomes less critical as you age. Over time, DHT begins attacking hair follicles, causing them to shrink, close up, and eventually die. This can't be fixed by diet, exercise, or sleep. You'll need to block at least 50% of DHT production to halt genetic baldness (also called androgenic alopecia, or male pattern baldness).
The natural supplement most commonly used to block DHT is Saw Palmetto which blocks 20-32% of DHT—not enough to have any clinical effect (Source). Finasteride, on the other hand, blocks 65% of DHT—enough to stop or seriously slow down hair loss in the majority of men.
About 10% of hair loss comes from lifestyle factors like stress and malnutrition, this hair loss is called telogen effluvium and usually resolves on its own over time.
However, there are three situations where it might be a good idea to try a natural approach:
We'll be blunt. Rubbing and rinsing something out of your hair for 2 minutes a day and expecting it to regrow is just nonsense.
Shampoos don't actually regrow hair or stop hair loss. Even prescription topical treatments need to sit on your head all day to work, so the idea that you can rub something into your hair for a few minutes and day and get the same effect is a long shot.
A final reason men try natural fixes for hair loss is that most of us hate dealing with doctors. It’s much easier to sell a man an oil or vitamin that doesn’t work very well, but also doesn’t require a visit to the guy who always asks to you to turn your head and cough. 😳
Natural hair loss companies often showcase the rare cases where hair would have come back on its own anyway. Meanwhile, they market these products to the 90% of men experiencing genetic hair loss. Some genuine believers don’t realize their hair might have returned with simple lifestyle changes or time.
It would be unfortunate to try the natural route for a few years only to find it isn’t truly effective for you. By that point, you might lose more hair than you’d like, making it harder to regain the results you’re looking for.
We understand that many men gravitate toward natural remedies, often due to concerns they’ve read online about Finasteride. However, much of what you find online isn’t rooted in clinical evidence—it’s often fear-mongering from companies promoting their own products.
Both natural remedies and Finasteride work by targeting DHT, but only Finasteride is FDA-approved and clinically proven to be effective. So you are still doing the same thing by going the natural route. Side effects from Finasteride are rare, and all controlled trials show side effects are resolved if you stop the medication. Three 12-month studies from the FDA on finasteride found that more men who were taking the placebo pill stopped treatment due to adverse effects than men who were actually taking Finasteride itself.
Locklab is a once-daily pill backed by over 30 years of science and has proven results in stopping hair loss and regrowing hair. Prescriptions are free, and no in-person or video visit is required. Just take a 2-minute quiz and a licensed provider will determine if Locklab is right for you. If approved, Locklab ships free to your door.
