Best Hair Supplement? Nutrafol vs Viviscal vs MIRIQA vs roots²

Written by Dr Heng Jiacheng, MBBS, Diploma in Aesthetic Medicine (AAAM)Associate Member, ISHRS · Member, AAHRS. Insights from a Singapore-based hair-loss physician

Having practised as an aesthetic doctor with a particular interest in hair restoration, I have come across many patients taking an assortment of vitamins and hair supplements, and I have prescribed nutraceuticals myself where appropriate.

Over the years, I became increasingly interested in how differently these supplements are formulated. Some focus predominantly on vitamins and minerals, while others incorporate botanicals, amino acids, structural proteins and ingredients targeting different pathways involved in hair health.

Nutrafol® was one of the formulations that prompted me to look more closely at this space. Rather than relying predominantly on high-dose biotin, it combines multiple categories of ingredients and has also been evaluated in published clinical studies.

That raised a broader question:

How do the different hair supplements on the market actually compare when we look beyond the branding and break down what is inside?

For this comparison, I looked at four hair supplements:

• MIRIQA® Hair Extra Strength

• Viviscal®

• Nutrafol® Women

• roots² Hair Thinning Support

  
  

Rather than deciding which supplement is "best" based on its marketing claims or simply counting ingredients, I compared them across four areas that I consider particularly relevant when evaluating a supplement for progressive hair thinning:

1. Overall formulation

2. DHT modulation and related hair-thinning botanicals

3. Vitamins and micronutrients

4. Structural proteins and amino acids

   
   

Finally, we will put all four formulations side by side.

Disclosure & Disclaimer

This article is intended for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended to disparage or misrepresent any brand or product discussed.

The comparison is based on publicly available product labels, manufacturer information and published scientific literature available at the time of writing.

Disclosure: The author is affiliated with and involved in the formulation of roots², which is included in this comparison.

Ingredient comparisons do not establish clinical superiority. This article is purely my personal opinion and does not constitute as professional advice.

1. Product Overview

At first glance, all four products target broadly similar consumers.

Once the labels are examined more closely, however, their formulation philosophies are quite different.

	roots²	MIRIQA®	Viviscal®	Nutrafol®
Daily serving	3 capsules	2 capsules	2 tablets	4 capsules
Formulation style	Broad multi-ingredient nutraceutical	Compact botanical + structural formula	Marine complex (AminoMar) + micronutrients	Broad multi-ingredient (Synergen complex)
Primary angle	DHT-related botanicals + nutrition + structural support	DHT- related Botanicals + collagen + keratin	Marine protein complex + nutrition	DHT- related botanicals + nutrition + structural support
Individual dose transparency	Transparent	Transparent	Partial - proprietary blends	Partial - with many ingredients within proprietary blends

MIRIQA is the most compact of the four, with its Extra Strength formulation centred around saw palmetto, tocotrienols, ashwagandha, curcumin, collagen and keratin. Its manufacturer currently recommends two capsules daily.

Viviscal takes a substantially different approach, with its AminoMar marine complex forming the centre of the formula alongside selected vitamins and minerals.

Nutrafol and roots² take the broadest multi-ingredient approaches.

Nutrafol's current Women's Core formulation requires four capsules daily and combines its Synergen Complex® with additional vitamins, minerals and structural ingredients.

roots² Hair Thinning Support contains 17 individually quantified active ingredients across DHT-related botanical support, follicular nutrition, structural proteins, amino acids, growth signalling and stress-response support.

What stands out?

Right at the get go, the first major difference is transparency.

MIRIQA and roots² allow most or all active ingredients to be examined individually.

With Nutrafol and Viviscal, we know the total amount of their proprietary complexes, but not necessarily how much of each ingredient is present within them.

That does not make a proprietary blend ineffective, but if you are trying to compare a supplement with doses used in published research, knowing that an ingredient is present and knowing how much of it is present are two different things.

And this becomes particularly relevant in the next section.

2. DHT Modulating and other Botanicals

Androgenetic alopecia AKA pattern hair thinning, involves progressive miniaturisation of genetically susceptible hair follicles. One of its most important biological pathways involves dihydrotestosterone, or DHT.

For clinically significant androgenetic alopecia, pharmaceutical treatments such as finasteride and dutasteride remain substantially better established than nutritional supplements.

Botanical ingredients should therefore be viewed as adjunctive nutritional support rather than equivalents to pharmaceutical DHT inhibition.

Nevertheless, several botanical compounds have been investigated for pathways relevant to androgenetic hair thinning.

Ingredient	roots²	MIRIQA®	Viviscal®	Nutrafol®
Saw Palmetto	320 mg	200 mg	—	Present; individual dose undisclosed
Pumpkin Seed Extract	100 mg	—	—	—
Soy Isoflavones	75 mg	—	—	—
Capsicum Extract	6 mg	—	—	Present; individual dose undisclosed
Ashwagandha	300 mg	200 mg	—	Sensoril®; individual dose undisclosed
Curcumin	—	200 mg	—	BCM-95®; individual dose undisclosed

Why does roots² contain 320 mg of saw palmetto?

This is where I think ingredient comparisons become much more meaningful than simply ticking boxes on a label.

Saw palmetto was not included in roots² simply because it is a popular ingredient in hair-loss supplements.

The 320 mg daily dose has specifically been studied in androgenetic alopecia.

In a 24-month study involving 100 men with mild-to-moderate androgenetic alopecia, one group received 320 mg of Serenoa repens daily, while the other received 1 mg of finasteride. Hair growth improvement was reported in 38% of the saw-palmetto group compared with 68% of those receiving finasteride.

The result is useful for two reasons.

1. It provides a human dose reference for saw palmetto in androgenetic alopecia.

2. It demonstrates why botanical supplementation should not be presented as equivalent to established pharmaceutical treatment: finasteride was clearly more effective in the study.

roots² therefore uses 320 mg of saw palmetto per daily serving, corresponding to the dose used in this published AGA study.

MIRIQA discloses 200 mg.

Nutrafol also contains saw palmetto within its Synergen Complex®, but its individual quantity cannot be determined from the label.

Soy isoflavones + capsicum: 75 mg + 6 mg

This is one of the more interesting parts of the roots² formula because the doses correspond particularly closely with published human research.

A study involving 48 volunteers with alopecia investigated oral:

Capsaicin: 6 mg/day

combined with:

Isoflavones: 75 mg/day

for five months.

The combination increased circulating IGF-1, and hair-growth promotion was reported in 20 of 31 participants receiving the intervention compared with 2 of 17 receiving placebo.

Notably, roots² Hair Thinning Support uses the same daily quantities evaluated in this human study:

Soy isoflavones: 75 mgCapsicum fruit extract: 6 mg

This was a deliberate formulation decision.

Pumpkin seed extract — 100 mg

Pumpkin seed is another ingredient that has attracted increasing interest in androgenetic alopecia.

A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involving 76 men with androgenetic alopecia evaluated 400 mg/day of pumpkin seed oil for 24 weeks.

Mean hair count increased by approximately 40% in the pumpkin-seed-oil group compared with approximately 10% in the placebo group.

This was one of the reasons pumpkin seed was selected for roots² Hair Thinning Support.

roots² uses 100 mg of pumpkin seed extract rather than pumpkin seed oil, so the two doses should not be considered directly equivalent.

However, the inclusion of pumpkin seed is grounded in the broader human and mechanistic literature supporting pumpkin-derived preparations in androgen-related hair thinning.

Ashwagandha — 300 mg

Ashwagandha plays a somewhat different role.

I would not consider it a primary DHT-targeting ingredient in the same way as saw palmetto.

Its inclusion relates more closely to stress-response support.

Stress is a recognised trigger for telogen effluvium and frequently coexists with androgenetic hair thinning. roots² therefore contains 300 mg of ashwagandha root and leaf extract as a complementary component of its multi-pathway formulation.

MIRIQA contains 200 mg KSM-66® ashwagandha, while Nutrafol uses Sensoril® ashwagandha within its proprietary Synergen Complex.

What stands out in DHT-related formulation?

This is probably where the differences between the four products are clearest.

Viviscal does not centre its formula around androgen-related botanicals.

MIRIQA contains a compact combination including saw palmetto, ashwagandha and curcumin, with individual doses disclosed.

Nutrafol contains several interesting overlapping botanicals, including saw palmetto, ashwagandha, curcumin and capsicum - but many individual quantities are not stated because they sit inside proprietary blends.

roots² contains a broader combination of individually quantified hair-thinning botanicals, with the formulation was built with the published literature in mind.

3. Vitamins & Micronutrients

The next comparison initially seems more straightforward.

Nutrafol and Viviscal contain some vitamins and minerals that roots² does not.

Nutrafol also contains substantially larger quantities of several individual vitamins.

But when we formulated roots², we deliberately asked a different question:

Does every vitamin and mineral associated with general nutrition need to be included in a targeted supplement for progressive hair thinning?

The aim was never to create the longest possible multivitamin panel.

Nutrient	roots²	MIRIQA®	Viviscal®	Nutrafol®
Vitamin A	1,000 IU from beta-carotene	—	—	5,000 IU
Vitamin C	100 mg	—	118 mg	100 mg
Vitamin D3	1,000 IU	—	—	2,500 IU
Vitamin E	—	—	—	Present
Riboflavin (B2)	25 mg	—	—	—
Niacin (B3)	—	—	24 mg	—
Biotin (B7)	900 mcg	800 mcg	240 mcg	3,000 mcg
Folic Acid (B9)	900 mcg	—	—	—
Calcium	—	—	120 mg	—
Iron	—	—	20 mg	—
Zinc	15 mg	—	22 mg	25 mg
Iodine	—	—	—	225 mcg
Selenium	—	—	—	200 mcg

Why doesn't roots² contain everything?

This was deliberate.

We wanted something tailored to the local population. roots² was formulated with the local population in mind, prioritising nutrients and nutritional gaps we commonly encounter in clinical practice in Singapore.

What about biotin?

The same "more must be better" mentality frequently appears with biotin.

Nutrafol contains 3,000 mcg.

roots² contains 900 mcg.

MIRIQA contains 800 mcg.

Viviscal contains 240 mcg.

Biotin deficiency can cause hair abnormalities.

However, evidence supporting very high-dose biotin supplementation for hair growth in people without deficiency remains weak.

High-dose biotin can also interfere with certain laboratory tests.

roots² therefore includes biotin as one component of a broader follicular-nutrition strategy rather than positioning megadose biotin as the centrepiece of the product. This is consistent with the formulation philosophy described in the roots² Hair Thinning Support protocol.

Calcium

Calcium is obviously essential for human physiology.

However, additional calcium supplementation is not considered a core nutritional intervention for androgenetic alopecia in an otherwise adequately nourished adult.

There is therefore little rationale for adding calcium to Hair Thinning Support simply to make the mineral list longer.

Iodine

Iodine is required for normal thyroid-hormone production.

And thyroid disease can absolutely cause hair loss.

But that is different from saying that routine iodine supplementation improves pattern hair thinning.

In fact, both inadequate and excessive iodine exposure can impair thyroid function in susceptible individuals.

If someone has hair loss secondary to thyroid disease, the appropriate intervention is to diagnose and treat the thyroid disorder. For that reason, iodine was not included in roots² Hair Thinning Support.

Selenium

Selenium presents an even more interesting example.

Selenium is biologically important, and selenium status has been investigated in hair disorders.

But there is limited evidence that routine supplementation produces additional hair growth in people who are not deficient.

And importantly: excessive selenium exposure is itself a recognised cause of hair loss.

So again, simply seeing selenium on a longer supplement facts panel does not automatically make that formulation better.

roots² therefore does not include selenium simply for micronutrient breadth.

Niacin — Vitamin B3

The same principle applies to niacin.

Severe niacin deficiency is a genuine nutritional disorder and can produce skin and systemic manifestations.

That does not mean increasing niacin intake beyond nutritional adequacy will improve androgenetic alopecia.

The evidence supporting additional niacin specifically for hair growth in a non-deficient person is limited, so it was not prioritised in Hair Thinning Support.

Vitamin A: why more is not necessarily better

Vitamin A is perhaps the best example of why comparing supplements based purely on the largest number can be misleading.

Nutrafol provides 5,000 IU of vitamin A per daily serving.

roots² provides 1,000 IU, derived from beta-carotene.

At first glance, the larger number might appear superior.

But vitamin A has an important relationship with hair biology: both deficiency and excessive exposure can adversely affect hair.

Chronic vitamin A toxicity is a recognised cause of alopecia, particularly with excessive intake of preformed vitamin A.

The tolerable upper intake level for adults for preformed vitamin A is 3,000 mcg RAE(Retinol Activity Equivalents), equivalent to approximately 10,000 IU.

That does not mean Nutrafol's 5,000 IU dose causes vitamin A toxicity.

It does not.

The point is more fundamental:

With vitamin A, a higher dose should not automatically be treated as a formulation advantage.

roots² therefore uses beta-carotene as its vitamin A source.

Beta-carotene is a provitamin A carotenoid, meaning the body converts it into active vitamin A according to physiological need, rather than providing the same direct preformed retinol exposure.

The objective is adequate nutritional support and not to maximise the number printed on the label.

What about iron?

Viviscal contains iron. roots² Hair Thinning Support does not.

This is another deliberate distinction.

Iron deficiency is relatively common in women and can contribute to hair shedding, but it is much less commonly encountered in men. Because Hair Thinning Support is designed for both men and women, we did not feel it was appropriate to include iron routinely in every serving.

If iron deficiency is suspected, we would rather identify it appropriately and replace it based on individual need than supplement iron indiscriminately in someone who may already have adequate stores.

Iron is, however, included in our Postpartum Hair Health formulation, where iron depletion is more commonly encountered and the nutritional context is different.

This reflects the broader roots² approach: different hair concerns and different patient populations should not automatically receive the same nutritional formula.

4. Structural Proteins & Amino Acids

Hair fibres consist predominantly of keratin.

Keratin itself is particularly rich in sulphur-containing amino acids, which makes proteins and amino acids another logical area to examine when comparing hair supplements.

For this section, I would focus primarily on ingredients with a clear structural relationship to hair:

• collagen

• keratin

• cysteine/cystine

• lysine

• methionine

I would not give ingredients such as horsetail or millet seed equivalent weight simply because they appear in some commercial hair supplements.

Ingredient	roots²	MIRIQA®	Viviscal®	Nutrafol®
Marine Collagen / Marine Complex	300 mg Type I & III marine collagen	200 mg collagen	900 mg AminoMar™ complex*	Present within Synergen Complex®; individual dose undisclosed
Keratin	30 mg hydrolysed keratin	200 mg	—	Present; individual dose undisclosed
L-Cysteine / L-Cystine	30 mg L-Cysteine	—	—	Present; individual dose undisclosed
L-Lysine	30 mg	—	—	Present; individual dose undisclosed
L-Methionine	30 mg	—	—	Present; individual dose undisclosed
Silica (Horsetail Extract)	—	—	73.4 mg	In Nutrafol Blend (mg undisclosed)
Millet Seed Extract	—	—	15 mg	—

*Viviscal discloses the total amount of its proprietary AminoMar complex rather than separately quantifying its individual marine components.

Why focus on amino acids?

Hair keratin is not simply a generic protein.

Its strength and structure depend heavily on sulphur-containing amino acids - particularly cysteine and methionine.

roots² therefore contains:

• L-Cysteine — 30 mg

• L-Methionine — 30 mg

• L-Lysine — 30 mg

alongside:

• Marine collagen — 300 mg

• Hydrolysed keratin — 30 mg

  
  

Clinical research involving multi-ingredient supplements containing amino acids has reported improvements in outcomes including anagen hair rates and hair density, although it is important to recognise that these studies generally evaluate combinations rather than isolating the independent effect of a single amino acid. roots² discusses this structural rationale in more detail in its Hair Thinning Support protocol.

MIRIQA

MIRIQA takes a simple and transparent approach here:

200 mg marine collagen

and

200 mg keratin

per daily serving.

Those quantities are individually disclosed.

This is one area where MIRIQA compares particularly well from a transparency perspective.

Viviscal

Viviscal takes a very different approach.

Its formula is centred around AminoMar™, its longstanding proprietary marine complex. At 900 mg per full daily serving, this is the largest disclosed marine-complex quantity among the four products.

However, because AminoMar itself is a proprietary complex, the individual contribution of each marine component cannot be established simply from its total weight.

Viviscal's strength here is instead the clinical research conducted on the finished marine-complex supplement.

Nutrafol

Nutrafol covers much of the same structural territory as roots².

It includes:

• marine collagen

• keratin

• L-cystine

• L-lysine

• L-methionine

The conceptual approach is therefore very comprehensive.

The main difference is again dose disclosure.

These ingredients sit within Nutrafol's proprietary blends, meaning their individual quantities cannot be established from the label. We know they are present. but we cannot determine how many milligrams of each are being consumed.

What about horsetail and millet seed?

Horsetail and millet seed appear in some hair supplements and have biological rationales behind their use.

However, I would not give them the same weighting as collagen, keratin and amino acids when assessing structural support.

Human evidence specifically isolating oral horsetail extract as a hair-growth intervention remains limited.

Millet has somewhat more literature, but it has frequently been investigated as part of multi-ingredient combination formulations, making its independent contribution difficult to establish.

That is why neither was prioritised simply to increase the ingredient count in Hair Thinning Support.

5. Summary at a Glance

Once all four formulations are placed side by side, their different philosophies become fairly clear.

Category	roots²	MIRIQA®	Viviscal®	Nutrafol®
DHT-related / hair-thinning botanicals	Broad; individually quantified with literature-informed dose selection	Moderate; disclosed doses	Minimal	Broad; many individual quantities undisclosed
Vitamins & micronutrients	Selective, targeted micronutrient approach	Minimal	Traditional vitamin/mineral base	Broad with several higher-dose micronutrients
Structural support	Collagen + keratin + 3 individually quantified amino acids	Collagen + keratin	Large proprietary marine complex	Broad: collagen + keratin + amino acids
Individual dose transparency	High	High	Partial	Partial
Daily serving	3 capsules	2 capsules	2 tablets	4 capsules

So Which is the Best Hair Supplement?

At present, there are no head-to-head clinical trials comparing these nutraceuticals directly against one another.

That means we cannot fairly conclude that one finished product is clinically superior to another based on current evidence alone. What we can do is compare what is publicly disclosed - the ingredients, their doses, the formulation approach and the clinical evidence available for each product.

Each formula has its own strengths and limitations.

As someone involved in the formulation of roots², I naturally have my own bias, which is why I think it is important to be transparent about it and let the formulation speak for itself.

Ultimately, whichever nutraceutical you choose, it should be considered an adjunct rather than a replacement for appropriate diagnosis and evidence-based medical treatment of hair loss.