Does nettle tea help hair growth?

Nobody knows, because as far as we could find nobody has tested it. We found no randomized trial, no review and not even a case series of nettle tea, or of any nettle product taken by mouth, for hair loss or hair growth. A 2025 systematic review of 16 randomized trials of herbal hair remedies turned up a single trial with nettle in it, and that was a shampoo and lotion of six herbs rubbed on the scalp. A 2025 network meta-analysis of 19 trials of oral supplements in 1,658 people with pattern hair loss did not include nettle at all.

Unsettled. The claim that nettle tea grows hair is untested in people. That is different from tested and failed. The honest answer is that we found no human evidence either way, and the only mechanism offered for it that we could trace to a study comes from a computer model.

What the trials found

The one trial is a 2018 single-blind randomized trial in 120 people, 60 men and 60 women, with pattern hair loss or with the diffuse shedding called telogen effluvium. For 6 months they used a shampoo and a scalp lotion containing six plant extracts, two of them from nettle leaf and nettle root, or a placebo. The authors report that the herbal products prevented and reduced hair loss better than placebo at every visit. Three things limit what that means for tea. The product went on the scalp, so it says nothing about drinking anything. Nettle was one of six herbs, so its own share of any effect cannot be separated. And the trial was blinded on one side only, with authors from the laboratory that made the product. We read the abstract and the 2025 review's description of it, not the full paper.

The supplement meta-analysis is the closest thing to the right question, because it covers products swallowed for hair. It pooled 19 randomized trials with 894 people on supplements and 764 controls. We searched its full text for nettle and its Latin name, Urtica, and found nothing. Some branded blends do not list every ingredient, so a trace of nettle inside one of them cannot be ruled out.

The usual explanation offered for nettle and hair is that it blocks 5-alpha reductase, the enzyme that drives pattern hair loss. The only support we found is a 2025 computer docking study. It predicted that 6 molecules found across nettle, saw palmetto and fenugreek bind the enzyme. Nothing was tested in cells, animals or people, and how much of those molecules a cup of tea carries is unknown.

Who should be careful

Not for everyone. The EU herbal monograph does not recommend nettle herb in pregnancy or while breastfeeding, because its safety there has not been established. That is a gap in the data, not a proven harm, and it is still a reason to skip it.

The same monograph advises against nettle herb for people who have been told to limit how much they drink, which includes some people with heart or kidney disease, because treatment with it assumes plenty of fluid. It lists nausea, vomiting and diarrhea as side effects, and says their frequency is not known. In one case report a 30 year old woman taking a 500 mg stinging nettle supplement for a month developed breast milk discharge, which cleared a week after she stopped. That is a single case, with a supplement rather than tea, and she was also using echinacea and a hormonal implant. A 1980 case shows a different risk. A 57 year old woman was poisoned by nettle tea that turned out to be contaminated with deadly nightshade. The harm came from the contaminant, not the nettle, and it is an argument for buying tea from a source you trust.

What expert bodies say

The European Medicines Agency's herbal committee lists three traditional uses of nettle herb: minor urinary complaints, minor joint pain and oily, seborrhoeic skin. Hair loss is not one of them. Traditional use means long use without proof of efficacy, so even these three are not trial results. The same monograph notes that nettle herb has never been tested for reproductive toxicity, genotoxicity or cancer risk. We found no fact sheet on nettle from the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements.

How we searched

What would change this answer

• A double-blind randomized trial of nettle leaf or root taken by mouth, as tea or extract, in pattern hair loss or telogen effluvium, with hair counts as the outcome. This is the trial the claim needs and nobody has run.
• A topical trial that tests nettle on its own. The only existing trial mixed it with five other herbs.
• Any human measurement of whether nettle changes the hormone DHT in the scalp. The enzyme story rests on a computer model.

For what nettle tea is and what else has been studied, see nettle tea. For hair loss nutrients with real trials behind them, see iron and hair loss.

Sources

1. ev-nthl-01 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · systematic review of randomized controlled trials (with narrative overview) · n = 16 RCTs in the review; 120 in the nettle-containing trial
   This trial evaluated the efficacy of applying a proprietary herbal shampoo and solution containing six different herbal extracts (Urtica urens leaf extract, Urtica dioica root extract, Matricaria chamomilla flower extract, Achillea millefolium aerial part extract, Ceratonia siliqua fruit extract, Equisetum arvense leaf extract) in 120 subjects (60 males, 60 females) with AGA (54) or TE (66).
   
   Who: 120 subjects (60 males, 60 females) with androgenetic alopecia (54) or telogen effluvium (66)
   Effect: no trial of nettle tea or oral nettle; nettle (Urtica urens leaf, Urtica dioica root) only as part of a topical six-herb formula
   Certainty: The PMC full text was read in full: there are no other mentions of nettle in the clinical part. A review without a meta-analysis.
   Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Archives of Pharmacology, 2025, 398(12):16311-16354 (Allam et al.) · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the fulltext
2. ev-nthl-02 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · randomized, placebo-controlled, single-blind trial · n = 120
   Herbal formulations were found to be more effective in preventing and reducing hair loss than placebo at every assessment point.
   
   Who: 120 subjects with androgenetic alopecia and telogen effluvium, topical shampoo and solution for 6 months
   Effect: less hair loss than placebo at every assessment point; size of effect not checked (full text not read)
   Certainty: Local, not tea; six herbs, the contribution of nettle is not isolated; single-blind only; authors from the manufacturer's laboratory.
   Acta Dermatovenerologica Alpina, Pannonica et Adriatica, 2018, 27(2):51-57 (Pekmezci et al.) · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
3. ev-nthl-03 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials, GRADE · n = 19 RCTs, 1658
   A total of 19 RCTs involving 1,658 AGA patients were included, with 894 patients in the supplement group and 764 in the control group.
   
   Who: patients with androgenetic alopecia in RCTs of dietary supplements
   Effect: nettle not among the supplements compared (full text searched for nettle and Urtica)
   Certainty: The PMC full text was checked by searching for nettle/Urtica: zero mentions. The composition of branded blends may not have been disclosed.
   Front Nutr, 2025 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
4. ev-nthl-04 · Laboratory or animal data · in silico molecular docking study · n = —
   We found that 6 molecules-Jamogenin, Neodiosgenin, Chlorogenic acid, Rutin, Riboflavin, and Ursolic acid-are effective in binding to 5-AR.
   
   Who: in silico docking and molecular dynamics, no cells, animals or humans
   Effect: 6 phytochemicals (incl. chlorogenic acid, rutin, ursolic acid) predicted to bind 5-alpha reductase
   Certainty: A model, not an experiment; compounds from three plants together, not from tea; concentrations in tea unknown.
   Frontiers in Bioinformatics, 2025, 5:1570101 (Hasannejad-Asl et al.) · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
5. ev-nthl-05 · Position of an expert body · regulatory herbal monograph, traditional use · n = —
   Traditional herbal medicinal product used in seborrhoeic skin conditions.
   
   Who: adults and adolescents
   Effect: three traditional indications; no hair indication
   Certainty: Traditional use, efficacy not demonstrated; neither the folium nor the herba monograph has an indication for hair.
   EMA/HMPC, European Union herbal monograph on Urtica dioica L.; Urtica urens L., herba, Final Revision 1, 2025 (EMA/HMPC/261302/2022) · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the section
6. ev-nthl-06 · Position of an expert body · regulatory herbal monograph, traditional use · n = —
   Safety during pregnancy and lactation has not been established. In the absence of sufficient data, the use during pregnancy and lactation is not recommended.
   
   Who: pregnant and breastfeeding women
   Effect: use not recommended
   Certainty: Absence of data, not demonstrated harm.
   EMA/HMPC, European Union herbal monograph on Urtica dioica L.; Urtica urens L., herba, Final Revision 1, 2025 (EMA/HMPC/261302/2022) · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the section
7. ev-nthl-07 · Position of an expert body · regulatory herbal monograph, traditional use · n = —
   Because adequate fluid intake is required during treatment, Urtica dioica L. and Urtica urens L., herba are not recommended for patients with conditions where reduced fluid intake is advised.
   
   Who: patients with conditions where reduced fluid intake is advised
   Effect: not recommended
   Certainty: Nettle is a diuretic, use implies plenty of fluid.
   EMA/HMPC, European Union herbal monograph on Urtica dioica L.; Urtica urens L., herba, Final Revision 1, 2025 (EMA/HMPC/261302/2022) · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the section
8. ev-nthl-08 · Position of an expert body · regulatory herbal monograph, traditional use · n = —
   Gastrointestinal disorders: nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea. The frequency is not known.
   
   Who: users of nettle herb preparations
   Effect: nausea, vomiting and diarrhea; frequency not known
   Certainty: Frequency unknown; nettle allergy is a reason not to drink it.
   EMA/HMPC, European Union herbal monograph on Urtica dioica L.; Urtica urens L., herba, Final Revision 1, 2025 (EMA/HMPC/261302/2022) · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the section
9. ev-nthl-09 · Laboratory or animal data · case report · n = 1
   One week after discontinuation, she returned to the clinic with complete resolution of the galactorrhea.
   
   Who: one 30 year old woman taking stinging nettle 500 mg for a month
   Effect: galactorrhea resolved one week after discontinuation
   Certainty: A single case, a supplement and not tea, with echinacea and an etonogestrel implant alongside. Series/case is D pending Roman's decision.
   Am J Case Rep, 2021 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
10. nttl-daily-r4-06 · Laboratory or animal data · case report · n = 1
    The analyses of the tea specimen proved bad defilements among other things with elements of the "belladonna" (Atropa belladonna).
    
    Who: One 57 year old woman
    Effect: atropine poisoning from tea contaminated with Atropa belladonna
    Certainty: A single case from 1980; harm from an admixture, not from nettle.
    Fortschr Med, 1980 · checked 2026-09-29 · we read the abstract
11. nttl-daily-r4-12 · Position of an expert body · regulatory herbal monograph · n = —
    Tests on reproductive toxicity, genotoxicity and carcinogenicity have not been performed.
    
    Who: —
    Effect: no preclinical safety tests
    Certainty: A gap recorded by an authority in 2025.
    EMA/HMPC, European Union herbal monograph on Urtica dioica L.; Urtica urens L., herba, Final Revision 1, 2025 · checked 2026-09-29 · we read the section