You may have seen commercials for Nugenix on TV or heard them on the radio. It claims it will increase muscle mass, make you leaner and increase sexual performance.
They even have baseball legend Frank Thomas in their commercial saying he uses Nugenix and how great it works for him. I was always a fan of Frank’s but I really have my doubts about him ever taking Nugenix at any time in his life.
You might be wondering:
Does this supplement really work? Is it all just hype?
That is what we are going to find out today in our Nugenix review.
What is Nugenix?
Nugenix is a testosterone booster that is made and sold by GNC and Walgreens. It is currently the most sold testosterone booster on the market. They have a few different versions of this product like Nugenix Max which is insanely over priced but the version we are reviewing today is the most popular of all the versions by far.
This is a testosterone booster that is made to increase strength and muscle mass while reducing body fat as we said in the intro. It is also supposed to give you an extra kick in the bedroom in terms of sexual function and libido.
GNC offers a wide variety of health supplements that cover just about anything you can imagine and Nugenix is one of if not the most popular supplement they carry overall. Nugenix is available in any GNC store as well as all over the internet if you really want this product it isn’t hard to find.
Nugenix is meant for guys who have started to feel the effects of lower testosterone. As men age their testosterone decreases every year once they hit their mid-twenties. This makes it harder to build muscle and stay lean. You also have a loss in sex drive and performance issues in the bedroom. These problems only get worse as time goes on. Nugenix is made to reverse this problem and bring back that youthful vitality and vigor. Does it actually work? Some testosterone boosters do, let’s take a look at the ingredients and see how effective they are and how well this product works.
Nugenix Ingredients
When it comes to evaluating any supplement it really all comes down to the ingredients and the dosing. That is where you will find out how well it actually works, everything else is just marketing and hype. Here is how the ingredients for Nugenix break down:
Vitamin B6 (2mg) – Vitamin B6 is essential for many functions in your body, including the regulation and production of testosterone. The 2mg dose in this product is adequate.
Vitamin B12 (mcg) – Studies show that people who are anemic tend not to have high levels of testosterone because they cannot absorb vitamin B12. Dosing on this ingredient is also very good.
Zinc (1mg) – Zinc is an important mineral when it comes to boosting test levels. Studies have shown that supplementing with zinc will increase testosterone and if you actually restrict zinc intake your test levels go down. This ingredient is a must-have. Unfortunately, this product has a pathetic dose of only 1 gram per serving. That is not even close to enough to get the job done.
*The remaining ingredients are part of a proprietary blend, more on proprietary blends after these ingredients.
L-Citrulline Malate – Citrulline-Malate is an ingredient that is actually pretty common in most pre-workout supplements. This ingredient has been shown to increase strength and endurance. It hasn’t been shown to do anything for testosterone levels though.
Fenugreek – This ingredient is an herb found in curries that has been shown to increase testosterone levels as well as sperm quality.
Tribulus – This is an ingredient that many testosterone boosters used to use. The problem is it doesn’t work. This study along with many others have shown that Tribulus is completely ineffective at increasing testosterone levels. Many manufacturers have been phasing this ingredient out, Nugenix has yet to do so.
The above three ingredients are in what is called a proprietary blend. This means they blend the ingredients together and only tell you the total size of the blend. The problem is they don’t tell you how much of each ingredient is actually in the blend so you have no way of knowing. Therefore we have no way to know how much of the three above ingredients are in Nugenix.
The proprietary blend is something you should try to avoid if possible so you know exactly what you are getting and how much of each ingredient is in the product. This is best to help you know if you can avoid side effects and to help determine the effectiveness of a product.
Unfortunately, proprietary blends are pretty common in many supplements and more of them pop up every year as manufacturers try to cut corners. You should try to avoid them when possible.
Overall these ingredients are a bit on the week side. The zinc dosage is way too low and Tribulus has been proven ineffective. Add in the proprietary bend and we have to give these ingredients a thumbs down.
Missing Ingredients
Nugenix has a couple decent ingredients in it but it is missing other key ingredients that could boost testosterone and build muscle. If you are paying the full price for this product you should be getting a bit more than you do.
One common test boosting ingredient that is missing here is magnesium. Other quality ingredients they could be using include ginseng, D-Aspartic Acid and ashwagandha. If they added a few of these ingredients they would really have a nice product that would be much more effective.
Of course, as with any testosterone booster supplement, there is a slight risk of side effects. Thankfully Nugenix has only a limited number of ingredients which makes side effects less likely.
One ingredient that can cause side effects in some people is Fenugreek. Some people experience nasal congestion, coughing, wheezing, facial swelling, and severe allergic reactions in people with high sensitivity levels. These side effects are pretty rare though and only occur in the ultra sensitive.
Nugenix Reviews
Reviews on this one are pretty mixed. It is pretty interesting that the product reviews its own website have it rated at 3.5 out of 5 stars. That is pretty unusual. Usually, most companies only approve positive reviews for their own websites so this tells me that either GNC is allowing bad reviews of their own product to be posted or they have forgotten to filter out the bad reviews. Looking through other reviews across the internet and it looks like the average score for Nugenix is about 3 stars which seems about right after looking at the ingredients and doses.
Nugenix vs Testofuel
Testofuel is our top-rated muscle building testosterone booster. When we compare Testosterone to Nugenix it is a pretty easy victory for TestoFuel. Testofuel has 9 active ingredients while Nugenix has only 6 and Testofuel’s doses on their ingredients are much higher. The reviews on the Internet are also much more friendly when it comes to Testofuel. The nice part is both products are about the same price so you can get much more with Testofuel without spending more. One advantage for Nugenix is that it is available in stores like Walgreens and GNC but you can only get Testofuel from the manufacturer’s official website, it is not available in any store or any other websites. Testofuel is easily the better buy of the two though.
Nugenix Dosage
The dosage on this product is three capsules per day with water. This is enough to last you for 1 month. The three capsules should be spread out over the course of the day so that your testosterone levels don’t dip in between doses. We would prefer 4 doses per day but three is acceptable.
Nugenix Price
The price for Nugenix is currently listed at $57.99 on the GNC website. This is about an average price for a good testosterone booster these days. The problem is Nugenix is not good enough to be charging this price, they might be the most popular but the quality of the product is not worth $57.99.
They currently have a deal where you can buy 1 and get 1 half off on the GNC website. We are not sure how long that offer will last or if it is indefinite. They also offer free shipping on all orders over $49 so that can help save a few bucks.
Will Nugenix Work for You?
With just three of our favorite test boosting ingredients in this product there may be only a small benefit to taking Nugenix. Three proven testosterone boosting ingredients are never going to be enough to produce big results though especially considering that they use zinc in such a low dose. If you get any effects from this product they will be minimal at best.
Nugenix Pros and Cons
Pros
Uses fenugreek, zinc and vitamin b to boost testosterone
Uses L-Citrulline Malate to build muscle
Most popular brand of testosterone boosters, reputable name and manufacturer
Cons
Uses a proprietary blend
Uses the ingredient Tribulus which has been proven ineffective
Mixed reviews online
Low dose of zinc
Nugenix Conclusion
Overall while Nugenix does have some ingredients that can help increase your testosterone levels it either has a low dose like zinc or we don’t know what the dose is like with the fenugreek because it is in a proprietary blend. Unfortunalely, this product just does not have enough proven ingredients to really give you a solid boost of testosterone, any effects that this product may have on your test levels will be minimal at best.
This product just doesn’t measure up to some of the top testosterone boosters on the market and is missing some key ingredients like D-Aspartic Acid, D3, Magnesium, K2 and even Oyster extract.
They did use some ingredients that are worthwhile but not enough of them and some not in high enough doses. I would skip this product and look for something with more active ingredients and better reviews too. Just because something is the most popular does not always mean it is the best. Check out our list of the best testosterone boosters for building muscle, any of the choices on that list are far better than Nugenix.
