HUM Nutrition Reviews: Pros, cons, and alternatives

Though we all know that we should get all our essential vitamins and minerals from our diets, it doesn’t always happen. Juggling a busy lifestyle and getting in your vitamin B12 can be difficult. And as we encounter different life stages and health concerns, there’s a lot of information out there about what ingredients may benefit our well-being (some more legitimate than others). With so many vitamin and nutrient supplements to choose from, how do you decide what direction to go?

Over the past decade, many supplement companies have started targeting emotional wellness and beauty, and it’s easy to see why — the former is so vital to our well-being that the U.S. Surgeon General previously described it as one of the three pillars of health.83

One such supplement brand is HUM Nutrition, which emerged in 2012 and has continued to grow. HUM offers specialized supplements aimed toward common concerns (like acne, bloating, and hair health), with sleek marketing and a convenient subscription program. But are HUM’s formulations actually effective? We’ve thoroughly evaluated HUM’s product line to help you determine if they’re the right choice for you.

HUM Nutrition offers a personalized supplement subscription service with products geared toward the skin, women’s health, mood, body (including gut health and immunity), hair, and nails. While more expensive than some competitors, the company offers steep discounts through its subscription program. However, some products have ingredients with low dosages or a lack of scientific research to support their inclusion. Despite this, HUM’s products are non-GMO, third-party tested for quality and safety, and the company has excellent customer service. Overall, we feel that HUM could be a good choice for those seeking unique formulations for beauty and wellness concerns.

Over the past two decades, Innerbody Research has helped tens of millions of readers make more informed decisions to live healthier lifestyles.

Our team has spent over 200 hours researching HUM Nutrition, its ingredients, and its close competitors. We also scrutinized the customer experience by ordering the products ourselves to conduct hands-on testing and see how HUM stacks up against other supplement brands.

We evaluate the products and services we review (including HUM Nutrition) based on current quality standards and research, continually assessing our information to make sure it’s always up-to-date. As the science surrounding HUM Nutrition’s supplements evolves, so will the information on this page.

Additionally, this review of HUM Nutrition, like all health-related content on this website, was thoroughly vetted by one or more members of our Medical Review Board for accuracy.

In order to best appraise HUM Nutrition and its products, we focused on a handful of criteria that we felt would be important to most consumers.

• Efficacy: Based on current research, are the ingredients and dosages used likely to deliver on HUM’s promises?
• Safety: What quality assurance practices are used? Are the ingredients safe?
• Cost: How do the sticker price, discounts, subscription deals, and shipping compare to the competition?
• Supplement variety: What does HUM have to offer compared to other subscription supplement companies?
• Customer service: Is the customer service experience positive? What is the return policy like?

Efficacy

On its website, HUM declares that its products are “clean and clinically tested.” But while a lot of HUM Nutrition’s products hit the mark with straightforward ingredients in therapeutic dosages that have been studied in scientific research studies, others are not as solid. In fact, we found that several products are under-dosed. Others include herbal ingredients that lack a strong body of evidence in clinical trials.

The reasoning behind the ingredients of every product is listed on HUM’s product pages, which we appreciate. However, almost every product page displays a statistic about its efficacy that comes from a HUM consumer survey. These results can be really misleading — a company-sponsored customer survey is not the same as a clinical trial.

On the topic of clinical trials, it appears that four out of HUM’s 40+ products have undergone an actual human clinical research study, but not all have been published in peer-reviewed scientific journals at the time of this review. While a company conducting clinical research studies on its products is nice to see, HUM’s four trials pale in comparison to competitor Nature Made’s 143 clinical trials using its supplements. (To be fair, though, HUM has only been around for a little over a decade, while Nature Made is a brand with 50+ years behind it.)

Overall, most of HUM’s formulations are thoughtfully put together, but we advise you to use caution when considering products that contain mostly herbal ingredients and make big promises.

Safety

The FDA does not approve dietary supplements like it does prescription drugs. It does, however, have rules in place for product manufacturing, labeling, and safety. HUM manufactures its products under Current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) requirements. The company also uses third-party testing for purity, strength, composition, and contaminant levels for all of its products. HUM uses only non-GMO ingredients and is also Clean Label Project certified.

HUM states that all of its products are free of the “Tricky 12,” a concept the company created. In short, HUM avoids the following in its supplements:

1. Titanium dioxide
2. Artificial colors
3. Artificial preservatives
4. Artificial sweeteners
5. Artificial flavors
6. High fructose corn syrup
7. Hydrogenated oils
8. Talc
9. Magnesium silicate
10. EDTA and its derivatives84
11. Shellac
12. Pharmaceutical glaze

Competitor Ritual shares a similar ingredient philosophy by not including what the company feels that most people don’t need. For example, even though it can support immunity,77 the company doesn’t add vitamin C in a majority of its multivitamins since most people get enough from their diets, and too much can make you feel sick.85

Cost

HUM Nutrition’s products are more expensive than similar supplement options on the market, though they’re not the most costly we’ve seen. For example, HUM’s Here Comes the Sun 2,000IU vitamin D3 supplement will cost you $15 a month, while Nature Made offers a comparable vitamin D3 product that costs just $11 for 90 softgels (a 3-month supply). However, it’s worth noting that most of HUM’s formulas have unique ingredient combinations that make it difficult to directly compare with other brands, so it’s a good idea to take a close look at the supplement facts and decide if the ingredients included are worth the price tag.

Plus, there are ways to save money here. Purchasing at least three items on the HUM website will take 10% off of your purchase, and having an order totaling $50 or more unlocks free shipping. Additionally, you can save $10 if your purchase is $30 or more using code HUM10.

If you choose to purchase HUM products from the company’s website, you’ll have to subscribe. There are two options, each with different perks:

• Monthly: With this option, you won’t save any additional money, but you can cancel at any time without penalty.
• VIP: This option takes 20% off each of your recurring orders, but you need to accept and pay for at least three orders before you can cancel. If you try to cancel before the three orders, you’ll be charged back whatever you saved.

If you want to just purchase a single bottle, you can now find HUM at various retailers like Target, Walmart, and Amazon, but you won’t get HUM’s subscriber perks or the 10% discount for purchasing at least three bottles.

Supplement variety

HUM offers an extensive catalog of 40+ different products geared toward the skin, sleep, energy, mood, women’s health, gut health, bloating, immunity, hair, and nails. The company doesn’t offer the typical multivitamin products for overall health; rather, it offers supplements designed to target specific concerns.

HUM’s formulas generally combine vitamins and minerals along with herbal ingredients. If you’re looking for a more general health supplement or something with a simple one-ingredient focus, you won’t be able to find it here — you’ll likely have better luck with competitors like Ritual or Nature Made.

Customer service

Several registered dieticians work for HUM and are available to speak with you about the products as well as your pre-existing diet and health goals. If you take the quiz on HUM’s website, the company capitalizes on this by matching you with one of its several nutritionists. Whether or not you end up purchasing the products, you still have the opportunity to discuss your needs with a professional for free.

All of our customer service experiences with HUM have been positive and pleasant. You can contact HUM via phone, live chat (available 24/7, but will start you with a chatbot), or through a contact form on the company website. Notably, while it’s easy to get in touch with HUM, we wish the subscription cancellation process was simpler and did not require emailing or calling the company.

HUM only accepts returns of unopened products for 30 days after purchase. If you have already opened and tried a product, the company is willing to apply store credit to your account instead of a refund. This return policy is pretty typical for supplement companies and falls in line with competitors like Ritual.

Founded in 2012, HUM Nutrition is a supplement brand that follows the “beauty from within” mentality, designing nutritional supplements focused on specific issues related to skin, hair, body, mood, and women’s health. The company emphasizes a connection between micronutrients and the effects of lifestyle and diet on your appearance and overall well-being.

Currently, HUM catalogs its products into the following categories:

• Skin
• Mood
• Women’s health
• Body
• Hair+Nails

HUM features registered dieticians (RDNs) on staff to answer any questions you might have and to provide advice on products, diet, and wellness goals. And every customer is assigned to one of the company’s five nutritionists automatically.

At the time of this writing, HUM Nutrition has conducted four double-blind, randomized, and placebo-controlled studies on some of its products, and links to the studies are found on the HUM website. Most of the formulas are vegan, and they’re all gluten-free and GMO-free. HUM products are manufactured in southern California under current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMPs) and undergo third-party testing for purity, strength, composition, and contaminants.

Sustainability

HUM has prioritized sustainable practices as the company is transitioning to all its bottles being made from 100% ocean-bound plastic. The company states that one bottle of HUM prevents the equivalent of two to four plastic water bottles from entering our oceans. HUM products are shipped without outer cartons to minimize potential waste, with SFI- and FSC-certified shipping materials printed using 100% wind energy. In addition, its bubble wrap is biodegradable and compostable. By 2025, HUM aims to completely eliminate single-use plastic.

Landscape of reputation and customer reviews

HUM Nutrition has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. There are only 15 customer reviews on BBB, giving an overall rating of 1 out of 5 stars. However, most of the reviews mention confusion with the subscription service and efforts to cancel, not with the products themselves. There have been 33 complaints closed in the last three years. We found a similar outlook on Trustpilot, with an overall 1.4 out of 5-star rating from only 40 reviews.

In contrast, product reviews on Amazon and HUM’s website are overwhelmingly positive (most average 4+ stars), with thousands of reviews on the most popular products. Positive reviews most often mention product quality and effectiveness, while a common thread in negative reviews is the expense of the supplements.

While some of HUM’s supplements are geared toward women, a large portion of the company’s catalog can be used by men or women. HUM products may be ideal for those looking for advice from a professional (in this case, a registered dietician) when it comes to what supplements would help them meet their health goals. HUM could also be a good choice for those who want to target a specific concern and are willing to try a combination of vitamins, minerals, and herbal ingredients.

However, if you’re on a tight budget or looking for a simple supplement with just one specific ingredient, HUM is not the best option. There are plenty of other dietary supplement options available by reputable brands (like Nature Made) at any major retailer that will cost you far less.

HUM Nutrition is a subscription service that delivers supplements every month. You can sign up for either a month-to-month (meaning you’ll need to renew your subscription monthly) or a three-month VIP membership. Subscriptions are common in the supplement space. For example, competitor Persona is only available as a subscription.

But, if you’re interested in trying just one bottle of a HUM supplement, many online and brick-and-mortar retail stores now carry its products, including Target, Walmart, Nordstrom, and Amazon.

HUM’s formulas aim to help you meet your beauty and wellness goals by providing supplemental nutrients that specifically target problem areas or deficiencies. This can be anything from PMS symptoms to sleeplessness. We delve further into how the ingredients in the supplements may help specific symptoms in their respective sections down below.

Quiz

In order to be matched with the best possible supplements for your beauty and lifestyle goals, HUM recommends you start with its 13-question quiz. These questions ask about your:

• Diet
• Activity levels
• Lifestyle (alcohol, sleep, stress, etc.)
• Mood
• Personal concerns
• Gender
• Age
• Waist size

Once you’ve answered all of the questions, which took our testers less than five minutes, you’ll be prompted to create an account before getting your results. Creating an account connects you to a registered dietician and their recommendations — and it gets you a $10 first-time discount.

Based on the founder’s experience with persistent acne, one of HUM’s top priorities is supplement support for skin concerns. These products target a range of skin problems, such as acne, dryness, elasticity, and aging. Below, we break down each of HUM’s skin-focused products.

Since many of the nutrients needed for maintaining healthy, strong hair and nails are similar to those needed for healthy skin, these hair supplements often overlap with HUM’s skincare line. However, HUM offers a few products specifically aimed at hair and nails.

An important part of feeling good is actually feeling good — not just physically but mentally, too. HUM offers multiple products designed to help improve your overall mood and energy, as well as hormonal support for PMS and menopause, which we’ve included in our Women’s Health section following this one.

Whether you’re battling PMS symptoms, are currently pregnant, or are trying to make it through menopause, dietary supplements can potentially provide relief for the various symptoms experienced throughout a woman or AFAB individual’s life. HUM offers a line of products intended for all life stages and health needs.

There is considerable overlap in how HUM classifies its products, so a majority of the “Body” products have already been covered. However, the company used to classify immunity products separately, but they have since been lumped back into “Body.” We’ve broken down the rest of HUM’s catalog of supplements below.

HUM Nutrition’s supplements are priced on the higher side of average. You can purchase individual HUM products at other retailers like Target, Amazon, Walmart, and Nordstrom, but the biggest opportunities for discounts come from bundling on the company website through the subscription service.

Individual bottles range in price from $12 to $60, though a majority of HUM’s products are closer to the $25 price point. Some bottles are expensive, but it’s easy to stack discounts to save.

Since HUM is a subscription service, you have the option to choose between a month-to-month or a VIP three-month subscription.

For either plan, ordering three or more bottles at a time will unlock 10% off your entire order. If you pick the three-month option, you’ll be eligible for an additional 20% off each installment, for a total of up to 30% off if you order three months of three supplements. Taking the HUM quiz before your first order will also earn you another $10 off with a special discount code.

As a HUM Nutrition customer, you’ll be assigned a dietitian (RDN), whom you can message with questions or concerns (from the “Ask Your Nutritionist” tab in your HUM dashboard) and expect a response within 1-2 business days. Our testers tried this out and received personalized, informative responses to their questions within that time frame.

HUM subscription customers also get a “freebie” with each month’s delivery. Currently, the list of freebies includes samples of:

• Celery Juice Fiber gummies
• SOS PMS gummies
• Pro ACV gummies
• Mighty Night capsules
• Gut Instinct capsules
• Womb Service prenatal vitamins

HUM accepts returns of unopened products within 30 days of delivery; this is similar to the policy length from competing companies, like Ritual. HUM will apply store credit to your account if you choose to return a product that has already been opened, but the company does not reimburse any shipping fees.

HUM Nutrition takes all major credit cards as payment for your order, but no alternative payment methods like PayPal.

Canceling a subscription

Unfortunately, canceling a HUM subscription isn’t super quick. You can’t simply click on a “cancel” button and be done. HUM requires you to reach out to the company via email or phone and request cancellation at least 24 hours prior to your next shipment (this applies to both Monthly and VIP memberships). However, once you do this, you won’t get hassled with a lot of questions — you just make the request, and it happens.

Shipping

Shipping is free for all HUM orders over $50. Otherwise, the company charges a $5.95 flat rate for orders in the United States and $12.95 for international orders. Three-month subscriptions auto-ship once a month, so if your subscription is less than $50, you’ll pay shipping each month separately.

In our testing experience, we received a company email after purchasing, when the package shipped, the day before it arrived, and after delivery. It took only three days from order to arrival. The product box was hot pink with obvious HUM branding. In addition to the order packing slip, we also received some information cards on the items we ordered.

It’s worth noting that you can change your subscription products whenever you want; you aren’t locked into keeping the same items each month. Just be sure to make any changes in your dashboard prior to your next shipment date.

In our testing experience, we found HUM’s customer service to be excellent, with prompt replies. You can contact customer support in multiple ways. HUM lists its member support phone number on the website, which is open every day from 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM Pacific Time. The company also offers a live in-browser chat and an email-based contact form.

The live chat will first filter your questions through a chatbot but will connect you with a real person if it can’t find an answer. This process went quickly in our experience, and the representative we chatted with was friendly and knowledgeable.

How HUM protects your privacy

To prevent fraud, all of your payment information is encrypted while you’re using HUM’s website. HUM Nutrition’s privacy policy is straightforward. The website collects and stores personal and non-personal information about you through cookies and other technology, including your IP address. You can opt out of further processing of your personal information on the Privacy Policy page of the HUM Nutrition website.

HUM does state that even if you opt-out, the site may still collect and use non-personal information regarding your activities on the site.

HUM is certainly not the only subscription supplement company out there. Quite a few brands offer a variety of personalized products to meet your health needs, and some even offer individual daily packs of your supplements to remove the need for multiple bottles and streamline the process. We’ve taken a look at some of HUM’s closest competitors below.

Ritual

Ritual focuses on providing supplement products designed with your sex and life stage in mind. While you can’t add specific ingredients to a bundle as you can with other companies, Ritual has thoughtful formulations that consider the changing needs of teens, adult men, adult women, and those who are expecting. The company also goes a step above and beyond in its ingredient transparency by making every step of its supply chain (ingredients, sources, studies, and suppliers) readily available on its website.

Ritual’s products are mostly clear in delayed-release gel caps, and the company has expanded its lineup to include supplements for gut health, skin, and sleep support. Similar to HUM, Ritual’s products are offered as a subscription service on its website but are also available at retailers like Target.

Persona

Persona is one of the original supplement subscription services. The company’s assessment quiz is incredibly in-depth, asking about everything from your current concerns (with rich detail in each section) to your history of allergies and any genetic testing results. Persona compiles all of this information and then utilizes an algorithm to build a supplement plan for you, which also considers how supplement ingredients interact with your medications (something very few assessments measure). In addition, Persona scales doses based on your demographic information.

However, all of this intense personalization comes at a cost: Persona packs can easily cost hundreds of dollars per month.

Nature Made

If you’ve ever shopped for vitamins in a brick-and-mortar store or pharmacy, then you’ve very likely come across Nature Made supplements. This national brand has been around since 1971, and over 140 clinical studies have been conducted using its products.

Out of the company’s roughly 150 vitamins and other supplements, most are between $10 and $25 each, making Nature Made a good option for those on a budget. Additionally, many of these supplements are USP Verified, meaning they meet the standards of the United States Pharmacopeia (USP). Being USP Verified means a supplement has been independently tested to confirm that it:90

• Contains the ingredients on the label in the correct strength and amount
• Does not contain contaminants, like heavy metals or pesticides
• Is compliant with FDA Good Manufacturing Practices (similar to HUM’s products)
• Will dissolve properly when taken so the nutrients and dietary ingredients are properly absorbed