Nutricel vs Meraki Medicinal: An Honest Methylene Blue Comparison

Meraki Medicinal sells two different methylene blue products that often get compared as if they were one: a 150 mg liquid dropper bottle, and an 11-ingredient capsule stack called Blu Plus+. Both cost more per milligram of methylene blue than Nutricel Blue Boost. We make Blue Boost, so read this as our view, but on the points a buyer can check, Blue Boost comes out ahead: a lower cost per milligram than either Meraki product, a short formula instead of an 11-ingredient stack, and lab reports you can open yourself. Meraki Medicinal is a real, fast-growing brand with a compelling founder story, and this comparison is about what each product gives you for the price, not about whether Meraki is legitimate.

• Price per mg. Blue Boost is $34.90 for a 60-capsule, 720 mg bottle (12 mg per capsule), about 4.8 cents per mg one-time or 4.4 cents on subscription. Meraki's liquid runs about 18.7 to 23.3 cents per mg depending on purchase size; its Blu Plus+ capsule runs about 11.1 to 13.9 cents per mg.
• Formula. Blue Boost is methylene blue with Vitamin C Ester and organic cacao. Blu Plus+ stacks methylene blue with 10 other active ingredients in the same capsule.
• Claims. A live blog post on Meraki's own site cites four studies supporting a testosterone claim; none of them could be found in PubMed under the stated author names, years, or journal titles.
• Transparency. Both brands say they publish a lab report; Nutricel's are downloadable PDFs from independent third-party labs at nutricel.store/pages/certs.

Important: The FDA label for methylene blue injection (Provayblue) warns about serotonin syndrome with serotonergic medications, including SSRIs and MAOIs. Review the full adverse medications list before use.

We wrote this because Meraki is one of the names shoppers run into most while researching methylene blue. The brand has grown quickly on founder Vance Elrod's personal story and a strong presence on podcasts, YouTube, and TikTok, and through Amazon listings and word of mouth. Being well known is not the same as being the best deal, though, and Meraki's lineup is more complicated than a single bottle.

Meraki sells methylene blue in two very different formats at two very different prices: a plain 1% liquid solution, and a capsule product stacked with ten additional active ingredients. A fair comparison keeps those two apart instead of blending them into one number, and looks at what each one contains, costs, and claims.

Here is the short version before the detail. All figures below come from Meraki Medicinal's own product pages as published in September 2026, plus a direct PubMed search described later in this article.

Meraki Blu is a 1% liquid dropper solution: 150 mg of methylene blue in a 30 mL bottle, worked out to 5 mg per mL, or roughly 0.25 mg per drop. It contains no other listed active ingredients. This is the closer comparison to Nutricel Blue Liquid, not to a capsule product.

Meraki Blu Plus+ is a capsule product: 6 mg of methylene blue per capsule, 120 capsules per bottle, built on a titration schedule from 1 capsule a day in week one up to 4 capsules a day by week three. At the full 4-capsule serving, that is 24 mg of methylene blue a day, alongside ten other active ingredients in the same capsule. This is the fairer format match to Nutricel Blue Boost, since both are capsules, but it is not a pure methylene blue comparison the way Blue Boost is.

Cost per milligram is the fair way to compare, because what you are really buying is milligrams of methylene blue, not a bottle. We used each brand's own published pricing.

Prices above are current listings as of September 2026: Blue Boost is $34.90 one-time or $31.41 on subscription for a 60-capsule, 720 mg bottle. Comparing matched purchase types, Blue Boost runs roughly 2.9 to 4.9 times cheaper per milligram of methylene blue one-time versus one-time, and roughly 2.5 to 4.3 times cheaper subscription versus subscription, depending on which Meraki product you compare it to. The gap is smaller against the subscription-priced Blu Plus+ capsule and largest against the single-bottle liquid.

To be fair to Meraki, the Blu Plus+ price is not paying for methylene blue alone. That bottle also includes Urolithin A, D-Ribose, Creatine Monohydrate, Acetyl L-Carnitine, Niacinamide, CoQ10, Magnesium Glycinate, two B vitamins, Ubiquinol, and PQQ. A per-mg-of-MB number does not capture what you are paying for the rest of that stack, and the next section looks at whether that stack is worth the difference.

We kept Blue Boost short on purpose: 12 mg of USP-grade methylene blue, 35 mg of Vitamin C Ester, and organic cacao. We chose Vitamin C Ester because it is a fat-soluble form of vitamin C, and methylene blue is the reason you are buying the capsule.

Meraki Blu Plus+ takes the opposite approach: a 4-capsule serving stacks 6 mg of methylene blue with Urolithin A, D-Ribose, Creatine Monohydrate, Acetyl L-Carnitine HCl, Niacinamide, CoQ10, Magnesium Glycinate, Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Ubiquinol, and PQQ, all in one capsule. Several of those (CoQ10, PQQ, Ubiquinol, D-Ribose) are aimed at the same general energy pathway as methylene blue, which is a reasonable idea. The catch is that you cannot tell what the methylene blue is doing versus the other ten ingredients, and you cannot adjust the methylene blue on its own, because it all comes in the same capsule on a fixed schedule.

Neither approach is wrong. A short formula is easier to judge and easier to combine with supplements you already take. A stacked formula can make sense for someone who wants several of these ingredients in one place and does not mind giving up control of the methylene blue. Know which one you want before you buy.

Meraki states that its products go through "four independent third-party lab tests per batch" covering heavy metals, microbial content, potency, and purity, and that its lab reports are published. That is a real claim, and it puts Meraki ahead of brands that say nothing about testing.

The difference is in the detail. Meraki's own product pages do not name the testing lab or link a downloadable PDF. We publish our lab reports from independent third-party labs, with the lab named on each report, as downloadable PDFs at nutricel.store/pages/certs. A general claim that testing happens is not the same as a document you can pull up and read for yourself.

That does not mean Meraki's testing claim is false. It means you have to go find the report yourself, instead of opening a linked, dated PDF in thirty seconds.

As of this article's publication, a blog post on Meraki Medicinal's own website titled "Methylene Blue and Testosterone: What the Science Says" states that "men taking methylene blue supplements experienced a 15-24% increase in free testosterone levels over 12 weeks," attributing the claim to "Chen, S., Liu, Y., & Watson, P. (2023). Effects of methylene blue supplementation on free testosterone levels in healthy adult males. Clinical Endocrinology Studies, 18(4), 423-437."

We searched PubMed for methylene blue and testosterone research and read through the results. No paper by those authors, in that year, under that title, appears anywhere in the results. The journal name itself, "Clinical Endocrinology Studies," does not correspond to any indexed medical journal we could find; the real, similarly-named journals in this field are Clinical Endocrinology, The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, and Endocrine Practice, none of which carry this article.

The same page cites three more sources in the same pattern, and none of them could be found either: a 2022 "Anderson, K. L., Zhang, R., & Thompson, M." study in a "Journal of Endocrine Research," a 2023 "Xu, L., Wang, H., & Thompson, S." study in a "Journal of Clinical Endocrinology" claiming a 27 percent mitochondrial efficiency increase, and an unattributed "Peterson et al." claim of an 18 percent post-workout testosterone increase in athletes. A PubMed search under each of these author names, years, and journal titles returned no matching result.

Here is what we are and are not saying. We cannot prove that no such paper exists in any archive anywhere. What we can say is that a PubMed search, plus a search for the exact journal names, turned up nothing, which is strong evidence these citations do not point to real, checkable research. A lab report cannot fix that, and most buyers would never run the search themselves.

Meraki Medicinal was founded by Vance Elrod, a professional MMA fighter, according to the company's own About page. Elrod has said in interviews that a fight injury left him with a concussion and lingering brain fog, and that self-sourced pharmaceutical-grade methylene blue resolved his symptoms within days, motivating him to start the company. It is a relatable origin story, and founder-led brands like this are common and often sincere in this category.

Meraki states its products are made in Las Vegas, Nevada, in an FDA-registered facility, with the Blu Plus+ capsule specifically also claiming a cGMP and NSF facility. The terms matter here. FDA registration means a facility is listed with the FDA as a manufacturer, which is a real but limited status. It is not FDA approval of the finished product, because no dietary supplement is FDA-approved before it reaches the market, ours included. Our products are made in a US facility that is GMP certified, which means a third party audits the facility's equipment, processes, and quality controls, not just a listing.

We could not find much mainstream press coverage of Meraki. Its visibility comes mostly from podcasts, YouTube, and short videos, which is a common and legitimate way for a young supplement brand to grow. It does mean claims about the company's size or success are harder to check than they would be with press reporting.

On Trustpilot, Meraki Medicinal carries a 4.1 out of 5 average across 116 reviews as of this article's research. Most reviews are positive, but a recurring set of complaints shows up across multiple named reviewers: customers reporting they were enrolled in recurring subscription shipments without realizing it, slow or evasive responses when requesting a refund or cancellation, and shipping delays even after paying for expedited service.

None of this tells you whether the product works. It does mean that if you order from Meraki, especially on subscription, read the cancellation terms before you check out so you know what you are signing up for.

Meraki gets some things right. Elrod's story has clearly connected with a real audience, and a brand with a named founder is a step up in a category full of anonymous sellers. Meraki also says it does third-party testing and publishes results, which puts it ahead of the many methylene blue sellers that offer no testing information at all.

Blu Plus+, whatever it costs per milligram, is built around a clear idea rather than a random ingredient list: methylene blue plus other compounds aimed at cellular energy. People can reasonably disagree about whether a stacked formula or a short one is better.

You do not have to take any brand's word for it, including ours. Three checks work on any methylene blue product.

1. Calculate cost per milligram yourself. Divide the price by the total milligrams of methylene blue in the bottle, not the capsule count or the bottle price alone. It is the only number that puts different doses and formats on equal footing.

2. Look for a published lab report from a named lab. A statement that testing happens is not proof. A dated report you can open, with the lab named on it, is.

3. Search for any study a brand cites by name. If a product page names an author, a year, and a journal to back up a health claim, that citation should be findable on PubMed or Google Scholar in under a minute. If it is not, treat the claim as unverified, regardless of how specific and confident it sounds.

Choose Nutricel Blue Boost if you want a simple methylene blue capsule at the lowest cost per milligram in this comparison, a formula you can combine with other supplements without guessing what else is in it, and lab reports you can download before you buy.

Consider Meraki Blu Plus+ if you specifically want an all-in-one mitochondrial-support stack and do not mind paying more per milligram of methylene blue for the other ten ingredients that come with it, and you are comfortable verifying any specific health claims on their site yourself before relying on them.

Consider Meraki Blu liquid if you specifically want a dropper format from this brand, understanding it costs roughly four to five times more per milligram of methylene blue than Blue Boost, or explore Nutricel Blue Liquid for the same dropper flexibility at Nutricel's pricing.

This part matters more than price, whichever brand you choose. The FDA label for methylene blue injection (Provayblue) carries a boxed warning about serotonin syndrome when it is combined with serotonergic drugs, and that applies to methylene blue from any brand.

Do not take methylene blue if you are currently using:

• SSRIs or MAOIs (the FDA label warns of serotonin syndrome)
• SNRIs or other serotonergic medications such as tramadol, trazodone, or bupropion
• Blood pressure medications
• St. John's Wort, 5-HTP, or SAMe

It is also not for pregnant or nursing women. The Provayblue label warns that methylene blue can cause hemolytic anemia in people with G6PD deficiency, so they should not take it. Anyone considering a multi-ingredient stack like Blu Plus+ should also review each additional ingredient's own contraindications, such as creatine and kidney conditions, separately from methylene blue's own list.

Review the full adverse medications list and consult your healthcare provider before starting methylene blue in any form.

Meraki Medicinal is a real, growing brand with a real founder story and a real attempt at third-party testing. But its two methylene blue products both cost more per milligram than Nutricel Blue Boost, its capsule product folds methylene blue into a ten-ingredient stack that makes the compound harder to evaluate on its own, and a live post on its own site currently cites four studies that could not be located in PubMed under their stated names. None of that means Meraki is a scam. It means that, in our view and on the numbers above, Blue Boost comes out ahead on price, formula clarity, and claims you can check.

• Price: Blue Boost is $34.90 for 60 capsules (12 mg each, 720 mg total), about 4.8 cents per mg, vs roughly 11.1 to 23.3 cents per mg across Meraki's products.
• Formula: a short formula (methylene blue, Vitamin C Ester, organic cacao) vs an 11-ingredient stack in Blu Plus+.
• Testing: downloadable lab report PDFs from independent labs vs a general testing claim with no linked document on Meraki's own product pages.
• Claims: a live testosterone claim on Meraki's site cites four studies that could not be found in PubMed.

Sam Carlson, Marketing Developer at Nutricel

Sam is a marketing developer at Nutricel who writes the Nutricel Insights series to help our customers understand methylene blue and make informed choices, translating published research into plain language. Sam is not a medical professional, and these articles are intended as education rather than medical advice. Comparative claims in this article reflect each brand's own published product information as of September 2026, a direct PubMed search conducted for the citation review, and Nutricel's own third-party testing. You should always speak with your healthcare provider before starting any supplement.