SuppleGut

How we match

First we rule things out

Before anything is scored, products are removed if they are unsafe for you: allergens you named, cautions relevant to pregnancy or breastfeeding, documented interactions with prescription medication, and products that are wrong for a diagnosed condition. Your format, budget and what you have already tried are weighed, not used to exclude.

The medication check works at ingredient level. Every product's active ingredients are listed, and each ingredient carries the prescription drugs it is recorded as interacting with, from the Natural Medicines monographs, the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, Drugs.com and the product labels. If you name a drug we recognize, anything with a documented or major-rated interaction is set aside, anything that should be taken hours apart says so on its card, and a weaker or theoretical interaction is named on the card so you can ask a pharmacist. If we do not recognize the drug you name, the match still shows and the results page says to check it with your doctor.

A symptom on its own always gets a match. Only a safety check can leave the result empty, and then we say so rather than name a filler product.

Some answers stop the quiz altogether. Where what you describe deserves a clinician's attention rather than a supplement, we say so and show no products.

Then we rank what is left on

• Real customer experiences. Recent, relevant reviews across retailers and independent communities, read for consistent themes rather than star averages alone. We note where a review pool is small enough that its rating should not be trusted too far.
• Clinical research. Human research matching the ingredient, dose and form in the actual product — not class-level evidence borrowed from a different strain or a different dose. Where the research supports the ingredient generally but not this formulation, the card says so.
• Product quality. Full label disclosure, named strains and per-strain counts where relevant, credible manufacturing, third-party testing, and a sensible price per serving.
• Your routine. Format, diet, budget and what you have already tried, used to choose between candidates that are otherwise closely matched.

Why one product instead of a list of ten

Because a list of ten is the problem you arrived with. The formula produces one best fit for what you told us, and we show it on its own. Two runners-up sit underneath if you want something to compare against, not because we think you need three products.

What we will never do

• Sell our own supplement.
• Let a brand or retailer pay to appear in your results or to move up your list.
• Remove a well-matched product because we earn nothing from it.
• Claim a product diagnoses, treats, cures or prevents disease.
• Hide a weakness in the evidence behind a product we recommend.

The limits of this

Our catalog is researched by hand, which keeps the quality high and the size modest. It is not the whole market. A recommendation means a product was the best fit among those we have researched, for the answers you gave — not that nothing better exists anywhere.

Product details change constantly. Everything shown was read from a retailer or brand page on a stated date, and you should check the current label before buying. See our terms of use.

Affiliate relationships play no part in any of the above. See our affiliate disclosure.