Methodology
Data
We scanned 428,786 public Reddit comments from r/IBS, r/SIBO, r/Constipation and r/Microbiome (all comments) and r/Supplements (a 7-day-per-month sample for May to October 2026, gut-related comments only), November 2025 to October 2026, through the Arctic Shift archive. We found 33,516 ingredient mentions and kept 9,413 owner comments, where the writer says they used the supplement. 3,794 of those express a clear positive, negative or mixed experience.
How comments are classified
- Owner detection: keyword rules look for first-person use ("I take", "I've been on", "started"). Hypothetical or second-hand comments are excluded.
- Sentence windows: sentiment is read only from the sentences naming the ingredient (plus up to two follow-on sentences), so opinions about other products in the same comment do not leak in.
- Stacks: comments listing five or more supplements are not scored, because we cannot tell which one the writer is describing. Comments naming three or more supplements, or a prescription drug, count half.
- One vote per person per thread: repeated comments by the same author in the same thread count once.
- Accuracy: keyword classification is imperfect. A manual spot check put precision at roughly 70%. Every quote links to the original comment so you can judge it yourself.
The score
Comment weight = (1 + ln(1 + upvotes)) × 2 if posted in the last 12 months × 1.5 if longer than 100 words × 0.5 if shared with other supplements.
| Component | Design weight | Used now | What it measures |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner sentiment | 40% | 50% | Bayesian average of 1–5 owner ratings: (C × m + Σ weighted ratings) / (C + Σ weights), with C = 5 and m = 3.60, the mean across all supplements. |
| Recommendations | 15% | 19% | How often owners actively recommend it to others, scaled 1–5. |
| Tolerability | 25% | 31% | Share of rated owner comments with no unwanted effect, shrunk toward the category average (93%), scaled 1–5. |
| Value | 20% | 0% | Not rated: example products differ too much in dose and serving for a fair cost comparison. Its weight is shared out among the other components. |
Why tolerability replaces the spec score
Our other review site scores tools partly on manufacturer specs. Supplements have no comparable specs, and label claims are not verified before sale. For people with sensitive guts, the most consistent concern in owner comments is unwanted effects (gas, bloating, cramping, loose stools), so tolerability takes that slot.
Thresholds
- A supplement gets a page with 1+ owner comment. Pages with fewer than 5 owner comments are marked noindex and left out of the sitemap.
- Overall score is "Not rated" when there are no rated owner comments.
- Brands get their own score only with 5+ owner comments naming that brand; otherwise products are listed as examples, not scored.
- Symptom rankings need 3+ rated comments in that context per supplement, and a symptom page is indexed only with 3+ qualifying supplements.
- Comparisons need 5+ owner comments on each side.
What we exclude
- Drugs: prescription medicines and OTC drugs (MiraLAX, Imodium, Gas-X, Metamucil, senna, bisacodyl, docusate, bismuth) are never scored or ranked. We report only how often they come up. See context only.
- Substances: kratom, phenibut, kava, CBD, cannabis and similar products are excluded entirely.
- Quotes: we do not show quotes that describe curing, treating or healing a disease, name a drug, or contain links.
Facts and sources
Factual statements cite NIH pages (Office of Dietary Supplements, NCCIH, NIDDK, MedlinePlus) or PubMed records. We list studies so you can read them; we do not rate clinical evidence.
Products and affiliate links
Products shown under each ingredient are examples we found on Amazon and checked for an existing listing. They are not ranked by Reddit. Links include our Amazon Associates tag; this never changes a score. Images are our own illustrations, not product photos.
Data generated 2026-11-03.