How we score
Every supplement is the sum of its ingredients, their forms, and their dosages. SuppScore® scores ingredient forms and dosages based on peer-reviewed and published scientific evidence, and averages them into a single, comparable SuppScore® out of 100.
1. Ingredient Ratings
A summary of all the ingredients in your supplement and any additives and excipients if it contains them, all rated Great, Good, Average, Bad, or Unknown, powered by our evidence-based Ingredient Dictionary and reviewed by our Advisory Board. These ratings provide a quick, easy way to see the quality of ingredients contained in your supplements. The ratings relate to the ingredient and the ingredient form if known. If the supplement label or website doesn't disclose the ingredient form, it will show 'Unknown Form'.
Our Ingredient Dictionary is continually reviewed and if an ingredient is not recognised or contained in our database, our Advisory Board will review the ingredient against clinical research before it is added to the Ingredient Dictionary.
2. SuppScore®
SuppScore® makes it easy to compare supplements with similar ingredients or for a similar health benefit. SuppScore® is an independent proprietary scoring methodology recognised by nutrition experts as an effective way to analyse a supplement based on the three most important components of any supplement: its ingredient forms, the ingredient dosages, and the presence of any excipients and additives.
The SuppScore® runs from 0 to 100. A score of 100 means every ingredient is in the best form available, at a full dose. It is an average, so a long ingredient list never beats a short, well-made one. Ingredients at a full dose count for more than ones included in tiny amounts, so a good formula is not dragged down by a few extras alongside it.
Some supplements deliver one ingredient in more than one form: several strains of probiotic, for example, or a herbal extract alongside the whole powder. We add those up and score them as the single dose they come to, rather than counting each one as a small dose on its own.
Some labels print one total for a blend without saying how much of each ingredient is in it. That ingredient then scores a little lower. The amounts may well be generous, but the label gives you no way to check.
A multivitamin cannot fit the same doses as a single-ingredient supplement, so the two are not really competing. Every product is also placed in one of three groups, and ranked against the others in its group: single active, focused blend, or broad formula.
Discover how different supplements and their SuppScore® compare in some of the most common supplement categories in our product reviews.
The SuppScore® Equation
Ingredient form
Bioavailability multiplier, 0.85 → 1.5
Ingredient dosage
Dosage score per ingredient, 1 → 5
Unnecessary additives
Penalty, -0.10 → -0.50
SuppScore®
Averaged across ingredients, weighted by dose, 0 → 100
3. Value
Value compares what a day costs — the price divided by the servings on the label — against supplements of the same kind. That means the same ingredient where enough of them exist, and otherwise the same type of formula. Quality and price are judged separately, so a cheap weak supplement never reads the same as a well-priced strong one.
How Value is judged
Cost per day
Price ÷ servings on the label
Similar supplements
Same ingredient, or same type of formula
Value
Where the price sits among them
Why SuppScore® is built this way
Weighting each dose by the bioavailability of its form rewards both a meaningful dose and a well-absorbed form, while additives bring the score down. Because the scoring is anchored to published, peer-reviewed evidence, SuppScore® removes the subjectivity from supplement analysis.
Why is ingredient form important?
Supplement ingredients can come in multiple different forms - as two simple examples, there are over 30 different forms of magnesium and more than 20 different forms of zinc. Each form of ingredient is different in how well the body absorbs, uses and benefits from it. The form of ingredients in your supplements is vital to assessing if and how it will work. Better, more effective forms of ingredients are more expensive and increase the price of a supplement, and cheaper, poor and less effective forms of ingredients reduce the cost and price.
SuppScore® applies a multiplier score for each ingredient form based on third-party, peer reviewed research:
- 1.5 = Well evidenced, superior bioavailability
- 1.25 = Moderate to good evidence of improvement over standard form
- 1.0 = Standard reference form
- 0.85 = Limited or conflicting evidence
- -0.10 to -0.50 = Negative scores for excipients
Does your supplement contain a glycinate form of a mineral or the oxide form? Does it contain botanical extracts or botanical powders? Is the ingredient a synthetic form or a naturally sourced and plant-based form? Does it contain additives and excipients that may cause potential side effects? These are important questions when evaluating a supplement.
Why is ingredient dosage important?
Ingredient doses in supplements are important because the dosage of any ingredient can range from being a low and even meaningless dose to a clinically therapeutic dose. If the body is deficient in a particular nutrient, whether due to biology, lifestyle, diet, exercise, the season, or an elevated need, it will need a higher dose of the nutrient to correct the deficiency. Or the body may require a maintenance dose to maintain current levels through the ups and downs of daily life. Low doses are not necessarily bad, it depends on the body's need and health benefits sought.
SuppScore® applies a dosage score for each ingredient based on third-party, peer reviewed research:
- 1 = Low dose, sub-repletion
- 2 = General maintenance dose, population adequate
- 3 = For deficiency or elevated need, repletion-targeted
- 4 = Therapeutic dose, evidence demonstrating defined clinical outcomes
- 5 = Practitioner-grade dose, supported by systematic RCTs, highest evidence tier
SuppScore® does not base dosage scores on NRVs (Nutrient Reference Values). An NRV for an ingredient is set by authorities to be the minimum amount of a nutrient required by the body to avoid a health condition caused by a deficiency in that nutrient. NRVs are set for the smallest, vulnerable population audiences, and therefore a supplement with a 100% NRV may still provide far too little of a nutrient required for a health need.
Does your supplement contain meaningful dosages of only some or all the ingredients? Does it contain meaningful doses of the most important ingredients for your health needs? These are also important questions to ask when choosing the right supplement for you.
Who creates and reviews the SuppScore® ingredient dictionary?
The SuppScore® Ingredient Dictionary contains over 1,000 supplement ingredients, and each ingredient has been reviewed, rated and scored by qualified, expert nutritional therapists and our Advisory Board who have spent decades reading the research and studying the peer-reviewed science behind supplement ingredients. That expertise is distilled into the platform and reviewed by our Advisory Board — so anyone, practitioner or consumer, can tap into specialist knowledge to assess a supplement in seconds rather than spending hours interpreting studies.
What can you tell from a supplement label?
Supplement labels are regulated by the Food Standards Agency (FSA), showing ingredient forms, dosages, nutritional reference values (NRVs), and additives. These can be notoriously difficult to interpret for healthcare professionals, let alone everyday consumers. Our technology decodes supplement labels to show:
- Ingredient forms, their benefits and effectiveness
- Ingredient dosages, whether they're meaningful, therapeutic, or meaningless
- The presence of any additives, excipients, fillers or bulking agents that may cause irritation or side effects
- Whether an ingredient or product is right for the health benefits you're looking for
Why use SuppScore®?
SuppScore® makes it easy for everyone - healthcare professionals, practitioners and consumers - to quickly evaluate any supplement and its ingredients, and compare it to another supplement. Whether you're taking a supplement already or considering a new supplement, you can quickly check it for the quality of the ingredients, if the dosages of ingredients are meaningful, check for any additives and fillers, and compare it to any other supplement.