Guides
Specific answers to the questions general health sites tend to skip. Every guide states a position, cites its sources, and says where the evidence runs out.
New here? Start with gut health basics. What the term means, what has evidence behind it, and what is sold to you.
Free tools and references
- Symptom self-check. A red-flag screen, then the IBS-SSS severity score used in clinical trials, with a summary to take to your doctor. Nothing is stored or sent.
- FODMAP food list. 349 foods with their FODMAP group, load, and how long symptoms usually take to appear. Searchable, no sign-up.
- Bristol stool chart. All seven types, what each says about transit time, and how the scale is used to classify IBS.
- Stool colour chart. The three colours that need a doctor, and the many that are just food.
Diet
- Low FODMAP reintroduction, step by step. The phase nobody explains, and the one that gets your diet back. Which food tests which group, and the eight mistakes that waste the exercise.
Choosing an app
- The best bloating and IBS tracker apps, compared. Five apps sorted by which problem you actually have. Written by the maker of one of them.
- Minthe vs Cara Care. Programme and dietitian, versus statistics and testing.
- Minthe vs mySymptoms. The closest comparison on the site.
- Minthe vs Bowelle. Free and simple, versus paid and analytical.
- Minthe vs Fig. Grocery scanner or trigger finder? They do different jobs.
Gut tests
- Which gut tests are actually worth it? Five with real evidence, two without, and the cutoffs used to read each result.
- Are IgG food sensitivity tests accurate? Six allergy societies say no. Why IgG4 indicates tolerance rather than intolerance.
- Are gut microbiome tests worth it? Replicate samples from one stool were classified both healthy and unhealthy.
Overgrowths, biofilms and other theories
- SIBO and methane overgrowth. The overgrowth that is genuinely testable, and why methane changes the whole plan.
- Gut biofilms. Better evidenced than sceptics admit, and still no support for the supplements sold on the back of it.
- Candida overgrowth. Why the spit test is meaningless, and why the diet still helps some people.
- Leaky gut. A real measurable phenomenon and an unvalidated diagnosis, separated.
- Can gut bacteria make you crave sugar? Real research, mostly in mice, and not the claim you were sold.
Supplements
- Supplements for bloating, rated. What has trial evidence, what does not, and why personal impressions are so unreliable here. No affiliate links.
- Do probiotics help bloating? The AGA declined to recommend them for IBS, and the inulin in your capsule may be the problem.
Talking to your doctor
- When bloating needs a doctor, not an app. The symptoms that mean stop tracking and get assessed.
- Questions to ask your doctor. The four that change what happens next.
- What a food diary should show your doctor. Why the days nothing happened are the ones that matter.
- Preparing for a gastroenterology appointment. What to bring, and why not to change your diet first.
Symptoms and patterns
- Bloated by bread but fine with pasta? Why that pattern points at fructans rather than gluten.
- Bloating and the afternoon slump. Why a 3pm reaction often traces back to breakfast.
- Still feel like you need to go? Why a normal stool can leave you feeling unfinished, and why more fibre often makes it worse.
How Minthe works
- The method, in full. Base rates, risk ratios, confidence intervals, and what the method cannot do.
- How Minthe works. Log, notice, test, know.
Minthe is a wellness and self-tracking tool, not a medical device. It does not diagnose or treat any condition and isn't a substitute for professional medical advice. If you have red-flag symptoms such as blood in your stool, unintentional weight loss, difficulty swallowing, persistent vomiting or a fever alongside gut symptoms, see a clinician rather than tracking them.