Dr. Svea Ogilvie, ND

12/31/2025

When the right nutrients are on board, the body knows what to do with them…

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Hoffer’s Niacin Protocol remains one of the most important foundations in orthomolecular psychiatry.

Dr. Abram Hoffer taught that schizophrenia wasn’t purely a fixed genetic disorder—but a nutritional and redox imbalance that could be corrected. His clinical results spoke for themselves.

Niacin, as a precursor to NAD/NADP, was used to:

Neutralize adrenochrome

Restore redox balance in the brain

Improve methylation and neurotransmitter regulation

Correct subclinical B3 dependency

His core protocol often included:
• Niacin (nicotinic acid): starting around 1 g three times daily, increasing toward 3–6 g/day
• Vitamin C: 1–10 g/day to support redox balance and reduce flushing
• B-complex + Zinc: for methylation and neurotransmitter pathways
• Niacinamide: 1.5–3 g/day for those unable to tolerate flushing

Hoffer emphasized starting support early—ideally within six months of the first psychotic episode—for the most complete remission potential.

Orthomolecular pioneers pushed forward a model of mental health grounded in biochemistry, not symptom suppression. Their work remains essential for every student of integrative biomedicine.

Study with us:
https://www.instituteintegrativebiomedicine.com/link/yryprL

12/28/2025

12/28/2025

In Canada, testing falls somewhere in between…Canadians are less likely to pay out of pocket for functional testing than our American counterparts.

📌

12/28/2025

Naturally found in green tea, the amino acid l-theanine can help reduce anxiety and stimulate calm alertness…perfect for accomplishing focused work or school related tasks.

L-Theanine - how it calms the brain without making you tired

L-theanine is an amino acid found naturally in green tea. It’s best known for its unique ability to promote calm alertness, relaxing the brain without causing drowsiness. Here’s how it works:

1️⃣ Shifts Brain Waves Toward Calm Focus

Your brain constantly produces electrical patterns called brain waves.

Beta waves = active thinking or stress (high frequency).

Alpha waves = calm focus, daydreaming, creativity (medium frequency).
L-theanine helps reduce beta waves and increase alpha waves, promoting relaxed alertness; the state of being calm but mentally sharp.
🟢 Example: It’s the difference between feeling wired and feeling centered.

2️⃣ Modulates Key Neurotransmitters
L-theanine increases levels of GABA, serotonin, and dopamine — the brain’s calming and mood-stabilizing chemicals — while reducing excitatory signaling from glutamate.
🟢 Example: This creates a steady, focused mental state similar to meditation or deep breathing.

3️⃣ Supports Stress Resilience

By balancing these neurotransmitters and brain waves, L-theanine helps buffer the physiological effects of stress, lowering cortisol and blood pressure in stressful situations.
🟢 Example: That sense of calm alertness you get from green tea comes largely from L-theanine, not caffeine.

4️⃣ Enhances Attention and Sleep Quality

When combined with caffeine, L-theanine improves focus and reaction time.

On its own, it can promote relaxation before sleep by quieting neural overactivity.
🟢 Example: It’s often described as “mental clarity without sedation.”

L-theanine gently tunes your brain waves, reducing the noise of stress (beta) and amplifying the rhythm of calm focus (alpha). That’s why green tea feels soothing yet mentally sharp: it’s neurochemistry, not magic.

PMID: 17182482

12/28/2025

At Vancouver Naturopathic Clinic we can harness the therapeutic effects of phenolic for a variety of health conditions and concerns.

🧠 Dietary polyphenols interact with multiple hallmarks of aging, not just one, and that distinction matters.

This figure summarizes current evidence showing how dietary polyphenols, bioactive compounds found in plant foods, interact with the hallmarks of aging. These hallmarks represent the core biological processes that drive cellular and tissue decline over time.

Unlike single-target interventions, polyphenols exert systems-level effects. Research shows they influence multiple aging pathways simultaneously, including genomic stability, epigenetic regulation, proteostasis, mitochondrial function, chronic inflammation, autophagy, cellular senescence, stem cell function, and gut microbial balance.

📌 Practical takeaway: aging is not driven by one pathway, so interventions that act broadly across systems may be more relevant than those targeting a single mechanism.

Polyphenols do not function primarily as direct antioxidants. Instead, they act as mild physiological stress signals that activate conserved cellular defense pathways such as AMPK, Nrf2, SIRT1, FOXO3, and autophagy-related systems, while helping downregulate pro-aging signaling like excessive mTOR activity and chronic NF-κB driven inflammation.

📌 Practical takeaway: the benefit comes from repeated low-level exposure that trains cellular resilience, not from high-dose, short-term supplementation.

These mechanisms closely mirror patterns observed in long-lived populations. Diets associated with extended healthspan are consistently rich in polyphenol-containing foods, including extra virgin olive oil, vegetables, legumes, fruits, tea, coffee, herbs, and spices.

📌 Practical takeaway: dietary pattern and diversity matter more than any single compound.
Importantly, no individual polyphenol is responsible for these effects. The evidence supports a model where compound diversity, food matrix effects, gut metabolism, and lifelong exposure collectively shape biological aging trajectories.

📌 Practical takeaway: rotate plant foods regularly and avoid relying on one “hero” ingredient.

🔬 aging is a network problem. Compounds capable of modulating multiple hallmarks simultaneously are uniquely positioned to influence how biological systems adapt or decline over time.

📖 Source: Davinelli et al., Ageing Research Reviews
“Dietary polyphenols as geroprotective compounds: From Blue Zones to hallmarks of ageing”

12/28/2025

And your liver plays the role of master sorter…determining which nutrients get used immediately or stored for later.

Your body is running dozens of supply chains at once… and you never notice.

Some nutrients get stored for the long haul.
Some get used immediately.
Some get locked away in specific tissues so they’re ready the moment you need them.

And all of it happens silently, every hour of every day

This chart shows:
• Water-soluble vitamins that rarely stay in one place
• Fat-soluble vitamins that tuck themselves into liver and fat stores
• Major minerals that keep cells functioning
• Trace minerals that your body guards with surprising precision

If you’ve ever wondered why some deficiencies show up fast, while others take months or years to appear, this is why. Different nutrients follow completely different storage rules.

Here are a few details hidden in the diagram:

🔹 Vitamin B12 is stored mostly in your liver, enough to last years, which is why deficiency creeps up slowly.
🔹 Vitamin C, B1, and B2 don’t store well at all, your body uses them immediately, so daily intake matters.
🔹 Vitamin D and Vitamin A hide in fat and liver tissue, creating long-term reserves your body draws from seasonally.
🔹 Iron, zinc, copper, and selenium are tucked into bone marrow, organs, enzymes, and immune cells, ready for rapid deployment.
🔹 Electrolytes like potassium, sodium, chloride, and magnesium sit in fluids inside and outside cells, controlling everything from heartbeat to muscle contraction.
🔹 Iodine concentrates in the thyroid, because regulating metabolism can’t wait.

Most people never see how all these storage pathways interconnect, but once you do, nutrition stops being random, it becomes strategic.

If you want a single picture that explains why diet, absorption, stress, illness, and supplementation affect people so differently… this is it.

Source: unknown. Scientific American

12/26/2025

12/26/2025

Your mitochondria are not batteries, they’re chemical factories. And this is what they’re building....

This diagram looks complex because it is. Your mitochondria act like tiny biochemical control centers that influence how well you think, heal, detoxify, fight infection, and even age.

Here’s the simple version:

1️⃣ They don’t just make energy, they make the building blocks of life.

Mitochondria produce the raw materials your cells need for:

-DNA & RNA
-Brain chemicals
-Antioxidants
-Cell membranes
-Repair enzymes

When mitochondria slow down, everything from immunity to cognition takes a hit.

2️⃣ They run a huge “chemical circuit” that keeps your cells functioning.

This network ties together:

-Folate
-B-vitamins
-Methylation
-Detox pathways
-Glutathione production
-DNA synthesis

Mitochondria supply key molecules (like formate) that cells use to build DNA and regulate repair.
This affects growth, immunity, fertility, inflammation, and aging.

3️⃣ When mitochondria falter, the effects ripple everywhere.

You don’t just feel tired, you see:

-More inflammation
-Poor detoxification processes
-Slower healing
-Brain fog
-Hormone imbalance
-Faster aging

Because the upstream control system is failing.

4️⃣ The takeaway

Your mitochondria aren’t batteries.
They’re the operating system that keeps your cells alive, communicating, and repairing damage.

Support them… and you support everything your body is trying to do.

📄 Source: Cell (2024). Mitochondrial one-carbon metabolism and its role in cellular biosynthesis and signaling.

12/26/2025

12/26/2025

Creatine made simple: how your body builds and uses its energy buffer

Creatine is a molecule your body makes naturally to keep energy flowing smoothly, especially in muscles and the brain. Here’s how the system works:

1️⃣ Where It Begins

Creatine starts in your kidneys, where the amino acids arginine and glycine combine to form guanidinoacetate (GAA).
🟢 Example: This first step is like assembling the base structure of a battery.

2️⃣ The Liver Finishes the Job

Guanidinoacetate travels to the liver, where it’s methylated by S-adenosyl-methionine (SAM), a reaction that converts it into creatine.
🟢 Example: The liver adds the “charge” that activates creatine for energy storage.

3️⃣ Creatine Travels to Muscles
Once made, creatine moves through the bloodstream to muscles, the heart, and brain, where it acts as an energy reserve.
🟢 Example: About 95% of your creatine is stored in muscle tissue, ready to recharge your cells when energy runs low.

4️⃣ The Energy Exchange System

Inside muscle cells, creatine and ATP (your cell’s energy currency) are in constant exchange:
When energy is plentiful, ATP donates a phosphate to form phosphocreatine (stored energy).

During activity, phosphocreatine donates that phosphate back to ADP, quickly regenerating ATP.
🟢 Example: This is your body’s “instant energy buffer” during sprinting or lifting.

5️⃣ Creatine Recycling and Excretion

After use, some creatine converts into creatinine, a natural byproduct filtered out by the kidneys.
🟢 Example: This is why creatinine levels are used in blood tests to check kidney function.

6️⃣ Why It Matters
Creatine supports:

Rapid ATP regeneration in muscle and brain.

Cellular hydration and stability.
Methylation balance, since it uses SAM in its synthesis.
🟢 Example: Supplementing creatine doesn’t just enhance performance, it supports cellular metabolism and brain health too.

Creatine acts as the body’s built-in energy recycling system. Made in the kidneys and liver, stored in muscle, and constantly recharging ATP, it’s one of the most efficient energy buffers biology ever designed.