Who is Body Chemistry Balancing for?

BCB is ideal for anyone experiencing chronic symptoms such as fatigue, brain fog, digestive issues, mood swings, poor sleep, or hormonal changes—especially if standard treatments haven’t helped. It’s also a powerful option for people looking to optimize health and prevent issues before they arise.

What makes this different from regular blood tests with my doctor?

Standard blood tests are often designed to screen for disease. BCB testing goes deeper, looking at functional ranges, nutrient status, hormone ratios, and metabolic activity. We’re not just checking if you're “normal.” We’re looking to see if you're thriving.

Can this help even if I’ve “tried everything”?

Yes. Many of our patients come to us after feeling stuck or unheard in other systems. Because BCB looks at your body’s unique chemistry in detail, it often reveals imbalances that haven’t been addressed before.

Blood Work and Assessment

Comprehensive Blood Work and Assessment in Ottawa

NutriChem’s comprehensive blood work and assessment is a naturopathic doctor’s full review of how your body is working: a 60 minute first visit, blood work chosen for your history and symptoms, and a results visit where the findings become a plan. Blood is drawn at our clinic at 2599 Carling Avenue in Ottawa, or at any lab in Ontario with the requisition we send you. It is for people with ongoing symptoms, such as fatigue, poor sleep, weight change, digestive trouble, or hormonal changes, who want to understand what is driving them before deciding what to do next.

Key facts

Where: NutriChem Clinic, 2599 Carling Ave, Ottawa, in person; or by video or phone anywhere in Ontario
First visit: 60 minutes with a naturopathic doctor
Blood draw: at Carling Avenue, or at any Ontario lab with our requisition
Who orders the testing: your naturopathic doctor; no referral needed
What you receive: a results visit that walks through every finding, and a written personalized plan
Clinic hours: Monday to Friday, 9 am to 5 pm

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Nutrichem Clinic
Blood Work and Assessment

What a comprehensive assessment is, and who it is for

A comprehensive blood work and assessment looks at the systems behind a symptom rather than at the symptom alone. Routine blood work screens for disease. Your family doctor orders it to rule serious problems in or out, and that is the right use of it. Our assessment asks a different question: when the screening comes back fine and you still do not feel well, which systems are under strain, and how are they affecting each other.

It suits people who have been managing symptoms for months rather than weeks, people taking several medications with little change, and people in perimenopause or menopause who want their hormones, thyroid, and metabolism read together rather than one lab value at a time. Most people who come to us have already seen a physician. We listen, we take what you are experiencing seriously, and we start from what you already know.

What we measure

The panels are chosen for you. Not everyone needs every area below, and your clinician explains why each test is on your requisition before it is ordered. The areas we assess most often are these.

Blood Sugar Regulation

Insulin and glucose control affect weight, energy, hormones, and fertility. We look for early insulin resistance, not only for diabetes, because the early pattern is the one that can still be changed.

Brain Chemistry

Markers tied to neurotransmitter balance relate to mood, sleep, cravings, and pain. Read alongside blood sugar and nutrient status, they help explain why focus and sleep can slip at the same time.

Cardiovascular Markers

Cholesterol is essential, and the different types mean different things. We look at the full lipid picture together with inflammation and blood sugar when we talk about cardiovascular risk.

Digestive Health and Nutrients

Nutrient levels, for example iron stores, vitamin B12, and vitamin D, and markers of absorption show whether the digestive system is doing its job. The microbiome and the digestive organs affect nutrient absorption, immunity, and mood.

Hormones

Estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, and related markers shift with age and with stress. When they do, mood, concentration, energy, weight, body temperature, libido, and sleep can all change at once.

Inflammation

Inflammatory markers sit behind many long standing concerns. Pain, brain fog, weight, and cardiovascular risk often improve when the source of inflammation is found and addressed.

Metabolism and Mitochondrial Function

Metabolic by products tell us how well the body is producing energy and clearing what it no longer needs, including detoxification pathways and methylation.

Thyroid and Adrenal Function

Thyroid hormones and adrenal signals are connected to each other and to the sex hormones. Looking at thyroid markers on their own tells part of the story; we read them together, because an imbalance in one can change how the others behave.

How the assessment works

Discovery call. A free 15 minute call with our clinic coordinator, who listens to what you are dealing with and matches you with the clinician best suited to it.
First visit. A 60 minute consultation with your naturopathic doctor, in person or virtual: your symptoms, your health history, the medications and supplements you take, and what you want to change. Together you decide whether testing is the next step and which panels make sense.
Blood work. Your blood is drawn at our Carling Avenue clinic, or we send the requisition to you so you can use any lab in Ontario. If you have recent results from your physician, bring them; we use what you already have and order only what is missing.
Results visit. Your clinician walks you through each result, what it means on its own, and how the findings relate to each other and to what you are feeling. You leave with a written plan.
Follow up. We retest where it matters and adjust the plan as your results and your symptoms change.

Where the blood draw happens in Ottawa

Our clinic is at 2599 Carling Avenue in Ottawa’s west end, and blood work for our patients is drawn there, Monday to Friday from 9 am to 5 pm. If another location is easier, or if you see us by video or phone from elsewhere in Ontario, we send your requisition directly to you and you can have your blood drawn at any Ontario lab. The results come back to your clinician either way.

What your results lead to

Results lead to a plan, and the plan is built for one person. Depending on what the blood work shows, it may include a custom vitamin formula compounded in our pharmacy, a therapeutic diet, targeted supplements from our retail store, botanicals, lifestyle changes, or, where it is appropriate and a naturopathic doctor with prescribing authority decides it is warranted, bioidentical hormone therapy compounded on site.

The personalization does not stop at the recommendation. The clinic builds the plan, the pharmacy compounds the prescription or the formula, and the store supplies the product, all at one address, so you do not have to piece your healthcare together. Where the findings point to one area, your clinician may also work with you through our hormone health, women’s health and menopause, thyroid, digestive health, or functional medicine care.

What this assessment does not do

It is not urgent or emergency care. Chest pain, difficulty breathing, sudden weakness, or any symptom that frightens you needs a physician or an emergency department, not an assessment appointment.

It does not replace your family doctor or your specialist. Naturopathic care at NutriChem works alongside conventional medicine, never against it. With your consent, your results can be shared with your physician, and if a result needs a physician’s attention we say so and refer you.

It does not promise a finding. Some results come back unremarkable, which is useful information in itself. A result inside the reference range does not mean nothing is happening, and a pattern outside it does not mean disease; your clinician explains what each result does and does not tell us.

It is limited to the tests a naturopathic doctor may order. In Ontario, naturopathic doctors may order the laboratory tests set out under the province’s laboratory licensing rules. Some tests can only be ordered by a physician, and when that is true for you, we tell you.

Cost and coverage

The cost of the assessment depends on the practitioner you see and the testing recommended, and we confirm it with you before any sample is drawn. Naturopathic visits are not covered by OHIP; many extended health benefit plans cover naturopathic care, so check what your plan allows before your first visit.

Ready to Finally Understand What Your Body Is Trying to Tell You?

A 15-minute call with our clinic coordinator is the first step. Tell us what you are experiencing, ask what you want to ask, and we will match you with the right clinician for a first visit in person at Carling Avenue or by video anywhere in Ontario.

Frequently asked questions

Can a naturopathic doctor order blood work in Ontario?

Yes. Naturopathic doctors in Ontario are regulated health professionals, and the regulation under the Naturopathy Act allows them to order the laboratory tests specified under the province’s laboratory licensing rules. Your NutriChem clinician writes the requisition; you do not need a referral or a requisition from another doctor.

Do I need a referral from my family doctor?

No. You can book directly, and a free 15-minute discovery call is the easiest first step. If you have a family doctor, we are glad to work alongside them and, with your consent, to share what we find.

Can I use blood work I have already had done?

Yes. Bring recent results to your first visit. Your clinician reads them alongside your symptoms and history and orders only the tests that are missing, which keeps the cost and the number of draws down.

How is this different from the blood work my doctor orders?

The question is different. Screening blood work asks whether a disease is present. A comprehensive assessment asks which systems are under strain and how they affect each other, and it reads the numbers together with your symptoms, your history, and your medications. The two complement each other; one does not replace the other.

Can I do the assessment virtually?

Yes, from anywhere in Ontario. The first visit and the results visit take place by video or phone, the requisition is sent to you digitally, and you have your blood drawn at a lab near you.

What happens if a result is abnormal?

Your clinician tells you plainly what the result shows and what it does not. Where a finding needs a physician’s attention, we say so and refer you, and with your consent the result can be shared with your family doctor.

Medically reviewed by Dr. Emma Pollon-MacLeod, ND, Naturopathic Doctor, registered with the College of Naturopaths of Ontario. Reviewed November 3, 2026.

Keep reading

Sources

Government of Ontario. Ontario Regulation 168/15 (General) under the Naturopathy Act, 2007, section 3, standards of practice for taking specimens and ordering laboratory tests. Consolidated to May 15, 2023; read October 22, 2026.