Naturopathic Doctor in Toronto for Digestive Health & Supportive Cancer Care
Dr. Irina Chan, ND provides personalized naturopathic care in Toronto for individuals seeking support with digestive health and cancer care. Her approach looks beyond individual symptoms to understand the full picture of your health, including your medical history, nutrition, lifestyle, stress, sleep, medications, supplements, and previous investigations. Care may address a range of digestive concerns, including bloating, constipation, diarrhea, reflux, abdominal discomfort, IBS, gas, urgency, and changes in bowel habits. For those navigating cancer treatment or recovery, naturopathic care can provide individualized supportive strategies that complement conventional medical care and focus on overall well-being, symptom support, nutrition, and quality of life.
A Comprehensive Approach to Digestive Health & Supportive Cancer Care
Dr. Irina Chan, ND provides personalized naturopathic care in Midtown Toronto for people experiencing digestive concerns and for patients seeking supportive care during or after cancer treatment. Her digestive-health work commonly includes bloating, diarrhea, constipation, abdominal pain, reflux, IBS, SIBO, gas, urgency, and changes in bowel habits.
Care is individualized around the person’s symptoms, health history, diagnosis, medications and supplements, lifestyle, previous testing, current medical treatment, preferences, and goals. Dr. Irina’s aim is to understand the broader pattern behind a patient’s concerns while keeping care practical, collaborative, and evidence-informed.
Digestive Health Care in Midtown Toronto
Patients may describe feeling bloated regardless of what they eat, changes in stool consistency or frequency, excessive gas, incomplete evacuation, urgency, alternating constipation and diarrhea, abdominal pain, or a burning sensation in the chest or throat after meals. Dr. Irina sees digestive symptoms across many life stages and backgrounds, with concerns often appearing in young adults and during perimenopause, or after periods of significant stress, a gut infection, or antibiotic use.
The same diagnosis does not always look the same from person to person. The timing and location of bloating or abdominal pain, bowel patterns, diet, eating habits, microbiome balance, digestive function, stress, lifestyle, medications, and hormonal health can all shape the way symptoms appear. Understanding those individual patterns helps guide the assessment and recommendations.
A Detailed Digestive Health Assessment
Dr. Irina gathers a detailed symptom history, including bowel consistency and frequency, urgency, blood or mucus, symptom triggers, changes over time, and what makes symptoms better or worse. She also reviews medical history, diet, eating habits, stress, sleep, exercise, current medications and supplements, previous treatments, prior bloodwork, and gastrointestinal investigations.
Assessment also includes screening for red flags such as unexplained weight loss, night-time symptoms, blood in the stool, or a family history of inflammatory bowel disease or colorectal cancer. When further medical assessment is needed or something falls outside naturopathic scope, Dr. Irina recommends involving the family doctor, gastroenterologist, or another appropriate provider.
When Digestive Testing May Be Helpful
Testing is used selectively rather than automatically. Depending on the symptoms, investigations through a family doctor or specialist may include bloodwork, ultrasound, endoscopy, colonoscopy, or stool testing to help rule out conditions such as celiac disease, H. pylori infection, ulcers, ulcerative colitis, or Crohn’s disease.
For people with chronic symptoms or those who have not responded as expected, additional testing such as SIBO breath testing, comprehensive stool analysis, or food sensitivity testing may sometimes provide useful information. Existing results are reviewed first, and testing is recommended only when it is likely to meaningfully guide care.
Personalized Recommendations Based on Your Priorities
Dr. Irina tailors recommendations according to the patient’s symptoms, history, diagnosis and treatment, medications, values, preferences, and goals. When relevant, the plan may address nutrition, sleep, stress, movement, metabolism, inflammation, digestive health, or hormonal health. The goal is to consider the whole clinical picture rather than treating symptoms in isolation.
Where to begin is decided collaboratively. The first priority may be the concern having the greatest impact on quality of life, while safety, diagnosis, current treatment, and the patient’s goals remain central. Dr. Irina also emphasizes that progress is not always linear and that care can be adjusted as the patient’s needs change.
Supportive Cancer Care During Treatment and Survivorship
Dr. Irina supports patients during active cancer treatment, after treatment, and through survivorship. Supportive care may focus on treatment-related symptoms and side effects, quality of life, recovery, and long-term health. This care is complementary to standard oncology care and does not replace surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, hormone therapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy, or other cancer-directed treatment.
Before beginning supportive care, Dr. Irina reviews the diagnosis, current treatment plan or treatments received, symptoms and side effects, medications, supplements, lifestyle factors, and relevant laboratory or imaging information. The oncology team remains responsible for cancer diagnosis, treatment, and surveillance.
Medication and Supplement Safety Comes First
Some supplements or complementary therapies can interact with chemotherapy, radiation, hormone therapy, or other prescribed treatments. For that reason, Dr. Irina reviews all current supplements and medications and considers potential interactions, contraindications, and treatment timing before making recommendations.
When there is a safety concern or uncertainty, a recommendation may be avoided or discussed with the oncologist or oncology pharmacist. Patients should continue to follow their oncology team’s instructions and seek urgent medical attention when advised or when symptoms require immediate assessment.
Clinical Experience and a Collaborative Approach
Dr. Irina has more than six years of clinical experience and a background in cancer research at the University of New Brunswick. Her experience includes a clinical internship at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine’s Integrative Cancer Clinic and volunteer work at Sunnybrook’s Odette Cancer Centre in the lung cancer unit, where she supported patients navigating active cancer treatment.
She frequently works with people experiencing IBS, SIBO, bloating, constipation, diarrhea, and reflux, as well as patients who have been recently diagnosed with or have a history of breast, ovarian, colon, or prostate cancer. With the patient’s consent, she can communicate with other healthcare providers by sharing recommendations or requesting appropriate testing to help keep care coordinated.
What to Expect at Your First Appointment
The initial appointment is a 75- to 90-minute visit. Dr. Irina reviews the patient’s main concerns, medical history, diet, lifestyle, medications and supplements, relevant laboratory work, previous treatments, and—when applicable—the cancer diagnosis and treatment plan. Patients are encouraged to bring their current medications and supplements, relevant test results, and oncology treatment information.
Initial recommendations are typically provided during the first appointment, and additional testing may be discussed when appropriate. The first follow-up usually takes place two to four weeks later and lasts 30 to 60 minutes. A second follow-up is often scheduled around six to eight weeks after the initial visit, with longer-term visits generally becoming more periodic according to progress and individual needs.
In-Person and Virtual Naturopathic Care in Toronto
Dr. Irina sees patients in person at Higher Health Naturopathic Clinic in Midtown Toronto. The clinic is located on the second floor, and an accessibility chair is available for patients who need assistance getting up the stairs. Direct billing is available for patients with extended health care plans.
Patients living in Ontario may also access virtual appointments. In addition to Toronto residents, Dr. Irina regularly sees patients in person from nearby communities including North York, Scarborough, Vaughan, Brampton, Mississauga, and Markham.
Connected to the Toronto Community
Dr. Irina moved to Toronto ten years ago, and the city has become home through her studies, volunteer work, and clinical practice. Living and working in Toronto has given her the opportunity to support people from many backgrounds and has helped shape her understanding of the diverse needs of the patients she serves.
Digestive Health Appointments in Toronto & Pickering
Dr. Irina Chan, ND offers digestive health appointments from clinic locations in Toronto and Pickering.
Toronto Digestive Health Appointments
3363 Yonge St, 2nd Floor
Toronto, ON M4N 2M6
Phone: (416) 482-0707
Frequently Asked Questions
Many people choose to see Dr. Irina when digestive symptoms have been present for a long time and they want a more detailed review of possible contributing factors. If symptoms are new, sudden, severe, or otherwise concerning, it is important to first see a family doctor or seek urgent medical care so that conditions requiring prompt assessment can be ruled out.
Potential contributors can include food sensitivities, changes in the gut microbiome, digestive function, eating habits, hormonal factors, stress, visceral hypersensitivity, and SIBO. Dr. Irina reviews diet, lifestyle, stress, medications, and health history because the same digestive diagnosis can have different triggers and patterns from one person to another.
No. Bloodwork or other testing is not required before the first appointment. Dr. Irina will review any existing laboratory results or medical investigations you already have and recommend additional testing only when it may provide useful information for understanding your concerns or guiding care.
Depending on symptoms and medical history, testing through a family doctor or specialist may include bloodwork, ultrasound, endoscopy, colonoscopy, or stool testing. Additional options such as comprehensive stool analysis, food sensitivity testing, or SIBO breath testing may be considered in selected cases. Testing is individualized and not every patient needs additional investigations.
Supportive naturopathic care may be considered during chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, hormone therapy, or other cancer treatment when a patient wants additional support for symptoms or treatment-related side effects. It may also be considered after active treatment for recovery, persistent symptoms, long-term health goals, and survivorship. It is provided alongside, not instead of, oncology care.
Dr. Irina considers the type of cancer and treatment, symptoms and side effects, medications, supplements, potential interactions, contraindications, preferences, values, and goals. Recommendations are individualized and safety-focused, and collaboration with the oncology team is used when needed to keep care coordinated.
Yes. Dr. Irina provides supportive and complementary care while patients continue working with their family doctor, oncologist, gastroenterologist, or other specialists. Her role is to complement existing care, and with the patient’s consent she can communicate with other providers when coordination is helpful.
Both. Dr. Irina offers in-person appointments at Higher Health Naturopathic Clinic in Midtown Toronto and virtual appointments for residents of Ontario. She also regularly sees patients from North York, Scarborough, Vaughan, Brampton, Mississauga, and Markham.
Naturopathic care does not replace urgent or emergency assessment. New or worsening digestive symptoms such as unexplained weight loss, blood in the stool, or other red flags should be medically assessed. During cancer treatment, patients should follow their oncology team’s instructions and promptly report symptoms that require medical attention or seek emergency care when appropriate.
Looking for naturopathic care in Toronto?
Book an appointment with Dr. Irina Chan, ND in Midtown Toronto to discuss digestive health concerns or supportive cancer care needs.
Medical disclaimer: This page is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Speak with a qualified healthcare professional about your individual health concerns. Do not delay or disregard medical care because of information on this website.