Roadmap/05 - Substances

The basics, self-tracking, and diet come first. Supplements, hormones, and pharmaceuticals come after the foundations are in place. Once those foundations are in place, the categories below cover what to consider and in what order.

Substance categories

Hormones: Thyroid hormones, progesterone, cortisol, adrenaline, and related hormones. The most physiologically significant group. Most hormonal imbalances resolve through diet and lifestyle before direct supplementation is needed.

Vitamins: Fat-soluble (A, D, E, K) and water-soluble (B vitamins, C). Deficiencies are common under chronic stress or a high-PUFA diet.

Minerals: Magnesium, calcium, potassium, zinc, and others. Many are depleted by stress and a poor diet. A nutrient-dense diet covers most needs; targeted supplementation addresses specific deficits.

Pharmaceuticals: Low-dose anti-inflammatory and metabolic drugs: aspirin, cyproheptadine, progesterone (Progest-E), Methylene blue, and others. Explored after dietary and lifestyle interventions are in place.

Antibiotics: Tetracycline-class antibiotics (tetracycline, doxycycline, minocycline) at sub-antimicrobial doses for their anti-inflammatory and anti-endotoxin effects.

Proteins: Gelatin and collagen sources provide glycine and other amino acids that balance the methionine in muscle meat.

Recreational drugs: Harm-reduction context for alcohol, nicotine, and others from a bioenergetic perspective.

See the Substance sheet for a reference table of individual substances (dosage, mechanism, sourcing).

Danny Roddy's substance tier list

Danny Roddy ranked substances by affordability, ease of obtainment, and effectiveness, from S (best) to D (riskiest). He frames it as personal experience rather than a universal or definitive ranking; treat it as one experienced practitioner's working opinion, not a settled hierarchy.^[1]

Tier	Substances	Notes
S	Vitamin D, Mushrooms, Aspirin, Coffee, Fancy French cheeses, Cascara, Antibiotics, milk powder pancakes	Cheap, easy to get, and effective enough that he leads with them. Vitamin D: targets 40-55 ng/mL, suppresses PTH. Mushrooms: needs long cooking to remove agaritine. Cascara: reliable laxative. Antibiotics: can resolve chronic bacterial-overgrowth-linked rashes quickly.
A	Milk, grounding pad, calcium carbonate (eggshells), Progesterone, Thyroid hormone, Olive oil	High value but each needs some troubleshooting. Milk intolerance can flag hormonal issues (thyroid, estrogen, progesterone). Thyroid hormone dosing is, per Roddy, the topic he fields the most questions about.
B	Cyproheptadine ("Cadedine" in the source transcript, likely a mishearing), carrot, niacinamide (B3), oysters, liver, wine as a negative-ion generator	Real benefits with real caveats: carrot pesticide exposure, niacinamide nausea at high doses.
C	Lidocaine, gelatin hydrolysate, Methylene blue, DHEA, bone broth	Roddy's own experience with these is limited or mixed; bone broth flagged for contamination risk without certified sourcing.
D	Oral Vitamin A supplements, pregnenolone ("Pregnanolone" in the source transcript), blood donation, store-bought fresh orange juice	His riskiest tier. Oral Vitamin A: prefers food sources over supplements, citing allergenic/thyroid-suppressing potential. Pregnenolone: flagged for difficulty of clean production and risk of fermenting to estrogenic byproducts. Blood donation: risky specifically for underweight or malnourished people.

Substance categories

Danny Roddy's substance tier list

See also