On the latest episode of the Create Your Kindspace Podcast, Caroline sits down with Dr Clara Doran, the founder of Noggin Brain Health. Clara’s story is as interesting as it is inspiring. She started as a general practitioner who loved working closely with her patients. Her experiences and desire to make a bigger impact led her to create Noggin, a company focused on improving brain health. Clara talks about her early days and what led her to starting her own health company. Join us to learn about Clara’s journey and how Noggin is changing the way we think about brain health.
A Practitioner’s Pivot
Dr Clara Doran’s journey from a dedicated general practitioner to the founder of Noggin is a tale of personal challenges transforming into meaningful solutions. After being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a condition she understood well as a doctor but never expected to face herself, Clara embarked on a mission to dive deep into the world of brain health. This diagnosis came at a pivotal moment, shortly after the birth of her son, propelling her into a quest for knowledge and ways to improve her and others’ wellbeing.
“Brains are amazing… I really turned my attention to brain health and ways, or what I could do to try and feel better.”
Clara’s background in medicine, coupled with her patient-focused approach, laid the groundwork for her venture into Noggin. Her experience as a general practitioner, where she valued the variation of cases and the opportunity to build long-term relationships with patients, served as a solid foundation for her entrepreneurial journey.
The desire to make a meaningful impact on people’s lives, especially when they’re most vulnerable, has always driven Clara. Transitioning from general practice to developing brain health solutions was a natural evolution, spurred by her diagnosis and the realisation of the profound impact lifestyle can have on brain health and overall wellness.
The Creation of Noggin Brain Health
After facing her own health challenge with multiple sclerosis, the journey to create Noggin began. This wasn’t just about dealing with a personal health issue; it was about taking that experience and using it to help others understand and improve their brain health.
Noggin came to life by looking beyond traditional medicine to how nutrition and lifestyle impact our brains. Working closely with expert nutritionists and diving into areas like functional medicine and sleep science showed that there’s a lot more to brain health than what’s typically covered in medical training.
“Once I started to sort of dig into brain health, I realised there was loads I hadn’t known before, even though I was a GP.”
Creating Noggin’s products was as much about learning as it was about making. This process was about finding ways to combine the latest health science with practical, everyday solutions for brain health. The goal was to help not only those dealing with conditions like MS but anyone wanting to take better care of their brain.
This project was driven by a desire to make a real difference in people’s lives, offering support and new ways to think about health. It’s about giving people the tools and knowledge they need to take control of their brain health, showing that everyone can play an active role in managing their wellbeing.
From being a doctor to starting Noggin, Clara’s journey was all about using personal experience to bring about positive change in the health world, focusing on a more holistic approach to taking care of our brains.
The Secret to Optimal Brain Health: Sleep and Lifestyle
Clara emphasises the importance of sleep in maintaining brain health. Clara’s insights into sleep, honed from years in general practice and her personal journey into the science of brain health, reveal the intricate relationship between sleep and overall wellbeing.
Clara candidly shares her experiences when consulting patients in her surgery, “I could comfortably say that sleep was something that we talked about all the time.” Her reflection on the countless discussions about sleep with patients highlights its universal impact on health. The realisation that sleep is not merely a pause, but a complex, biological process underpins her approach to wellness. Sleep is a time when the brain undergoes critical biological processes, influencing mood, weight management, and the risk of long-term conditions.
“The quality of your sleep actually starts from when you get up in the morning.”
This perspective shifts the focus from viewing sleep as an isolated activity to understanding it as a 24-hour cycle activity, deeply intertwined with daily routines and habits.
Tips for Transforming Sleep Habits
Clara offers practical advice for anyone looking to improve their sleep quality, highlighting the importance of daylight exposure, caffeine intake, and screen time management.
- Daylight Exposure: Clara stresses the significance of exposing yourself to daylight soon after waking up. This natural cue helps regulate the brain’s sleep-wake cycle, setting the tone for a night of restorative sleep.
- Caffeine Intake: She cautions against the consumption of caffeine in the afternoon and evening. Caffeine’s long-lasting effects means it can significantly disrupt the ability to fall asleep even hours after consumption.
- Screen Time: The impact of screens on sleep quality cannot be overstated. Clara advises turning off screens at least a couple of hours before bedtime to avoid the stimulating effects of blue light and engaging content.
- Eating Habits: Discussing the impact of late-night eating, Clara touches on how digestion can disrupt sleep. Avoiding heavy, sugary foods close to bedtime can prevent sleep disturbances and contribute to overall health.
Consistency and Quality in Diet
One of Clara’s key messages is the importance of consistency in what we eat. The modern conversation around ultra-processed foods and their detrimental effects on our health is growing, highlighting the disruptions these foods cause to our gut microbiome and, consequently, to our brain function. Clara emphasises the routine of meal timings and the selection of foods as foundational to improving sleep quality and brain health.
“Eating regular meals at regular times, looking at whole foods and home-cooked foods and trying to avoid the processed stuff as much as possible is important.”
This approach underscores a return to basics: prioritising whole, minimally processed foods that nourish the body and support stable energy levels throughout the day.
Another seemingly mundane but critically important aspect of nutrition is hydration. Clara points out the direct correlation between hydration and brain function, noting its significance for sleep. The balance here is crucial—ensuring adequate water intake during the day while avoiding excessive consumption in the evening that might disrupt sleep with frequent bathroom visits.
Ultimately, Clara’s advice centres on the integration of daily habits that collectively support good sleep. This includes not only dietary choices but also routines around exposure to natural light, caffeine and screen time management, and mindful eating practices. She highlights that effective sleep improvement strategies are comprehensive, incorporating nutrition, lifestyle, and consistent routines rather than relying on quick fixes.
From Medicine to Memoir
Despite her successful career in medicine, Clara has always harboured a love for writing and storytelling. The decision to pen a memoir stemmed from her extensive reading of medical and personal memoirs, which ignited a realisation that she, too, had valuable experiences worth sharing.
For Clara, writing the memoir served as a potent tool for processing her experiences, especially those related to her own MS diagnosis, motherhood, and professional life. The act of writing, she found, was incredibly therapeutic, helping her to navigate and make sense of the various facets of her life.
“For me, writing in that kind of long form way really helped me kind of come to terms with the different things that had happened. That’s where I started. Lots of different things that I’d experienced as a new mum, obviously, with my health and some things throughout my career that had really kind of stuck with me. Good and not so good.”
She shares that writing has become her sanctuary, especially when life gets overwhelming. Running her own business comes with unexpected challenges, and writing is how she finds her balance again. Whether it’s in the quiet of her home or a favourite coffee shop, a laptop, and some time to write help Clara reset and get ready to tackle whatever comes next.
What’s next for Noggin?
Clara hints at exciting developments with Noggin Brain Health. While focusing on adult products that address energy, focus, and sleep, Clara reveals plans to expand into children’s products. Collaborating with a Scottish University, they aim to develop a product for kids, focusing on the core of brain health. This new venture, still in its early stages, promises to bring valuable insights and solutions to support children’s brain health in 2024.
Final Thoughts and Resources
Clara’s journey from healing hands to health tech entrepreneur and author celebrates the beauty of a life dedicated not just to overcoming personal hurdles but to harnessing those experiences in service of a greater good. Through Noggin, Clara invites us all to think differently about our brain health, offering tools and insights that promise to enlighten, empower, and educate.
To dive deeper into Clara’s story and learn more about Noggin, check out these resources:
- Listen to the full podcast episode: Create Your Kindspace Podcast
- Learn about Noggin: Noggin Official Website
- Noggin’s Building Blocks: The building blocks to better brain health