And while factors like diet and exercise play a major role in balancing your blood sugar, ultimately it comes down to—like so many other things—your gut. All of this is regulated by a complex process involving your liver, small intestine, and pancreas (aka the gut). The pancreas releases a hormone called insulin, which allows your cells to absorb that sweet, delicious glucose in the first place. Those with type 2 diabetes however, produce less insulin—or their insulin isn’t working as it should—and, over time, they have trouble regulating their levels of blood sugar. Still with us? Good. Those with type 2 diabetes can have more bacteria circulating through their bloodstream, in part because their high-fat diet can cause these bacteria to leak out of their home in the gut. This can trigger an inflammatory response that can then lead to insulin resistance, which you already know is a problem for those trying to regulate their blood sugar (aka, everyone). Beyond that, cutting-edge probiotic brands like Pendulum are changing the game by making people healthier through microbiome-targeted solutions. While “gut health” products are a dime a dozen these days, Pendulum’s medical probiotic puts them in a league of their own with nine patents, five pending, and 20-plus more in the works. Their flagship product—Pendulum Glucose Control—is the first and only probiotic that lowers A1C levels and blood glucose spikes for the dietary management of type 2 diabetes, and they have a peer-reviewed clinical trial that proves it. That’s a lot of science, but put simply: Pendulum delivers meaningful benefits for managing blood sugar levels using a formula of probiotics and a prebiotic that can’t be found in any other probiotic on the market. First is that their formula clinically tested. Regular probiotic supplements typically speak to clinical data for certain strains they include in their product, but their actual formulation hasn’t been clinically tested to demonstrate the results they cite. Pendulum Glucose Control is also targeted, addressing unique deficiencies in your gut microbiome and restoring lost functionality to help manage chronic disease. And finally, the bacteria strains found in Glucose Control are novel (several of which were discovered and patented by Pendulum using DNA sequencing).