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…you’ll learn about emerging science that points to the effects of sugar on your gut microbiome and metabolism and the connections between sugar, your mental acuity and longevity.
Biochemist and molecular biologist Colleen Cutcliffe, Ph.D., continually searches for new ways to improve your gut health and help you live longer. As CEO and co-founder of Pendulum Therapeutics, she works to turn scientific discoveries into real products that hack and heal your microbiome and its associated body systems. At Pendulum, her team identifies and isolates new bacterial strains then combines those new strains to create unique probiotics.
“We really worked hard on ways to modulate post-postprandial glucose spikes through the microbiome,” Colleen says. The result? Pendulum’s Glucose Control lowers blood glucose spikes by 33 to 34% for people with type 2 diabetes. “What we didn’t realize was how many people who don’t have type 2 diabetes were going to end up benefiting from it.”
This conversation homes in on sugar management and a broad range of research that’s exploring what you can do about managing your glucose to keep up your mental acuity (less brain fog, sharper thinking) and live a longer life.
Science has discovered that as you age:
In the past decade, especially, sugar dominates a lot of the conversation around diet and health. It’s been studied, substituted, moderated, restricted and demonized. With that type of focus, you lose the bigger point.
“You can’t completely cut out sugar,” Colleen says. “You do need sugar. Not all sugar is bad for you all the time. Every cell in your body, except for your colon cells, need glucose in order to survive, in order to replicate, in order to perform functions. All of the things that allow you to be a human being require some amount of sugar. Maybe the question is, can you get enough of that just through the foods that you’re eating, and you don’t need the teaspoon of sugar in your coffee or the donut or the dessert? We haven’t evolved to have to consume large amounts of sugar.”
She wants you to know what’s happening to cause the change in metabolic processing as you age and what you can do about it, like:
“I’m a scientist, so I’m always going to say more data is better,” Colleen explains. “[Especially] when you’re trying to make improvements and you’re making these micro-adjustments in your life, and you want to understand what impact are they having.”
More about Colleen Cutcliffe, Ph.D.: Colleen has nearly 20 years of experience leading and managing biology teams in academia, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology. Before she started Pendulum, she was the senior manager of Biology at Pacific Biosciences and a scientist at Elan Pharmaceuticals. She earned her Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Johns Hopkins University and her bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from Wellesley College.
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Previously on Bulletproof Radio:
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