Pendulum Therapeutics has recently released an Akkermansia Probiotic supplement called Pendulum.
It mimics the action of GLP-1 peptides such as Semeglutide (Ozempic) without the side effects or potential negative feedback loops associated with taking those medications. Ben Greenfield who is now a part of the Rapamycin Longevity news community recently aired a podcast with Colleen Cutliffe, the CEO of the company that produces Pendulum. Here is the link:
Here’s the product mentioned
The interesting part is there are many other cheaper products listed on Amazon, but the CEO of Pendulum claims they are all fake. I currently believe this is true, so buyer beware if you are buying others.
DISCOUNT CODE: GREENFIELD (20% off) With this code, it is as cheap as buying the knockoffs on Amazon.
It looks really promising. 
There was an animal study found that oral administration of a mixture of Lactobacillus rhamnosus LMG S-28148 and Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis LMG P-28149 for 14 weeks (5 days/week, 5 Ă— 108 CFU of each strain in PBS) increased A. muciniphila abundance in the fecal content of the high-fat-fed DIO mice by approximately 100 fold (from 106.5/g feces on high-fat-fed group to 108.5/g feces in high-fat plus probiotics group) (Alard et al., 2016). In this study, a significant inverse correlation was detected between the body weight gain and the abundance of A. muciniphila (P < 0.001) which is consistent to other intervention studies (Everard et al., 2013; Shin et al., 2014). The effectiveness of this mix probiotics on A. muciniphila abundance is surprisingly comparable to that of the direct A. muciniphila supplementation on the same mice model (Everard et al., 2013; Shin et al., 2014).
Actually seems to be similar to Acarbose in effect.
Perhaps more attention should be given to the Akkermansia products that have undergone pasteurization. This company was the first to discover the original strain of Akkermansia, and is currently based in Belgium. They have conducted numerous preclinical double-blind studies, revealing that pasteurized Akkermansia is far superior in regulating blood sugar, lipid levels, and reducing overall inflammation compared to live Akkermansia.
https://www.theakkermansiacompany.com/hcp-home/?v=d2cb7bbc0d23
Different strains of Akkermansia have completely different effects. The Akkermansia strain used by Pendulum, although live, is not the same strain discovered in Belgium, and its metabolic pathways in the body are entirely different. We should focus on the original strain, which is already on the market in Europe and is pasteurized. Each capsule contains 10 billion Akkermansia, whereas Pendulum’s capsules contain only 100 million, falling far short of the blood sugar regulation target.
So how do I order from them? Do they have a product on the market?
In Belgium and Italy, all pharmacies are selling this Akkermansia product with the pasteurization process, and they have received very positive feedback. Of course, you can also purchase it from the website below, as they ship worldwide.
https://www.nutritioncompany.eu/en/akkermansia-en
“Probiotics must have a sufficient CFU (colony-forming units) to have a certain effect in the intestines. For Akkermansia, all the improvements in metabolism and regulation of blood lipids are based on a daily intake of at least 10 billion CFUs. Although Pendulum’s Akkermansia is live, you would need to consume 3 bottles a day to achieve the therapeutic effect of one capsule of pasteurized Akkermansia under the same conditions.”
What were the results for pasteurized Akkermansia ?
Akkermansia muciniphila， when pasteurised, has the ability to slow down the progress of metabolic disorders.
Compared to the placebo, taking pasteurised Akkermansia muciniphila daily:
- significantly reduced insulin resistance (-32.6 ± 6.8% vs placebo; p=0.004);
- significantly reduced insulinemia (-34.1 ± 7.1% vs placebo; p=0.006);
- significantly reduced plasma total cholesterol levels (-8.7 ± 2.4% vs placebo; p=0.02);
- a decreased body weight (-2.3 ± 0.9kg vs placebo; p=0.09);
- decreased waist and hip circumferences (-2.6 ± 1.1cm vs placebo; p=0.09);
- reduced levels of blood markers relevant to liver dysfunction and inflammation;
- significantly decreased plasma lipopolysaccharides levels (-0.9 ± 0.1 EU/ml vs placebo; p= 0.02)
I ordered 2 bottles of 30 tablets with 30 billion cfu each to USA : 152 Euro, including 33 Euro for shipping.
Interestingly the previous link (Alard et al., 2016 ) says that supplementing just B. Animalis subsp. Lactis LMG P-28149 (sounds like BB-12) had the same effect of boosting Akkermansia in mice as direct supplementation of Akkermansia muciniphila so there may be a synergistic effect with BB-12.
Note that Pendulum’s “all in glucose control” product has their version of Akkermansia as its lead ingredient (this is different than their standalone Akkermansia product). The “all in glucose control” product did have a real human clinical trial - with very strong results. See here
Also discussed here with links to the trial:
@Joseph_Lavelle - I’m going to pull the trigger and do Pendulum Glucose Control (got a 90 day suoply). Did you ramp up to one pill twice a day in one go or ease into it? Any symptoms?
Do you remember who else here started it, think I saw one or two other people but could not find those threads.
Anyone else on / tried Pendulum Glucose Control? See two questions above to Joseph?
@Neo I ordered the Akkermansia product which I haven’t received yet. I’ll provide updates once it does arrive. The company warns of an adjustment period. Sounds fun!
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-019-0495-2
I believe that the Akkermansia (AKK) in pasteurized products has a more significant impact on metabolism. You can delve into this double-blind study, which has been cited over a thousand times. Pendulum’s products contain a rich combination of butyric acid-producing bacteria and Akkermansia. Therefore, it is not clear which specific strain is exerting the effect because this blood glucose control product combines four different bacterial strains.
https://www.metagenics.com/akkermansia
The Metagenics Akkermansia has officially been launched and is available for sale in the United States.Each capsule contains 30 billion Akkermansia bacteria with pasteurization, while Pendulum’s capsule only contains 1 billion
The article also points to Metformin, and Rhubarb extract (Chinese Da Huang), among others…
Supplementation of Rhubarb extract (0.3% in a standard AIN93M diet for 17 days) increased the relative abundance of A. muciniphila to 38.9% of fecal total bacteria (measured by pyrosequencing of 16sRNA gene) in DIO mice (12-wk-old) mice (as compared to 9.4% for mice on the standard diet only). The increase was very remarkable considering the treatment only lasted for 17 days.
Although no human trails available on A. muciniphila , all animal studies consistently showed that metformin significant promoted A. muciniphila abundance
Pendulum says to eat a lot of phytonutrients to give the Akkermansia a chance to get a foothold. They list veggies, fruits, nuts, spices/herbs that have a lot of beneficial polyphenols, etc. They say you have to get it from food…not supplements. Since they list spices, I suppose dried powders can work as well. I’m already on my 30 plants every week diet. Fingers crossed.
In fact, it is not possible to establish a long-term colonization of Akkermansia in your gut through supplementation, unless your gut already naturally contains Akkermansia. Any probiotic introduced through supplements is quickly lost through feces.
@sml491010 Of course this is not what the Pendulum company says. They do say only a fraction of people can stop taking the product. What is your source that 0% can stop taking the product if they didn’t need it in the first place…even if they change their diet to accommodate the akkermansia ?
For the past decade my fasting BS has been over 100 - typically 105. This is despite taking jardiance and metformin.
About 4 months ago I started Pendulum product and for the past month my BS is under 95 every morning.