The Digestion Coach™ Est. 1989

Nine Ways Our Microbiome Is Like Bitcoin

As a Bitcoin enthusiast, doctor, and digestion coach, I got to thinking: What if the trillions of microbes in our gut ran their own version of Bitcoin? It’s a wild idea, but the similarities between our microbiome and the famous cryptocurrency are uncanny. Both thrive on decentralization, diversity, and a unique kind of “currency”—and in the case of our microbiome, the exchange rate might just be our health. Here are nine ways our microbiome and Bitcoin align.

1. A Decentralized Network

Bitcoin ditched banks and governments for a peer-to-peer network of computers validating transactions. Our microbiome? It’s a bustling community of bacteria, fungi, and viruses with no central “boss,” adapting to our diet and lifestyle in real time. Decentralization powers them both.

2. Security Through Balance

Bitcoin secures its system with cryptography, building trust without middlemen. The microbiome maintains its own security through balance—beneficial microbes outcompete pathogens, acting like a biological defense system to keep your gut safe.

3. A Ledger of Transactions

Every Bitcoin trade is logged on the blockchain, a public, tamper-proof record. The microbiome’s “transactions”—like producing vitamins or signaling our immune system—don’t have a literal ledger. Still, their effects are recorded in our body’s health, open for our system to “read.”

4. Diversity as Currency

Bitcoin’s value is tied to its scarcity (capped at 21 million coins) and network adoption. In the microbiome, diversity and abundance are the currency. A varied microbial population “mines” health benefits, while a depleted one loses value, tipping us toward disease.

5. Mining Rewards

Bitcoin miners solve puzzles to validate transactions, earning Bitcoin as a reward. Gut microbes “mine” nutrients from our food—like fermenting fiber into energy-boosting compounds—producing benefits our body relies on to thrive.

6. Fueling the System

Bitcoin’s network demands electricity to keep running. Our microbiome runs on the energy from our diet via sunlight, which provides a diverse, nutrient-rich fuel that powers a robust microbial community, just like plugging in the rigs that sustain Bitcoin.

7. The Risk of a Crash

Bitcoin can face threats like a malicious attack or hack. The microbiome can face attacks too—antibiotics or a synthetic diet wipes out diversity, like a hostile takeover, leaving us vulnerable to inflammation, cognitive decline, or illness.

8. Constant Activity

Bitcoin’s network never sleeps, with nodes constantly processing transactions. Our microbiome is just as tireless, ceaselessly breaking down food, producing metabolites, and interacting with our immune system to keep the “system” humming.

9. Health as the Exchange Rate

Here’s the kicker: in the microbiome, diversity, and activity set the “exchange rate” between health and disease. A rich, decentralized microbial network pays off in immunity and vitality, while a weak one shifts the balance toward sickness—much like Bitcoin’s value swings with its ecosystem.

Microbiome and Bitcoin: Decentralization for both Health and Wealth

Your microbiome isn’t trading on Coinbase anytime soon, but it’s a decentralized powerhouse all the same. Like Bitcoin, it thrives on balance, diversity, and constant work—and its “market value” is our well-being. So, next time you eat well, think of it as investing in your microbial “Bitcoin.” The returns are priceless.