Béchamp & The Microzyma
The scientist history forgot—and the theory that could change everything.
Antoine Béchamp (1816-1908)
Professor of medical chemistry and pharmacy at the University of Montpellier. Doctor of science, doctor of medicine, professor of biochemistry. He held more degrees than Pasteur and conducted more rigorous research.
Yet history remembers Pasteur. Why? Pasteur had better political connections, a simpler story, and his theory was more profitable for the emerging pharmaceutical industry.
“Nothing is the prey of death; all things are the prey of life.”
— Antoine Béchamp
The microzyma: building blocks of life.
Béchamp discovered tiny granulations in all living tissue—particles smaller than bacteria that he called microzymas (from Greek: small ferments).
What He Observed
- • Microzymas exist in all living cells
- • They survive the death of the organism
- • They can transform into bacteria under certain conditions
- • They return to microzyma form when conditions normalize
- • They are the fundamental units of biological life
The radical claim: Bacteria don't invade from outside—they evolve from microzymas already present in the tissue when the terrain becomes diseased.
Béchamp vs Pasteur.
Béchamp's View
- • Life arises from within
- • Microbes evolve from tissue
- • Disease is a process of the host
- • The terrain determines health
- • Treat the patient, not the germ
- • Fermentation is a vital process
Pasteur's View
- • Life arises from outside
- • Microbes invade tissue
- • Disease is caused by germs
- • The germ determines illness
- • Kill the germ, cure the disease
- • Fermentation is purely chemical
Pasteur's theory was simpler, easier to monetize, and aligned with the reductionist thinking of the time. Béchamp's holistic view was too complex for the emerging germ-hunting paradigm.
Béchamp's experiments.
The Chalk Experiment
Béchamp found living microzymas in ancient chalk deposits—millions of years old. Life persisting where no external contamination was possible.
Sealed Tissue Studies
He sealed animal tissues in controlled environments. Bacteria appeared without external contamination—arising from the microzymas within.
Blood Observations
He documented microzymas in blood transforming into bacterial forms as the blood degraded—the terrain changing, the organisms following.
Why Béchamp was forgotten.
Political connections. Pasteur had access to Napoleon III and French scientific institutions. Béchamp worked in relative obscurity.
Commercial interests. Germ theory enabled vaccines, antibiotics, and antiseptics—billion-dollar industries. Terrain theory suggested lifestyle changes.
Simplicity wins. “Kill the germ” is easier to understand and implement than “balance the terrain.”
Plagiarism allegations. Evidence suggests Pasteur borrowed heavily from Béchamp without credit—then used his influence to bury the source.
The forgotten foundation.
Béchamp's work suggests that the building blocks of disease are already within us—waiting for the terrain to call them forth.