Wikipedia

Thierry Casasnovas

Thierry Casasnovas is a French health influencer and alternative medicine advocate.[1][2]

Thierry Casasnovas
Thierry Casasnovas in 2018
Born (1974-04-15) April 15, 1974 (age 50)
Perpignan
Pyrénées-Orientales, France
Occupation(s)Lifestyle coach, Naturopathic practitioner, Influencer
Years active2011–present

Without medical training, he gives advice on health and nutrition on the web, and he is a prolific videographer, author of several hundred videos on YouTube. Some practices that he advises are considered without a scientific basis or even dangerous for health by dieticians and doctors.

Biography

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Childhood

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Thierry Casasnovas was born in Perpignan.[3]

He was trained as a baker and later became an itinerant baker between Morocco, the North Cape and Eastern European countries on bicycle trips.[4]

Family

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He had a son — Isaac — with a woman named Marina in March 2017 and a daughter — Stella — with another woman named Estelle in 2021.[5]

Disease

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Thierry Casasnovas states that he was seriously ill between 2001 and 2007, suffering from hepatitis C, advanced tuberculosis, acute pancreatitis,[6][7] salmonella infection, depression, and several cardiac arrests. He would have seen raw food as "his last chance".[8]

In 2006, he spent three weeks at the Hippocratic Institute in Florida, a center dedicated to “living food” and “regeneration”7. For Pascale Duval — spokesperson for Unadfi — this passage was decisive in the rest of Casasnovas’ career: “We often find the Hippocratic Institute in the career of New Age gurus. He did not become a guru for nothing, but because he associated with others. ”.[9][4]

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On January 15, 2010, he founded his YouTube channel where he talks about his life and his views on raw food.

On 21 June 2012, he founded the Régénère association, a platform for organising internships and training.[10] In July 2014, Thierry Casasnovas stated that the non-profit association Regénère only collects "a small commission" on the commercial activity of selling juice extractors, which allows the association to live.[11][12]

In 2019, it launches several training courses, notably on hygiene and iridology, for a minimum cost of 200 euros each. The turnover that year was 1. 8 million euros and he received a salary of 61,251 euros through his company Actinidia, with which he bought the name of the association Regènère. Actinidia started in 2015 and, according to a member of Régénère, Casasnovas started with a salary of €1,000 per month, with the aim of paying itself mainly on dividends. Casasnovas has refused to hand over his accounts to journalists, but according to him, his salary is around 2,500 euros per month for an annual turnover of 150,000 euros, except for the exceptional year of 2019.[13]

A BFM TV article from 2020 indicates that Thierry Casasnovas offers thematic training at a cost of EUR 300 per participant.[14] In 2020, Le Journal du dimanche states that its turnover is mainly made up of training. The sessions "Cure de Jouvence" or "Healthy Ageing" are worth 300 euros and Thierry Casasnovas claims to sell several hundred per year. The cost of the internships can go up to 700 euros for six days, excluding accommodation. Thierry Casasnovas states that about 15 people make a living from this activity, i. e. four employees.[15][16] In 2022, 20 Minutes, which commented on the 2021 Miviludes report, indicated that Casasnovas was suspected of demanding "exorbitant" financial retributions.[17]

According to France bleu, Thierry Casasnovas derives "considerable advertising revenue" from his YouTube channel (over 100 million views).[18] Nevertheless, YouTube demonetizes its channel during the second quarter of 2022.[19]

Popularity

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In 2014, Rue89 described Thierry Casasnovas as «star of the «raw food» on YouTube despite his dubious speech»[20] and for 20 Minutes, he became in a few years «the leader of crudivorism, this tendency to eat only raw food to recover or stay healthy, according to him».[8]

Controversies and accusations

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Scientists, medias, or associative organizations like the UNADFI tend, directly or indirectly, to link some of the controversial theories that he is spreading—without any officially recognized medical training—with a veiled form of charlatanism.[21]

Nicknamed "the guru of raw food",[22] the same authorities also mentioned possible prospects of sectarian drifts.[23] They also pointed out the risks and dangers resulting from nutritional deficiencies relating to the strict and exclusive veganism which he is advocating.[24] In view of the above, the members of the MIVILUDES declared that they have received several hundred reports from the parents of followers worried about the fate and health of their relatives, many of whom claiming that they were deliberately giving up any conventional medical approach in favor of the sole teachings provided by Thierry Casasnovas. The aforesaid reports focused in particular on the fact that the allegedly curative treatments recommended by him are essentially limited to the sole absorption of freshly squeezed vegetable juices together with a raw food diet—strictly based on a vegan nutrition—punctuated by interspersed fasting periods of extensible duration.

In the summer of 2020, the Paris public prosecutor's office opened an investigation into his case[14] on the grounds of potential endangerment[25] and "suspected fraudulent abuse of vulnerable persons".[1][26] Thierry Casasnovas is refuting all the accusations against him, invoking his freedom of speech.

He claims to have recovered himself from various pathological conditions such as tuberculosis or hepatitis C by adopting a raw and living diet.[23][27][21]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, he spread conspiracy theories and misinformation about the disease.[28][21][29]

References

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  1. ^ a b Tristan Mendès France [in French] (April 2, 2021). "Thierry Casasnovas, une personnalité polémique de l'univers des santés alternatives" [Thierry Casasnovas, a controversial figure in the world of alternative health care] (audio). Antidote (in French). France Inter — Radio France.
  2. ^ Léo Ruiz; Guillaume Vénétitay (March 2021). "Thierry Casasnovas". Society (in French). Montescot. pp. 50–58.
  3. ^ "Qui est Thierry Casasnovas ? Son parcours, les inquiétudes qu'il suscite | UNADFI". www.unadfi.org (in French). April 20, 2021. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
  4. ^ a b à 07h02, Par Vincent Mongaillard et Ariane Riou Le 31 juillet 2023 (July 31, 2023). "Thierry Casasnovas, la chute d'un gourou : « Il avait un côté mytho »… Sa vie avant YouTube". leparisien.fr (in French). Retrieved January 28, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ Mongaillard, Par Vincent; à 07h04, envoyé spécial à Tauliset Ariane Riou Le 31 juillet 2023 (July 31, 2023). "«Il a pris 10 ans dans la gueule» : la nouvelle vie de Thierry Casasnovas, le «gourou du cru» mis en examen". leparisien.fr (in French). Retrieved January 28, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ "Manger cru, le nouveau credo branché". Le Monde.fr (in French). August 12, 2016. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
  7. ^ "La «raw food» ou le plaisir de manger tout cru". Le Soir (in French). April 3, 2018. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
  8. ^ a b "Alimentation: Manger sans cuire les aliments, ils y ont cru". www.20minutes.fr (in French). July 21, 2014. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
  9. ^ "Thierry Casasnovas". Society (in French). March 24, 2021. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
  10. ^ "Détail d'une annonce | Associations — Journal Officiel". www.journal-officiel.gouv.fr. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
  11. ^ "La très juteuse générosité du gourou du « manger cru » Thierry Casasnovas". L'Obs (in French). December 28, 2014. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
  12. ^ "Du médicament miracle aux patchs anti-ondes: ces très mauvais conseils des influenceurs à oublier". BFMTV (in French). Retrieved January 28, 2024.
  13. ^ "Thierry Casasnovas". Society (in French). March 24, 2021. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
  14. ^ a b Justine Chevalier (October 6, 2020). "Anti-vaccin, adepte du jeûne et du crudivorisme: pourquoi Thierry Casasnovas est dans le viseur de la justice" [Anti-vaccine, follower of fasting and crudivorism: why Thierry Casasnovas is in the target of justice]. BFM TV (in French).
  15. ^ "Complotisme : comment le youtubeur Thierry Casasnovas est devenu un gourou en temps de crise sanitaire". lejdd.fr (in French). July 22, 2020. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
  16. ^ "Le naturopathe catalan Thierry Casasnovas de nouveau épinglé par la mission anti-sectes - France Bleu". ici, par France Bleu et France 3 (in French). November 9, 2022. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
  17. ^ "La Miviludes note une explosion des dérives sectaires". www.20minutes.fr (in French). November 3, 2022. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
  18. ^ "Le naturopathe catalan Thierry Casasnovas de nouveau épinglé par la mission anti-sectes - France Bleu". ici, par France Bleu et France 3 (in French). November 9, 2022. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
  19. ^ Gayte, Aurore (March 10, 2023). "YouTube a discrètement démonétisé la chaîne de Thierry Casasnovas". Numerama (in French). Retrieved January 28, 2024.
  20. ^ "La très juteuse générosité du gourou du « manger cru » Thierry Casasnovas". Le Nouvel Obs (in French). December 28, 2014. Retrieved May 8, 2024.
  21. ^ a b c "Thierry Casasnovas". Society (in French). March 2021. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
  22. ^ Guillaume Gendron (March 23, 2021). "Thierry Casasnovas, la radicalisation d'un gourou pur jus" [Thierry Casasnovas, the radicalization of a pure guru]. Libération (in French). Photo by Pierre Mérimée.
  23. ^ a b Victor Goury-Laffont (March 4, 2021). "Dérives sectaires: qui est Thierry Casasnovas, youtubeur suivi par les autorités ?" [Sectarian drifs: who is Thierry Casasnovas, youtuber followed by the authorities?]. RTL (in French).
  24. ^ "Véganisme, manger sain, quels dangers ?" [Veganism, healthy eating, what are the dangers?] (video). Temps présent (in French). 2017.
  25. ^ "Vidéos de Thierry Casasnovas, dans le Vallespir: enquête pour mise en danger de la vie d'autrui" [Videos of Thierry Casasnovas, in Vallespir: investigation for endangering the life of others]. La Semaine du Roussillon (in French). March 7, 2021.
  26. ^ Karim Rissouli [in French] (March 7, 2021). "La Fabrique du mensonge: Fake news sur ordonnance" [The Factory of Lies : 1st part : Hold-up: the recipes for success — 2nd part: Thierry Casasnovas, the raw food guru] (video). La Fabrique du Mensonge (1re partie : Hold-up : les recettes du succès — 2e partie : Thierry Casasnovas, le gourou du manger cru) (in French). France 5.
  27. ^ JP Gené (August 12, 2016). "Manger cru, le nouveau credo branché" [Raw food, the new trendy credo]. Le Monde (in French).
  28. ^ Zerouali, Lucie Delaporte et Khedidja (December 2, 2020). "Les relais du conspirationnisme: "Hold-up" sur une contre-culture". Mediapart (in French). Retrieved August 24, 2021.
  29. ^ "Thierry Casasnovas: enquête sur le gourou des "crudivores" qui inquiète les autorités". LExpress.fr (in French). January 26, 2021. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
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