The interview is chilling, and not because of the water temperature mentioned in it. In a 2018 video that is looping on social media, naturopath Irène Grosjean advises placing a feverish infant in a derivative bath filled with ice water and rubbing his genitals for a long time with a glove, to lower the temperature. An act that constitutes nothing less than a sexual assault.
The controversy swelled, 17 naturopaths claiming to claim his teaching were suspended from the Doctolib platform. But what is naturopathy? Is it a treatment method? Could there be other deviations? 20 minutes make the point.
What does naturopathy advocate?
As its name subtly suggests, naturopathy claims to want to return to natural methods to relieve ailments. “The basis is to say that what is natural is good for the body, what is not natural is bad,” explains Christian Jeambrun, president of the union of liberal doctors. A fallacy that has never been supported by any scientific evidence.
Located between the “current of thought” and “pseudo-science”, naturopathy is above all attached to a “way of life” and has nothing to do with medicine, insists the doctor. From the practice of fasting to fruit-based diets, from the encouragement of sports practice to crystal beds, “there are as many naturopaths as there are practices,” he continues. “The word is nice, we all want natural,” he laments, but wanting a healthier lifestyle and treating cancer are two very different things.
Is a naturopath a doctor? Is the profession regulated?
In short: no and no. There is neither university training leading to a diploma and validated by the State, nor “scientific or ordinal council to supervise the practice”, clarifies Doctor Jeambrun. And there is no register, official list, oath either. In other words, “anyone can call themselves a naturopath” overnight, and start “promoting a way of life, a diet, a current of thought under cover natural”, denounces Christian Jeambrun.
However, naturopaths are among the “health professionals” who can register on the Doctolib platform. “Managing people’s health is something serious! “, annoys the liberal doctor, who demands that checks be made. In town too, naturopaths have found their place. Faced with “rapid medical desertification” and the “degradation of patient care”, they have “taken a niche”, warns Jean-Paul Hamon, of the Generalist Union. Some even settled in multidisciplinary health centers in search of a budget, despite the alerts that her union had then sent to Agnès Buzyn.
What are the drifts surrounding naturopathy?
Advise to play sports and eat fruit, in general, there is nothing wrong with that. Massages to relieve pain, why not. But when some naturopaths pour into urinotherapy, claiming that drinking your pee would cure asthma, depression, ear infections or even cancers (obviously caused by something unnatural), it is much more problematic. And to return to Irène Grosjean’s advice on babies, beyond touching, “to say that ice water lowers the fever without knowing the cause of the fever, it’s dangerous”, proclaims Jean-Paul Hamon.
More broadly, naturopathy, by claiming to cure everything without medication, alienates its followers from medicine and becomes the crucible of “primary antivax” and foolproof conspiracy. According to Irène Grosjean, HIV would thus be linked to “a marked attraction to pasta, bread and pizzas”… “it’s more of a sect than anything else”, warns Jean-Paul Hamon. Behind the remedies also hides an important part of spirituality, even religion. “The original sin is the cooking of food,” says the high priestess of naturopathy in reference to the Bible.
“If a naturopath advocates living naked and eating only fruit”, image Christian Jeambrun, people who follow his teaching and his example become imbued with his personality. Therefore, “where will he lead them”? Thierry Casanovas, close to Irène Grosjean, is thus regularly accused of being a guru and has been actively followed by Miviludes since 2012.