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Today, there are at least a dozen self-proclaimed Breatharian gurus around the world, connecting with followers and each other through expensive workshops and retreats, books, videos and — of course — the internet.
The most famous is a self-proclaimed prophet of ‘spiritual cleansing’ from Australia called Jasmuheen, who claims a person can survive on prana energy and 300 calories a day.

The blonde Jasmuheen was a former financial consultant named Ellen Greve before she saw the light — in her case the ‘liquid light’ of the divine life force from which the enlightened can draw nourishment.

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But such was his popularity, people in Macerata are struggling to believe the revelations. The local macrobiotic restaurant, offering cheap and healthy meals, is well-visited.

“I know many who work at the restaurants and are not exploited,” said Marco Ribechi, a journalist who reflected on Pianesi as a potential Jekyll and Hydecharacter in an article for the local online newspaper, . “Some of it may be exaggerated, but this is just my opinion.”

He said there may have been “layers” within the movement, whereby some people were exploited and others were not.

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Complainants described a sinister network which allegedly wielded power through a diet claimed to provide miracle cures for viruses and illnesses such as HIV, cancer and diabetes. Rules allegedly included banning women from wearing short skirts, make-up and from washing during their period. More bizarre customs were said to include having to get out of bed on the right side and cutting hair and nails on any day of the week other than Tuesday or Thursday.

People were also allegedly banned from laughing too much, using the internet and going to the gym, while men were told that wives who left them were akin to prostitutes.

“The rules came about over time,” said Vanda Secondino, who became involved with the group in 1989 after attending one of its first holiday camps.

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Peterson now follows a “ridiculous” diet of meat, salad and water, promoted online by his daughter, with only turmeric and salt for flavor. “Turmeric and salt! Turmeric and salt!” he sings in the middle of Manhattan’s Bryant Park, mocking the entire business with an impromptu jig. The regimen, Peterson says, helped him go off antidepressants, which he once assumed he would take for life, and shed 50 pounds