Vegan Influencer Reportedly Dies Of Starvation In Malaysia After Following A Raw Food Diet
She was said to have exclusively consumed jackfruit and durian for the past seven years.
By Yap Wan Xiang — 01 Aug 2023, 05:24 PM
Vegan influencer Zhanna Samsonova has reportedly died of starvation in Malaysia after following a raw vegan diet for years
According to New York Post, citing a Russian-language report, Samsonova had been subsisting exclusively off a diet of exotic fruit in Malaysia.
Known to her fans as Zhanna D'Art, the Russian national was 39 years old. She reportedly passed away on 21 July.
"A few months ago, in Sri Lanka, she already looked exhausted, with swollen legs oozing lymph," an unidentified friend of Samsonova told Newsflash, adding, "They sent her home to seek treatment. However, she ran away again. When I saw her in Phuket, I was horrified."
They said they used to live above Samsonova in a building and were always afraid that they would find her lifeless body one day.
When asked about Samsonova's go-to foods, a friend revealed that she had been exclusively consuming giant, sweet jackfruit, and pungent durian for the past seven years
Both fruits are native to the Southeast Asian region, and are part of Malaysia's export products.
The Economic Times reported that Samsonova's mother mentioned a "cholera-like infection" as a suspected cause of death, but the official reason is yet to be disclosed.
With that said, her mother believes the extreme vegan diet took a toll on her daughter's body and mental well-being.
As a content creator on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook, Samsonova had been advocating for her raw diet doctrine, passionately sharing her transformational experiences
She would write long captions on her Instagram posts to share updates about her life, recipes, and benefits of her diet.
She described her strict eating regimen as empowering, chronicling the alleged positive effects her practice had on her body and mind, reported The Economic Times.
It is understood that her body has yet to be sent back from Malaysia. Samsonova's family is currently waiting for a medical report and a death certificate to determine her official cause of death.
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For a more thorough directory of resources, head over to the websites of Malaysian Mental Health Association or MINDAKAMI.
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