Vegan influencer Zhanna Samsonova has reportedly “died of starvation” after subsisting exclusively off a diet of exotic fruit in Malaysia, according to her friends and family.
She was 39.
The Russian national — who frequently promoted raw foods on social media where she was known to her millions of viewers on TikTok, Facebook and Instagram as Zhanna D’Art — reportedly died July 21 after finally seeking medical treatment during a tour in Southeast Asia, according to local media outlet reports.
“A few months ago, in Sri Lanka, she already looked exhausted, with swollen legs oozing lymph,” one unidentified friend told Newsflash. “They sent her home to seek treatment. However, she ran away again. When I saw her in Phuket, I was horrified.”
Her friend added, “I lived one floor above her and every day I feared finding her lifeless body in the morning. I convinced her to seek treatment, but she didn’t make it.”
Samsonova’s mother attributed her daughter’s passing to “cholera-like infection.” However, her official cause of death has not been declared.
A proponent of uncooked herbivorous fare, the Kasan native claimed she ate a “completely raw vegan diet” for the last four years, consuming just “fruits, sunflower seed sprouts, fruit smoothies and juices.”
Meanwhile, a friend claimed that for the last seven years, Samsonova had only eaten the giant, sweet jackfruit and durian, a spiky, mace-like fruit known for its custardy meat and noxious odor.
“I see my body and mind transform every day,” Samsonova had gushed while describing her restrictive eating regimen. “I love my new me, and never move on to the habits that I used to use.”
The foodfluencer said her raw foods regimen was reportedly inspired by seeing “peers” who looked a lot older than their ages, which she attributed to their “junk food” diets.
She used social media to spread her raw diet doctrine, describing: “I eat simple food, although I have a lot of experience as a raw food chef. I love creating my own recipes and inspiring people to eat healthier.”
Unfortunately, her friends believe her so-called healthy food choices were to blame for her death.
“You don’t need to be a doctor to understand where this will lead,” said one pal of her all-durian and jack fruit diet.
“Zhanna’s idle stagnation was causing her to melt before our eyes, but she believed everything was fine,” theorized another. “Only her eyes, merry eyes, and gorgeous hair compensated for the dreadful sight of a body tortured by idiocy. Forgive me if it sounds harsh.”
While a raw foods diet can have multiple health benefits — including weight loss, improved heart health and a lower risk of diabetes — there are downsides to this regimen, especially when not well planned, according to Healthline.
These include deficiencies in calcium and Vitamin D, which are needed for strong bones. This can also lead to suboptimal B12 levels, which can result in anemia, nervous system damage, infertility and, somewhat paradoxically, heart disease.
A study published earlier this month in the Journal of Nutrition found that 100% of participants on a raw vegan diet ingested less than the recommended 2.4 mcg of vitamin B12 per day.
Despite the potential downsides to Samsonova’s diet, many of her devoted followers refused to believe her eating choices led to her death, instead claiming that she was killed by chemicals in the fruit she ate.
Samsonova’s family is awaiting a medical report and a death certificate that will determine her official cause of death.
Samsonova wouldn’t be the first to starve to death from a raw foods diet.
Last year, vegan Florida mother Sheila O’Leary, 38, was sentenced to life in prison after starving her 18-month-old son to death by feeding him only small amounts of fruits and vegetables.
Is everyone afraid to say it – She had Anorexia Nervosa and she was able to hide it, compensate for her mental illness of body dysmorphia was to make it her career & means to support herself & travels. “I can’t give up my dirty little secret, because IT is how I financially sustain myself.” “I can’t go get treatment, I’ll let 1 million followers who also have Anorexia down.- I am their Coach on how to disguise this disease as a healthy way of life” and she continued to talk in public and JUSTIFY why she couldn’t take the time to go check herself into a facility and get the help she desperately needed. She was their Cult Leader more or less. I don’t believe that many other Nations provide for the ability to allow LEO, Doctors, Family Members and then Judges to order a person to go into treatment if they are a danger to themselves or others. For her to continue to agree to get help and then “escape” sounds as if she was a master manipulator whose entire existence was one gigantic muddled LIE. To tell others that her diet consisted of all natural vegan but it really is only comprised of 2 items….She Lied to herself and she lied to everyone that listened to her. They want to be alone with their disease. I read up on this “Jackfruit” and found that the first article to pop up just praises what it will do for inflammation, blood sugar, help your heart – amazing fruit that is a great substitute for MEAT…written by the Cleveland Clinic. Cleveland & Mayo Clinic used to be the absolute BEST Hospitals and those physicians on staff there were the Top 1% of the Nation ~ then things drastically changed. To read the article on this miracle Jackfruit by Cleveland Clinic makes it sound like absolutely the best thing to put into your diet but then again, they also insisted on the COVID jab too! ~ Looks CAN be deceiving for the past 2 decades and Truth & Integrity aren’t valued & cherished as they used to be before ~
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/what-is-jackfruit-and-is-it-healthy/#Jackfruit%20Health%20Benefits
This makes me want to get one of my home grown rib eye steaks out of the freezer for tonight’s dinner. Think I will…..
What’s worse than the mentally challenged starving themselves are the ones who inflict their madness on their children (as in the last paragraph). The poor children are literally starved to death. Some of the crazies insist too that their dogs do not naturally crave meat.
Re-open the madhouses!
Another self-proclaimed ‘expert’. 95% of the ‘experts’ on social media are nothing more than narcissistic con artists. Anyone who believes any part of what they’re ‘selling’ is not just naive – they’re ignorant.