A vegan influencer who lived on an “extreme” diet of raw fruits and vegetables, could “barely walk” and had not drunk water for more than six years before reportedly dying of hunger and exhaustion, her friends have revealed.
Zhanna Samsonova, originally from Russia and known as Zhanna D’Art on social media, followed the raw plant-based diet consisting of fruits, sunflower seeds, fruit smoothies and juices for ten years.
Ms Samsonova, whose friends say she suffered from anorexia, became so weak in the last weeks of her life as a result of her extreme diet that she was practically bedridden and it would take her ‘few minutes’ to walk up a step on a staircase.
The 39-year-old’s friends have revealed they were “appalled” by her emancipated appearance and begged for help from doctors – but she refused and continued her diet of raw plant foods.
Ms Samsonova, who had not drunk water for more than six years and replaced it with fruit and vegetable juices instead, died on July 21 while in intensive care at a hospital in Malaysia.
The influencer, who had more than 10,000 Instagram followers and traveled Asia for the past 17 years, reportedly died of a cholera-like infection exacerbated by her extremely restrictive diet, her mother told the Russian newspaper. Vechernyaya Kazan.
Zhanna Samsonova (pictured), originally from Russia and known as Zhanna D’Art on social media, followed the raw plant-based diet consisting of fruits, sunflower seeds, fruit smoothies and juices for a decade
Ms Samsonova (pictured), whose friends say she suffered from anorexia, became so weak in the last weeks of her life as a result of her extreme diet that she was practically bedridden and it would take her ‘few minutes’ to walk up a step up a flight of stairs
In a post published on June 7, Ms. Samsonova said she was excited about Thailand’s fruit season, saying it was “time to arrive”
Ms. Samsonova’s official cause of death has not yet been determined as her family attempts to get her body back to Russia amid bureaucratic delays.
There were times when Ms. Samsonova practiced ‘dry fasting’, refusing to eat or drink for days on end.
In the last months of her life, Ms Samsonova’s friends had been desperately urging her to get help and eat more substantial food – but they said it was ‘impossible’ to get her to talk to doctors or do anything else. eat raw fruits and vegetables.
Olga Chernyaeva, one of the influencer’s friends, told Russian newspaper Novye Izvestia: ‘I watched her travel to her death for seven years. About five months ago I met Zhanna in Sri Lanka and she looked haggard.
“Her legs were swollen… It was amazing she was still moving—I think she was hurting.”
Ms. Chernyaeva added: “I tried to talk to her, to convince her to seek help from doctors, to take tests. I showed her her body in the mirror and in photos from years past. But Zhanna’s character was not easy, it was impossible to convince her on certain points.’
Her devastated friend said she watched helplessly as Ms. Samsonova became “just bones” and was left practically bedbound.
Mrs. Chernyaeva said: “She was in bed for almost a month. When she got up, it was very difficult for her to walk – it took several minutes to overcome a step of the stairs.
“I brought her fruit every morning – it was impossible to get her to eat anything else. Boolean arguments didn’t work. Zhanna believed that death does not exist.”
The 39-year-old’s friends have revealed they were ‘shocked’ by her emancipated appearance and begged for help from doctors – but she refused and continued her diet of raw plant foods
There were times when Ms. Samsonova (pictured last month) practiced ‘dry fasting’ – refusing to eat or drink for days
Another friend of Ms. Samsonova, whom she met in Thailand, told the Russian news outlet 116.ru“It was scary to look at her, to be honest, her hands were like my 12-year-old sister’s, skinny.”
Another friend said they saw it Ms Samsonova a few months ago in Sri Lanka ‘looks exhausted’.
“They sent her home to seek treatment. However, she ran away again. When I saw her in Phuket, I was shocked,” they said.
“I lived one floor above her and every day I was afraid to find her lifeless body in the morning. I convinced her to get treatment, but she didn’t make it,” the friend added.
Another friend said, “Mrs. Samsonova’s useless hunger made her melt before our very eyes, but she believed that everything was fine.
“Only her eyes, merry eyes and beautiful hair compensated for the horrible sight of a body tormented by idiocy. Forgive me if it sounds harsh.’
Ms. Samsonova refused to heed their warnings and it proved fatal after she reportedly died of an infection and exhaustion exacerbated by her raw food diet.
The food blogger’s mother, Vera Samsonova, told local news outlets that Ms. Samsonova would fly to Kazan on the day of her death.
Vera did not approve of her daughter’s extreme diet and tried to convince her to introduce more balanced eating habits, but she refused.
Ms. Samsonova switched from veganism to a purely raw food diet consisting of fruits and vegetables, with the influencer sharing what she described as “healthy” recipes on her Instagram profile.
The influencer, who seemed increasingly emaciated over time in her social media videos, posted footage of her eating her lunch, which sometimes consisted of a whole melon and carrot juice.
In another video, Ms. Samsonova told her Instagram followers how she ate cherry tomatoes, an avocado and avocado juice for lunch.
‘Despite the fact that I cook chic raw vegetables, I eat very simply. My food is simple, no oil, no salt, no dehydrated food and no protein,” Ms. Samsonova wrote in a post. ‘Today I have delicious avocado kefir, sweet cherry tomatoes and ripe avocado for lunch. Enjoy your meal.’
One person responded to Ms. Samsonova’s recent post, writing, “This is just pure starvation, not a healthy raw vegan diet.” Sorry to hear it ended badly. I wish I could have helped you get rid of your eating disorder.’
Ms Samsonova (pictured) had claimed her ten years on a raw plant product meant she was ‘in perfect health’ and ‘never got the usual seasonal cold’
Ms. Samsonova has been following a vegan diet for over 15 years and started by allowing herself occasional fish and dairy products.
Over the years, however, her restrictive diet became more and more extreme, and eventually she ate only raw fruits and vegetables in addition to juice.
She had claimed that her ten years on a raw plant product meant she was “in perfect health” and “never got the usual seasonal cold.”
But in 2021, Ms. Samsonova traveled back to her native Russia for the first time in nine years, but immediately fell ill with the coronavirus.
Ms Samsonova said she had ‘ignored’ all Covid precautions before becoming infected and bizarrely claimed to have ‘cured’ herself of the virus by dry fasting – not drinking or eating anything for more than 10 days.
She wrote on Instagram: “I was the category of people who were not afraid to get infected with viruses and ignored all precautions, because for the past ten years I was in perfect health on raw plant-based diets and I didn’t. even get the usual seasonal cold.
“And ironically… I still got sick (with Covid) and was in bed for 10 days.”
Ms. Samsonova then continued in a bizarre way: “I started to cure myself with dry fasting, because I have been practicing this method for a long time, because I can cure all ailments.
“The disease gradually began to subside, days of dry hunger and I was getting better and better every day… The most critical time is behind me. I have overcome this disease despite my unconventional treatment that many condemn.’
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