She posted to Instagram just days before her death.
A vegan raw food influencer has reportedly died from starvation and exhaustion.
Zhanna Samsonova, originally from Russia, had been living in South-East Asia and eating an exclusively raw vegan diet consisting of “fruits, sunflower seed sprouts, fruit smoothies and juices” for the past five years.
The Mail reported that her friends had become concerned about her restrictive eating habits in recent months. Others had been worried about Samsonova’s decision to avoid drinking water for the six years leading up to her death, instead consuming only fruit and vegetable juice.
Samsonova occasionally dry-fasted too which is fasting your body of all food and liquids for days at a time.
In her second to last Instagram post, at the start of June, Zhanna wrote about it being “fruits season” in Thailand, where she was most recently based in Phuket.
“This is the most awaited time! Time to gain weight! The amazing variety of Thai fruits A typical Thai tradition meal includes eating seasonal fruits and vegetables, which are well-known for being delicious and fresh. You will never be bored with plenty of choices all year round.”
But it’s her final post that many are looking towards now.
Just days before her death, Samsonova shared a haunting post which read: “Life is meaningless.”
Accompanied with a selfie, she wrote: “Life is meaningless but worth living provided you recognise it’s meaningless.”
The 39-year-old was said to have passed away on July 21.
In the aftermath of her death it has since been reported that Samsonova could barely walk in the build up to her death. Many of her friends also claim Samsonova was battling with anorexia and say her diet had become increasingly more restrictive in the months prior to her early death.
One friend added that she was bed-bound for almost a month shortly before her death.
While an official cause of death for the influencer, known as Zhanna D’Art online, has not been revealed, reports suggest she had a “cholera-like infection” which was exacerbated by “exhaustion of the body by a vegan diet” her mother, Vera Samsonova, told Russian newspaper Vechernyaya Kazan.
Zhanna’s family are now said to be trying to get her body back to Russia.
She was due to return to Kazan on the day she died, her mother told local news outlets.
