Vegan raw food influencer Zhanna Samsonova, 39, dies of 'starvation'

Zhanna Samsonova earlier said she spent four years eating and drinking just fruits, sunflower seed sprouts, smoothies, and juices.

According to reports, her friends said her diet had become worryingly restrictive in recent times.

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 as quoted by New York Post.

One of her friends told The Sun: "A few months ago, in Sri Lanka, she already looked exhausted."

"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," the friend said.

Zhanna Samsonova's mother claimed she was suffering from a 'cholera-like infection' just hours before she was supposed to fly home.

However, the official cause of her death is still not clear.