Chen Ziyi’s parents have confirmed their 24-year-old daughter, the Chinese mukbang star known online as “Ganfan Yingying,” died on August 17.
The confirmation came earlier this month to Global Times, just days after Chen posted her final video warning followers about the health toll of extreme eating content. In that last post, she revealed she had been hospitalized with blood potassium levels that had crashed to 2.3 mmol/L — far below the normal range of 3.5 to 5.5 mmol/L.
Chen had built a following of more than one million across her Chinese social media accounts by filming mukbang videos, a streaming format that originated in South Korea where creators consume large quantities of food while engaging with live audiences. Her parents have not officially confirmed a cause of death, though she is widely believed to have suffered cardiac arrest triggered by severe hypokalemia.
In her final video, Chen drew a direct line between her medical crisis and her content creation. She told followers that “although making money is important, health should always come first.”
She continued by explaining that the pressure to eat vast quantities on camera was physically exhausting for mukbang creators, adding that eating influencers often felt compelled to consume even more food to drive their popularity higher.
Dr. Chai Qichen, from the Department of General Practice at Zhejiang Hospital, noted that mukbang influencers frequently turn to laxatives or self-induced vomiting after filming to prevent weight gain from the massive meals. While extreme eating itself does not directly lower potassium, those compensatory behaviors can trigger dangerous drops.
Medical sources explain that hypokalemia often stems from gastrointestinal issues like vomiting and diarrhea. When stomach acid drops, it sets off a process that flushes potassium out through urine. Because potassium is essential for basic bodily functions, chronically low levels can cause muscle weakness, cramps, and abnormal heart rhythm. In the most severe cases, it can lead to cardiac arrest.
Chen’s death fits a disturbing pattern among extreme eating creators. In 2024, Chinese mukbanger Pan Xiaoting died during a livestream; she had previously been hospitalized with gastric bleeding tied to her eating habits. Turkish mukbanger Efecan Kultur died in 2025 from obesity-related complications. That same year, Russian fitness coach Dmitry Nuyanzin died after consuming 10,000 calories daily to promote his program.
The mukbang format has exploded across streaming platforms since its South Korean origins, with creators competing to pull in viewers through ever-larger meals and more extreme consumption. The economic incentives are substantial for top performers, but the physical demands have repeatedly pushed creators toward dangerous compensatory behaviors.
Chen’s final message to her audience carried the weight of someone who had learned that lesson too late. She had built a career on excess, amassing a seven-figure following by giving viewers what the algorithm rewarded. Her hospitalization came as a direct result of that cycle, and her death three days later cut short any chance to change course.
The broader creator economy around extreme eating shows few signs of slowing, even as the body count rises. Platforms continue to promote high-engagement content, and audiences keep tuning in for the spectacle of consumption. Chen’s warning — that health should come first — now stands as her legacy, preserved in the final post she shared before her potassium-starved heart gave out.
The mukbang industry faces mounting scrutiny in China and globally as medical professionals and regulators debate how to address the health crisis among its stars without outright banning a wildly popular format.