A Russian social media influencer who spent years promoting an extreme raw vegan lifestyle died in Malaysia at age 39, with friends and family pointing to her restrictive diet as the cause. Zhanna Samsonova, known online as Zhanna D’Art, passed away on July 21, 2023, after seeking medical treatment during a tour of Southeast Asia.
Her death highlights the gap between social media health advice and actual medical science. With more than 30,000 Instagram followers, Samsonova had built an audience around her raw food philosophy. By the end, she was eating only tropical fruit.
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What Happened in Malaysia
Samsonova died while receiving treatment at a hospital in Malaysia. Her mother, Vera Samsonova, told Russian newspaper Vechernyaya Kazan that a cholera-like infection killed her daughter. But Vera blamed the underlying cause on years of nutritional deprivation. “She chose this path,” the mother said. “I fought for many years but she did not listen.”
No official cause of death has been released. The family was awaiting a medical report and death certificate when news of her passing spread through Russian media outlets in early August 2023.
Friends who saw Samsonova in the months before her death described a woman whose body was failing. One told Newsflash she looked “exhausted, with swollen legs oozing lymph” when they met in Sri Lanka. Another said it was “scary to look at her” because her hands had become as thin as a child’s.
From Moscow to Raw Food Advocate
Born in Kazan, Russia in 1984, Samsonova moved to Moscow at 18 before leaving the country entirely in 2006. She spent the next 17 years traveling through Southeast Asia, documenting her journey on social media while practicing yoga and promoting raw veganism.
As Zhanna D’Art, she posted photos of elaborate fruit plates and raw food creations. Her following grew as she shared her philosophy: no cooked food, no animal products, and what she called a “simple” approach to eating.
But simple meant increasingly restrictive. Samsonova had followed a raw vegan diet for over a decade. In her final four years, she ate nothing but fruit, sunflower seed sprouts, and fruit smoothies. Friends claimed she consumed only durian and jackfruit for seven years straight.
She also stopped drinking water. For six years, according to multiple accounts, Samsonova replaced water entirely with fruit and vegetable juices. She practiced dry fasting, going days without food or water.
“I eat simple food, although I have a lot of experience as a raw food chef,” she wrote on Instagram. “For the last four years, my diet has been only fruits, sunflower seed sprouts, fruit smoothies and juices.”
The Body Breaks Down
By early 2023, the effects were visible. Friends in Sri Lanka noticed the swelling in her legs. When she refused treatment and traveled to Thailand instead, those who saw her in Phuket said they were “horrified.”
She could barely walk. Climbing a single stair took several minutes. One friend who lived in the same building said they feared finding her dead each morning. “I convinced her to seek treatment, but she didn’t make it,” they told Russian outlet 116.ru.
Another friend was more direct: “Ms. Samsonova’s idle starvation was causing her to melt before our eyes, but she believed everything was fine.” They added that only her eyes and hair looked healthy. The rest of her body told a different story.
Her last Instagram post came on June 10, 2023, celebrating durian season in Thailand. “Wake Up And Smell the Durian!” she wrote, urging followers to try the pungent fruit. Days before her death, she posted a quote to her Instagram stories: “Life is meaningless but worth living provided you recognise it’s meaningless.”
Why a Fruit Diet Fails
Medical experts who reviewed Samsonova’s case point to multiple nutritional deficiencies that would have developed over years of eating only fruit.
A diet of just fruit and seeds lacks protein. The human body needs protein to maintain muscle mass, produce enzymes, and support immune function. Without it, the body begins breaking down its own tissue.
Vitamin B12 exists almost exclusively in animal products. Vegans who don’t supplement develop deficiency within years, leading to anemia and nerve damage. Samsonova’s diet also lacked adequate iron, calcium, zinc, and omega-3 fatty acids.
The combination weakens the immune system. A body without proper nutrition cannot fight infection. When Samsonova contracted what her mother described as a cholera-like illness, she had nothing left to fight with.
Registered dietitians stress that even well-planned vegan diets require supplementation. A fruit-only diet is not a vegan diet. It’s starvation.
A Mother’s Grief, A Friend’s Anger
Vera Samsonova watched her daughter slip away for years. She tried to intervene. So did friends. None of it worked.
“She did not listen to her mother,” Vera told media. She said her daughter, once an aspiring model, “refused to listen” to anyone’s concerns about her health.
Friends expressed frustration mixed with grief. “You don’t need to be a doctor to understand where this will lead,” one said after learning of her death.
Another was harsher: “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.”
Yet Samsonova saw it differently until the end. She posted frequently about how her diet was transforming her body and mind. “I love my new me,” she wrote. She claimed she would never return to her old eating habits.
When Influence Becomes Dangerous
Samsonova’s death raises questions about social media health advice. She had tens of thousands of followers who saw her posts about raw food and extreme restriction. Some may have tried to copy her diet.
The vegan community has responded with mixed reactions. Some worry the case will be used to attack plant-based eating in general. Others acknowledge that what Samsonova practiced was not veganism but something closer to an eating disorder.
Nutritionists emphasize the difference between a balanced vegan diet with proper supplementation and the kind of extreme restriction that killed Samsonova. One requires planning and knowledge. The other is a slow form of suicide.
Her story is not an argument against veganism. It’s a warning about ignoring your body’s basic needs because an online persona demands it. About mistaking social media followers for medical expertise. About the price of refusing help when friends and family can see you’re dying.
Zhanna Samsonova spent her final years telling followers she felt better than ever. Her body told a different story. By the time she sought medical treatment in Malaysia, it was too late.
