Who Was Ganfan Yingying? Mukbang Influencer Chen Ziyi Dies Aged 24 After Suffering Fatal Health Complications From Extreme Eating

Mukbang influencer Ganfan Yingying has died at 24 after reportedly suffering fatal health complications linked to her extreme eating habits. The popular food influencer, whose real name was Chen Ziyi, died on August 17, according to confirmation from her parents to the Global Times.

She had garnered more than 1.2 million followers across social media through her mukbang videos, a format centered on eating large amounts of food while engaging with viewers. Originally from China, Yingying reportedly suffered a cardiac arrest caused by critically low potassium levels. In her final social media post, the content creator said that she had been hospitalized for a while after developing serious health complications.

Shocking Death

Yingying said her potassium level had dropped to 2.3, well below the normal range of 3.5 to 5.5. Potassium plays an important role in several bodily functions, including the digestive system and maintaining healthy bones.

Prolonged potassium deficiency can become dangerous, potentially causing abnormal heart rhythms, muscle weakness and, in severe cases, paralysis, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Authorities have not yet revealed an official cause of death.

The influencer also spoke about the physical toll and pressure mukbang creators can face while producing content. In a warning to her followers, she said, “Although making money is important, health should always come first.”

Doctors have pointed out that binge eating alone does not typically result in a dangerous drop in potassium. Severe potassium depletion can instead occur when someone repeatedly induces vomiting or takes laxatives to get rid of food after filming.

Too Dangerous a Habit

Yingying is not the only young mukbang creator to have died following extreme eating habits. In 2025, Efecan Kultur, a 24-year-old binge-eating influencer from Turkey, died from health complications associated with his weight.

Kultur had about 155,000 followers on TikTok and had become known in his home country as a mukbang streamer.

The Turkish influencer had been hospitalized since December 2024 as his health deteriorated because of severe obesity. His condition eventually became so serious that he could no longer stand and struggled to breathe, while frequent bruising further affected his mobility.

He was later confined to bed and required a machine to help him breathe. According to reports, his declining health also prevented him from visiting his mother’s grave following her death the previous year.

Kültür continued receiving medical care at home after spending about three months in the hospital, where he had been treated for obesity-related complications.

He died on March 7, 2025, at the age of 24. Before his health forced him to stop, Kültür had built a substantial online following through videos showing him consuming large quantities of food.