In her final message to fans three days before her death, the influencer revealed she had been hospitalized due to low potassium levels

NEED TO KNOW

• Chinese mukbang influencer Yingying has died at 24, her parents shared on social media
• Born Chen Ziyi, Yingying’s cause of death was not given, though several outlets reported that she died of cardiac arrest
• In her final video, Yingying revealed to fans that she had been hospitalized due to low potassium levels

Fans are mourning the loss of a Chinese mukbang influencer well-known in the popular online eating video genre.

Chen Ziyi, known online as Yingying, died on Aug. 17, reported Asian news outlets Pos Kota, ABS-CBN and Global Times. The influencer, who had over 1 million followers, was 24.

Yingying was known for her mukbangs — a genre of content that originated in South Korea, in which people show themselves eating large amounts of food, typically junk food, online while interacting with viewers. The word “mukbang” is a mashup of the Korean words “meokd” and “bangsong,” which translate to eat and broadcast respectively, per CNN.

Her parents announced her death on social media on Sept. 4, per the outlets. According to ABS-CBN, a cause of death was not shared. Several outlets have reported, however, that Yingying died of cardiac arrest.

In her final video, shared just three days before her death, Yingying shared that she had not been posting as much because she was receiving care at a hospital due to low potassium levels, according to Pos Kota, ABS-CBN and Global Times.

In the Aug. 14 video, which she reportedly filmed in her hospital bed, the influencer revealed that she had previously been hospitalized for the same reason.

Elaborating on her health struggle, Yingying said in the video that her blood potassium had gone down to 2.3 millimoles per liter — a dangerously low level she reportedly attributed to her career as a mukbang influencer. 

Typical adult potassium levels range from 3.5 to 5.2 millimoles per liter, according to Cleveland Clinic, and anything below 3 millimoles per liter is considered to be severe hypokalemia — the medical term for low potassium levels in the bloodstream.

As potassium, an electrolyte, is crucial to cardiac electrical activity, extreme cases of hypokalemia can cause cardiac arrest, according to the National Library of Medicine (NLM). 

Hypokalemia is “often caused by an excessive loss of potassium in your digestive tract due to vomiting, diarrhea or laxative use,” per Cleveland Clinic. 

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In her final video, Yingying reportedly said she attributed her condition, at least in part, to her longtime habit of vomiting the food she consumes for her social media content.

Elsewhere in the video that became her final message, the influencer told her fans to take care of their health, stating that while “earning money is important, health should always come first,” several outlets reported.

In the wake of her death, Yingying’s social media accounts have reportedly been taken down.

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