AN extreme eater passed away after her stomach tore while livestreaming a 10-hour-long food binge.
Pan Xiaoting, from China, was known for broadcasting her marathon eating challenges, often eating for hours at a time.
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Local media in China reported on July 14 that she had died suddenly during a livestream.
She passed away last week from a suspected stomach tear while devouring 10kg of food, which included chocolate, chicken fingers and seafood.
According to the post-mortem examination, her abdomen was visibly deformed and her stomach was full of undigested food.
This indicated that her stomach could have burst, causing stomach acid and food to leak into her abdomen, DailyMail.com reported.
Pan became famous is China for livestreaming her mukbangs, a viral internet craze that sees people feast on large amounts of food on camera.
The trend originated from South Korea and mukbang comes from the Korean words for “eat’ and “broadcast.”
But it’s made its way over to the UK and US, with YouTubers like Nicholas Perry – known by his Nikocado Avocado – and Trisha Paytas making their own mukbang content.
The craze has also popped up on TikTok, with users filming themselves gorging on decadent takeways.
Watching someone devour copious amounts of food in one sitting can hold a strange fascination to viewers – but experts warned of the dangers of overeating as well as to those watching it.
Dr Andrew Harris , a senior lecturer of psychology at Nottingham Trent University in the UK, told DailyMail.com: “Mukbang videos centre around consumption and indulgence, potentially reinforcing a cycle of overeating or unhealthy food relationships.”
Mukbangs videos are banned in China, but content creators like Pan got around this by livestreaming their binge sessions.
Pan broadcast her final 10-hour food marathon on July 14, during which she collapsed.
Viewers reportedly tried to provide help remotely, but weren’t able to do much.
The livestreamer had previously been hospitalised due to a stomach bleed.
When she died, most of the food she’d eaten during her marathon challenge had not been digested and was still sitting in her stomach.
Bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract can be a symptom of digestive disorders such as acid reflux, ulcers and even cancer, according to Cleveland Clinic.
Stomach ulcers can cause either slow, long-term bleeding leading to anaemia or rapid and severe bleeding that can cause someone to vomit blood or pass black poos, the NHS says.
Pan first learnt about mukbang from a friend, getting into the bizarre practice after seeing her pal earn lots of money from it.
Her portions got bigger and bigger as her online popularity grew and her viewers started showering her with gifts.
Her parents were reportedly against her pursuit because of the harm she was doing to her body.
Even her online fans expressed their concern about her increasingly large portions.
But she continually brushed off their worries, as reported on NeedToKnow.
She carried on mukbang-streaming even after overeating once landed her in hospital with gastrointestinal bleeding.
To her viewers’ horror, she began binge eating again just one day after being discharged.
It’s not clear if her death is under investigation.
DANGERS OF MUKBANG TO VIEWERS
Dr Harris said: “While some studies suggest that watching mukbang videos can alleviate feelings of loneliness by providing a sense of social connection or companionship, others indicate that excessive consumption of these videos may exacerbate loneliness by substituting deeper real-life social interactions with more superficial virtual ones.”
Watching people eat copious amounts of food could hold certain fascination, it may also have a damaging impact on your mindset toward food, especially if you have an eating disorder or an already fraught relationship with your diet.
Dietitian Katie Lopez even suggested the content could be harmful to viewers.
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She told DailyMail.com: “Sadly, this is another example of the glorification of self-harming behaviour.
“More specifically, these people are at risk for stomach perforation, significant elevations in glucose and lipids, acid/base disorders, electrolyte shifts, dehydration, and heart rate abnormalities.”
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Meanwhile, Shelby Becker, a dietitian who specialises in treating patients with eating disorders, told Health that binge eating showcased in mukbang videos can normalise unhealthy patterns of eating for people already suffering from eating disorders.
“These videos encourage over-consumption in an almost romanticised manner by not addressing potential consequences such as upset stomach, nausea, increased emotional eating, etc.,” she explained.
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