Just three days earlier, Chen posted a photo that showed needle marks on the back of her hand and a blood test indicating potassium levels of only 2.3–2.5 mmol/L, far below the normal minimum of 3.5 mmol/L.

In a later update, she explained that long nights of filming and repeatedly inducing vomiting after eating huge amounts of food left her physically exhausted.

Doctors warned that repeated vomiting can quickly drain potassium, an essential mineral for heart and muscle function. Dr. Liu Hongdie of Chengdu Fifth People’s Hospital said the loss of digestive fluids prevents potassium from being absorbed, while Dr. Shen Jun of Zhongnan Hospital added that vomiting also shifts potassium into cells and increases kidney excretion, driving blood levels to dangerous lows.

Severe hypokalemia can disturb the heart’s electrical activity and, in extreme cases, cause life‑threatening arrhythmias or cardiac arrest, the doctors explained.

Yingying’s death has revived concerns about extreme eating content on Chinese social media. She is not the first young creator to die under similar pressure; Pan Xiaoting collapsed during a livestream in July 2024, Wenwei Ge died in March 2022 after prolonged greasy‑food consumption, and Paopaolong passed away in 2021 following health complications linked to excessive eating.