" Ate nonstop for 10 hours a day"... What happened during the live broadcast of the mukbang star's death?

A famous Chinese "mukbang" star died during a live broadcast.

According to foreign media reports such as China Press, on the 14th, Pan Shaoting (24) suddenly died while doing a mukbang live broadcast, and the cause is presumed to be overeating. His autopsy report shows that his stomach was filled with undigested food, and his abdomen was severely distended.

Panshaoting is reported to have eaten food for more than 10 hours nonstop during live broadcasts every day before her death. It was to challenge extreme mukbang challenges. She ate over 10 kg of food at each meal and also tried consuming various kinds of strange foods.

Panshaoting's health gradually deteriorated. His parents advised him to stop broadcasting, warning him not to harm his body for money, but he continued with mukbangs. He had previously been hospitalized due to stomach bleeding caused by overeating. The day after being discharged, he resumed mukbangs. Viewers who watched him also worried about his health and suggested a temporary break from broadcasting, but it is said that it was of no use.

Excessive food intake led to stomach rupture and gastric necrosis; without surgery, there is a 100% chance of death.

Although many eating show contents feature bizarre foods and consuming amounts beyond imagination, binge eating and overeating can pose health threats. In severe cases, it can even lead to death. Besides the Chinese woman mentioned earlier, there are often cases of death caused by binge eating. In 2016, in Japan, there was a case where, just 4 hours and 30 minutes after binge eating, more than two-thirds of the stomach was filled, leading to blood flow obstruction and death.

Eating an excessively large amount can cause stomach necrosis. The stomach expands to 1 to 1.5 liters after food intake, and if food is forcefully ingested, it can expand up to an additional 2 to 4 liters. If it expands excessively beyond an individual's organ size, it can lead to stomach rupture. According to the Journal of the Korean Society of Emergency Medicine, stomach rupture caused by binge eating occurs in the order of acute gastric distension followed by gastric necrosis.

When the pressure inside the stomach exceeds venous pressure due to food intake, ischemia or infarction can occur. Venous pressure is the pressure in the great veins through which all blood passes. Ischemia is a condition where less blood flows to the body's tissues, and infarction is a blocked blood vessel. Acute gastric distension caused by binge eating initially presents with mild abdominal pain, and it is difficult to diagnose because tenderness is not severe during physical examination. Vomiting can empty the stomach, but if it fails, gastric infarction progresses. Symptoms include abdominal pain and distension. If gastric infarction progresses, immediate surgical treatment is necessary. Even with surgery, the mortality rate can reach 50-65%, and if surgery is delayed, the chance of death reaches 100%.

Meanwhile, China also enacted a law in 2020 under President Xi Jinping to impose fines on binge-eating content to prevent food waste.