Karolina Krzyzak began consuming only raw fruits when she was aged 19 but by the time she died she weighed as little as 3.5 stone, her fingernails had turned yellow and her teeth were rotting
A former university student who weighed as little as 3.5 stone after adopting an extreme ‘fruitarian’ diet when she was a teenager was found dead in a hotel room in Bali.
Karolina Krzyzak began the experimental diet, consuming only raw fruits, when she was aged 19 and became obsessed with body image and the concept of ‘clean eating’. The Polish-native and former Leeds University student travelled to Bali in 2024 but her health had deteriorated so much that she could barely hold her balance or turn over in bed.
When she checked into the Sumberkima Hill resort in December, staff described her as ’emaciated’, with sunken eyes and her collarbone visibly protruding from her skin. An investigation by The Cut details the 27-year-old was so weak that the night clerk had to assist her to her room as she couldn’t support her own weight.
Staff asked Karolina if they should call a doctor but she firmly declined and she left instructions for the hotel staff to serve her only fruit and deliver meals directly to her door. Bernard Hudepohl, the venue’s manager, wasn’t surprised by these requests as they were quite common in Bali, given the island’s reputation of healthy living.
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Mail Online reports that Karolina scarcely left her room over the next few days but was often visited by hotel staff who would deliver her packages of fruit. She would sometimes go to the veranda to sit but soon she no longer had the energy.
Three days into her stay, the resort was contacted by a local who ran a raw-vegan café in Ubud. The local became worried after not hearing from Karolina, with the pair intending to catch up after previously meeting while travelling.
When staff went to check on Karolina, they found her lifeless body in her room.
Emilia (not her real name), a former fruitarian and online friend of Karolina’s, revealed that at the time of her death, Karolina had been suffering from developed osteoporosis and an albumin deficiency which led to oedema and swelling of the feet. Karolina was born and raised in Warsaw, Poland but at the age of 18 moved to the UK to study at Leeds University where she developed an interest in yoga and discovered veganism.
Taking to Instagram, she expressed how veganism had ‘opened her eyes’ to ‘so many things’, and she was ‘grateful’ for discovering it. She soon began sharing images of smoothie bowls online and held Instagram live sessions, where followers would praise her ‘nice neck and collarbones’.
A passionate ballet and modern dancer, Karolina connected with Daniella Siira in 2017 and she soon adopted a fruitarian diet which instructs its followers to consume nothing but raw fruit, despite it lacking essential nutrients like protein, fats, and omega-3s. Upon noticing her drastic weight loss, her parents insisted she return home to begin treatment for her eating disorder but she immediately resumed her raw vegan diet after spending the spring of 2018 in an inpatient clinic
The report found Karolina confided in a friend that her family believed she was ‘brainwashed by vegans and social media’. Pictures posted online showed her alarmingly thin frame and she even began to suffer from rotting teeth and yellowing fingernails as a result of malnutrition.
“She needed medical and psychological help, and the community often validated her behaviours instead,” a friend said. Karolina once again left Poland in 2024 and headed for Tenerife before eventually flying to Bali in September the same year, with the intention of meeting fruitarians in Ubud.
One fruitarian health coach who met the former Leeds University student noticed Karolina immediately due to her extremely low weight, with the coach estimating that she couldn’t have weighed more than 60 pounds (4.2 stone) at the time. After a few months friends reported she could barely maintain her balance and had to walk slowly to avoid colliding with objects.
Karolina refused to seek medical help, however, and seemed content with her life, friends said. Karolina approached health coaches with the intention of seeking assistance for her illness, but was adamant that any kind of treatment would need to incorporate a raw vegan diet.