A Russian fitness coach and influencer has died after a binge-eating challenge that has left social media stunned and health experts alarmed.
Dmitry Nuyanzin, 30, from the Russian city of Orenburg, had been consuming upwards of 10,000 calories daily as part of a self-designed weight-gain "marathon" challenge.
The idea was simple yet extreme: gain at least 25 kg through junk food, then lose it all in a dramatic transformation to promote his weight-loss programme.
Weeks into the challenge, and just a day before its death, Nuyanzin announced his discomfort, cancelled training sessions and told friends he felt unwell and intended to visit a doctor. Hours later, he died in his sleep. Reports say his heart failed.
His final Instagram post on November 18 showed him casually eating a bag of chips and revealing that he now weighed 105 kg, having stacked on at least 13 kg within a month. His followers assumed it was just another milestone toward his transformation. Reality, however, took a darker turn.
The online reaction has been raw and emotional. "It is better to prove such theories not in practice. Rest in peace," one user wrote. Another observed, "If you're not used to junky fries fast food it will indeed make you sick!" Others remembered him as "an excellent coach and a wonderful mentor" and described the news as "shocking."
Nuyanzin's daily menu sounded less like a diet plan and more like a parade of ultra-processed indulgence: pastries and half a cake for breakfast, 800 grams of dumplings drenched in mayonnaise for lunch, burgers and two personal pizzas for dinner, with packet snacks in between. It might look dramatic on social media, but to medical professionals, it reads like a red alert.
With his death renewing debate on dangerous fitness challenges and the glamorisation of extreme diets online, experts explain why pushing the body to this extent can go terribly wrong.
So, what happens when you eat 10,000 calories of junk food every day?
'Genuinely Life-Threatening'
According to Vani Krishna, Lead Clinical Nutritionist, SPARSH Hospital, Sarjapur Road, Bangalore, the headline may sound dramatic, but the risk is real.
She explains, "Consuming 10,000 calories of junk food, each and every single day can become life threatening."
A single day of overeating does not kill, she notes. The danger lies in forcing the body to handle four to six times the required calories every day.
"Usually adults require only 1,600 to 2,400 calories a day, depending on various factors such as age, sex and level of activity. Even those athletes which are highly active rarely cross 4,000-5,000 calories. At 10,000 calories a day particularly from those items which contain high-fat, high-salt, the body simply cannot cope up."
The body's internal systems go into overdrive. "Blood sugar level increases very sharply cholesterol surges, blood pressure rises and in such conditions the heart is forced to work more hard. This can also trigger palpitations, gastric distress, dehydration and severe insulin fluctuations."
Vani further warns that the long-term damage can be far worse than the short-term discomfort.
"Consuming junk food on a regular basis increases visceral fat accumulation around organs, causes fatty liver disease, increases the risk of acute pancreatitis and it ultimately causes obesity, hypertension and type-2 diabetes. All these conditions also accelerate the chances of heart attack, stroke and life-threatening metabolic disorders at a very young age. In extreme cases, sudden cardiac events or failure of organs can also occur - especially if the person already has an underlying risk factor," she explains.
Why Such A Binge Can Become Fatal For A Healthy Person
Certified Health Nutritionist Preety Tyagi warns that while 10,000 calories may not automatically kill someone instantly, the danger is not theoretical.
She explains, "Eating 10,000 calories of junk food won't automatically kill a healthy person, but it can be dangerous and has caused deaths in rare cases. The danger isn't the calorie number itself: it's the extreme overload of salt, fat, and volume, especially when eaten quickly."
She lists the risks that can become immediately life-threatening: "This can trigger acute sodium toxicity, dangerously high blood pressure, heart rhythm problems, choking or aspiration, or even sudden pancreatitis."
Eating 10,000 calories of junk food won't automatically kill a healthy person. Photo: Unsplash
Even one binge has noticeable health consequences. "The huge fat load can spike triglycerides and inflame the pancreas, the extreme sodium can raise blood pressure to dangerous levels, and the sugar surge can cause sharp blood-glucose swings that leave you shaky, nauseated, and exhausted. The sheer volume of food can stretch the stomach, cause vomiting or acid reflux, and in rare cases lead to aspiration."
"If junk food is the only food you eat and you don't provide your body with the right nutrition, then you are killing yourself slowly," she says.
What Does 10,000 Calories Daily Do Inside The Body
Dr Garima, Chief Wellness Officer at The Wellness, calls it a case of severe metabolic overload. "Eating 10,000 calories of junk food a day is extremely dangerous because it pushes the body into severe metabolic stress. While a single day of overeating is unlikely to be fatal, doing this repeatedly can overwhelm key organs, particularly the heart, pancreas, liver, and digestive system."
She expands on the damage: sugar overload leading to insulin shocks, sodium overconsumption triggering cardiac strain, and excessive calories fuelling fatty liver development.
For Dr Garima, the modern danger lies as much in lifestyle as in food.
"In today's urban lifestyle where stress, poor sleep, and long sedentary hours are common. The body becomes even less capable of coping with such dietary extremes. It's not just overeating; it's placing the body in a state of persistent physiological overload."
The Real Lesson
Fitness trends online often celebrate extremes: dramatic transformations, shocking hacks and viral challenges. But the human body is not an experimental device, and health cannot be gamified without consequence.
Nuyanzin wanted to inspire people to lose weight. Instead, his story has become a cautionary tale.
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