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Bodybuilder Denis Sarychev, 25, won the all-comers bodybuilding competition of the Volga region, which took place in the city of Penza at the end of April 2009. He put much effort in getting prepared for the event, keeping a very strict diet.

"I had very hard training sessions five times a week. And during the two-week period before the competition my diet became much stricter -- I was abstaining from drinking any liquid for three days," said Denis Sarychev to reporters right after his victory.

Five days later Denis fell ill and then found himself at the hospital. And two weeks later Denis died of renal insufficiency.

"Any diet is a huge stress for the human organism. Especially when the diet is so strict. Extreme physical activities and dehydration of the organism in a combination with a high protein diet could easily provoke severe renal insufficiency. However, it is quite difficult to say for sure what really caused the athlete's death, because he did not turn to medical specialists as soon as he felt ill," says Natalia Tiugaeva, a Healthcare Ministry official in the Penza region.

[via: Pravda]

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