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A YouTube star who claimed her vegan lifestyle "cured" her of breast cancer has died from the disease, her niece confirmed.

Mari Lopez told followers of her channel, which she ran with niece Liz Johnson, that banning animal products from her diet cured her cancer in just three months.

She also claimed the lifestyle had stopped her being a lesbian, telling viewers: "I was healed by God and faith and used to live a gay lifestyle."

But Ms Johnson revealed in a video earlier this week that her aunt succumbed to the disease in December, claiming it was because she did not continue with her "juicing/raw vegan diet".

She said: "My aunt passed away in December because her cancer came back... [She] was inconsistent in her diet and spiritual life.

"My aunt didn't continue juicing [or her] raw vegan diet when she got diagnosed again - she chose to do radiation and chemo."

Ms Johnson revealed that as her aunt became increasingly ill, she asked that her videos be removed from YouTube - but her niece refused.

"My mom would buy her burgers and things like that, and she didn't want to eat that but after a while she was just OK with it.

"When you give in too many times, you end up saying whatever...I feel like that's what causes the issues."

"People have sent me many emails about positive changes after juicing, and some have told me that they chose to do chemo.

"Some are still alive, and unfortunately, some are not. We never claimed that this would 100 per cent work for everyone."

Ms Johnson said she would continue uploading videos on the "benefits" of juicing in the future.

She also said she would be adding disclaimers to her aunt's old videos informing viewers of her death.