World champion competitive eater and six-time Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest winner retires over major health concern
Takeru Kobayashi, six-time winner of the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, has retired from the world of competitive eating after a major health crisis.
The Japanese athlete, 46, started his career in 2000 during an appearance on the variety show ‘TV Champion’, where he ate 16 bowls of ramen in one hour.
He also won the Mustard Yellow Belt at the Coney Island hot dog eating contest from 2001 to 2006.
But now, after consuming an estimated 10,000 hot dogs during his two-decade career, he announced his retirement in the Netflix documentary “Hack Your Health: The Secrets of Your Gut.”
Six-time Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest winner Takeru Kobayashi has retired from the world of competitive eating after major health problems
“I hear people say they’re hungry, and they look really happy after they eat,” he said on the show.
‘I’m jealous of those people because I’m not hungry anymore. Since I started this career, I’ve wondered what damage I’ve done to my body.’
Maggie James, Kobayashi’s wife, also said he cannot eat food for days.
‘[He] thinks it might be broken. He doesn’t feel hungry or full. He doesn’t feel those things at all,” she explained.
The trailer also shows Kobayashi undergoing an MRI scan and concerned about his loss of appetite, decreased sense of smell and “fiber consumption.”
The trailer for the Netflix documentary ‘Hack Your Health: The Secrets of Your Gut’ shows Kobayashi undergoing an MRI scan
Kobayashi defends his pizza eating title at ‘Let Them Eat 5’ by eating 62 slices during Kempenfest on the waterfront in Ontario, Canada
He later revealed that while his gut microbiome appeared to be fine on tests, his brain scans were cause for concern.
Doctors concluded that Kobayashi’s chronic overeating had affected his nervous system, causing his brain to think he was always competing or eating highly processed foods.
‘I have decided to stop competitive eating. It’s all I’ve done for the past twenty years. I worry about what my next step will bring, but I’m also excited about my future. I have mixed feelings,” Kobayashi said in a statement.
He went on to say that he still loves hot dogs and plans to “create a healthier hot dog by combining it with healthy Japanese ingredients” during his retirement.