Takeru Kobayashi, six-time winner of the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, retired from the world of competitive eating after a major health scare.
The 46-year-old Japanese athlete began 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 in the Coney Island hot dog eating competition from 2001 to 2006.
But now, after consuming what Kobayashi estimates 10,000 hot dogs during his 20-year career, he announced his retirement in the Netflix documentary ‘Hack Your Health: The Secrets of Your Gut.’
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 scare.
“I hear people say they’re hungry and they look very happy after they’ve eaten,” he said on the show.
‘I’m jealous of those people because I don’t feel 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 can go days without eating.
‘(He) thinks it might be broken. He does not feel hungry or full. He doesn’t feel those things at all,” he explained.
The trailer also shows Kobayashi undergoing an MRI and worrying about his lack of appetite, reduced sense of smell, and “fiber consumption.”
Trailer for Netflix documentary ‘Hack Your Health: The Secrets of Your Gut’ shows Kobayashi undergoing an MRI
Kobayashi defends his pizza-eating title in ‘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 fine in 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 retire from competitive eating. It’s all I’ve done for the last 20 years. I’m worried 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 further said that he still loves hot dogs and plans to “create a healthier hot dog by combining it with healthy Japanese ingredients” during his retirement.
