World-famous competitive eater retires due to health

A world-famous competitive eater is retiring, citing decades of overeating that have left him with health concerns.

Japanese competitive eater Takeru Kobayashi announced in Netflix’s “Hack Your Health – The Secrets of Your Gut,” that he is leaving the sport he’s been a part of for more than 20 years, USA Today reported.  The 46-year-old said overeating as he trained for events has left him with no appetite or sensation of fullness, and he often goes days without eating.

“I hear people say they’re hungry, and they look very happy after they’ve eaten. I’m jealous of those people because I no longer feel hunger,” Kobayashi said in the documentary. “I hope to live a long and healthy life.”

Kobayashi, referred to as the “Godfather of Competitive Eating,” set a new record at 2001′s Nathan’s Coney Island Hot Dog Eating Contest, consuming 50 hot dogs in 12 minutes, almost doubling the previous record. He won the contest from 2001 to 2006.

He estimates he’s eaten 10,000 hotdogs in his career but has also held world records for a range of good, including pizza, tacos, hamburgers and pizza. Preparation for eating events often started about two months before an event, he said, and included eating more and more food. In the documentary, tests showed Kobayashi’s chronic overeating has affected his nervous system and brain to think he’s competing, causing him to consume more and more.

“After analyzing Kobayashi’s poop and also performing other tests, including scanning his brain’s responses to images of different foods, doctors informed him that his microbiome was actually in good shape, but his brain scans were abnormal,” a description of the documentary said. “This revelation means that getting to the bottom of Kobayashi’s lack of hunger will be more complex.”

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