A Sumo wrestlers diet

Eating the largest meal close to sleeping

The average daily intake of calories for a man is 3000-3500. A sumo wrestler consumes 20,000 calories a day, split between two very large meals of 10,000 calories each. By sleeping after a meal of 10,000 calories a sumo wrestlers body is able to process them slowly for storage (as fat).

Skipping breakfast

This may seem illogical in respect to gaining weight, however according to Dr. Wayne Callaway, obesity specialist at George Washington University, skipping breakfast can not only trigger overeating later in the day but can also cause a drop in metabolism. It was found in research that people who don't have breakfast, like sumo wrestlers, have a five-percent lower metabolism than those who don't skip breakfast. This is because by comsuming calories, our body uses more energy to digest and absorb the food.

Drinking beer with meals

With some beers containing over 200 calories per pint, consuming it with food helps sumo wrestlers to  gain even more calories. Sumo wrestlers will easily consume 6 pints of beer per meal. Alcholic drinks are known to be 'empty calories', meaning that they have absolutely no nutritional value except for providing energy, which means that it will be stored as fat.

Exercising on an empty stomach

Although exercise does increase metabolism, exercising on an empty stomach will infact lower your metabolic rate in the long term. This is because your body tries to conserve as much fuel as possible by rationing what's available.

Have a sociable meal

Researchers have found that by eating with others and socializing we tend to consume more food because it takes us longer to get full. As sumo wrestlers are literally stuffing their stomachs to their limit with each meal, the more food and calories they intake, the more fat will be stored.

Having a nap after lunch

Sumo wrestlers commonly sleep for four hours immediately after lunch. As mentioned, this allows more of the calories to be taken on and stored as fat in the body rather than being used as energy.

To give a feel for the number of calories that are mentioned in this article, there are approximately 3500 calories in a pound of body fat - equivalent to around 10 hours of walking.

So how does a sumo wrestler comsume 20,000 calories a day?

All sumo wrestlers eat a Japanese dish called Chanko-nabe. This is a type of stew and contains large quantities of protein sources such as chicken, fish and tofu as well as masses of vegatable and vegetable which contain huge amounts of calories.

Unfortunately the average life expectancy of a sumo wrestler is between 60-65 years old (some 10 years younger than than the average Japanese male). This is mainly down to their lifestyle causing illnesses such as diabetes, liver disease, heart disease, arthritus and high blood pressure.