Joey “Jaws” Chestnut took home his 11th Mustard Belt from the annual Nathan’s Famous July Fourth hot dog eating contest on Wednesday, but the nutrition facts of his performance are startling.
Chestnut broke his own record on Wednesday. In the allotted 10 minutes, he managed to eat 74 hot dogs, buns and all. Afterward, reporters from Fox 31 in Denver calculated the total calories, cholesterol and other metrics of his meal using average existing information on average hot dogs and buns.
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Joey Chestnut set a Nathan’s hot dog contest record today… and ate A LOT of calories: https://t.co/mePtDSH0Ve pic.twitter.com/oGtqmELNzM
โ FOX31 Denver KDVR (@KDVR) July 4, 2018
Overall, they believe Chestnut consumed 21,080 calories. That adds up to 21,084 grams of fat, with 371 grams being saturated fat.
The feast was packed with 40,000 milligrams of cholesterol, which is about 13,333 percent of the daily value for an average-sized person. There were also 45,000 milligrams of sodium in there.
In terms of other macronutrients, Chestnut probably had about 2,000 grams of carbohydrates, and 920 grams of protein.
Many are shocked by these statistics, especially when they see that Chestnut himself is of a relatively average body type. The reigning competitive eating champion is six feet, one inch tall, and weights 230 pounds. In 2007, he told reporters from The Courier Mail in Australia that he uses a system of binging and fasting to train for his competitions.
Chestnut fills up on water, milk and protein supplements in order to stretch out his stomach lining beforehand, and then he eats nothing leading up to the competition, in the hopes of saving as much space as possible for hot dogs.
All of that paid off on Wednesday. Just like every other Independence Day, the hot dog eating championship was held at Nathan’s Famous Restaurant on Coney Island. The competition began at 10:50 a.m. with the women’s division. The reigning champ prevailed here as well, as Miki Sudo reportedly won for the fifth consecutive year. Sudo gobbled a total of 37 hot dogs. She is the first ever to hold the title for so long.
Sudo celebrated on Twitter while cluing some of her followers in on her training process as well. She posted an early morning selfie from the gym, where she apparently worked up an appetite before the feast began.
Good morning and happy 4th! Getting the day started off right and ran into a few competitors ๐. @ReneRovtar @gchiger @NWehry223 pic.twitter.com/5xJ0ri5dBq
โ Miki Sudo (@OMGitsMIKI) July 4, 2018
“Good morning and happy 4th! Getting the day started off right and ran into a few competitors,” she wrote.
Afterward, she celebrated her victory while thanking both Nathan’s and Major League Eating — the sport’s organizing body — for the opportunity.
5-pete at @originalnathans!! Thank you to everyone for your support๐๐ @eatingcontest https://t.co/VF2BM64nZT
โ Miki Sudo (@OMGitsMIKI) July 4, 2018
“5-pete at [Nathan’s]!!” she wrote. “Thank you to everyone for your support.”