Debunking the Myth: Do Sumo Wrestlers Eat Junk Food?

December 26, 2025 •

3 min read

While it's a common misconception that their immense size comes from unhealthy choices, the reality is the opposite. Professional sumo wrestlers do not eat junk food; their disciplined diet is meticulously crafted to support their athletic demands and weight gain goals.

Quick Summary

Professional sumo wrestlers avoid junk food, consuming a traditional, calorie-dense diet centered on the nutritious hot pot stew, chankonabe, and plenty of rice.

Key Points

No Junk Food: Professional sumo wrestlers adhere to a strict diet and do not typically consume junk food, with many stables prohibiting sweets and soda.
Chankonabe Staple: Their primary meal is a nutritious, protein-packed stew called chankonabe, filled with meat, fish, and plenty of vegetables.
Strategic Calorie Intake: Wrestlers maximize their calorie consumption by skipping breakfast, engaging in intense training, and napping after large meals to promote weight gain.
Muscular Athletes: Despite their size, sumo wrestlers are formidable athletes with high muscle mass, not simply overweight individuals, a physique supported by their healthy diet.
Dietary Control and Discipline: The sumo diet is a highly controlled, disciplined process focused on consuming high-quality, whole foods in large quantities, not a result of unhealthy overeating.
Health Risks Post-Retirement: When they retire and stop training, wrestlers must reduce their food intake to avoid cardiovascular issues, showing their previous health was tied to their active lifestyle.

The Core of a Champion's Diet: Chankonabe

At the heart of every sumo wrestler's diet is chankonabe, a hearty, protein-rich stew. Far from being junk food, this staple meal is packed with fresh vegetables, meat, fish, and a flavorful broth. Each sumo stable, or heya, has its own secret recipe, passed down through generations, ensuring a varied and nutritious intake. The ingredients are chosen for their high-quality nutrients, providing the energy and protein needed to repair muscles after grueling training sessions.

The Strategic Approach to Calorie Intake

Sumo wrestlers gain weight not through unhealthy fats and sugars, but through a combination of strategic eating habits and high volumes of nutritious food. The daily routine is carefully structured to maximize calorie absorption and minimize calorie expenditure. Wrestlers typically skip breakfast, training intensely on an empty stomach for several hours. This practice is followed by a massive, high-calorie meal, after which they take a long nap. This process forces the body to store energy as fat, which is essential for their sport. The entire routine is a deliberate method for controlled weight gain, not a result of mindless eating.

The Role of High-Quality Food

The impressive physiques of elite sumo wrestlers are not simply masses of fat. They are powerful athletes with significant muscle mass, developed through intense, daily training. The nutrient-dense food they consume is vital for building and maintaining this muscle. Eating just candy and soda would not provide the necessary protein, vitamins, and minerals for their bodies to sustain such a high level of physical performance. The quality of their diet is paramount, with stables often prohibiting soda and sweets to maintain discipline. Alongside chankonabe, their meals include generous portions of rice and often feature other healthy Japanese dishes like fried fish or chicken.

Chankonabe: More Than Just a Meal

Beyond its nutritional value, chankonabe holds deep cultural significance in the sumo world. It is a communal meal, served from a shared pot, with higher-ranked wrestlers eating first. This hierarchy reinforces the social structure of the stable. The ingredients themselves can even be symbolic. For example, during tournaments, chicken is often the protein of choice because, unlike four-legged animals, it stands on two legs, representing victory.

Sumo Diet vs. Typical Western Junk Food Diet

This table highlights the stark differences between a professional sumo wrestler's diet and a junk food-heavy Western diet.


Aspect	Professional Sumo Diet	Typical Junk Food Diet
Core Food	Chankonabe (hearty stew with meat, fish, vegetables, tofu) and large quantities of rice	Processed snacks, fast food, sugary drinks, and high-fat fried items
Caloric Source	High volume of nutrient-rich, whole foods	Calorie-dense, nutrient-poor items
Protein	High protein from meat, fish, and tofu to build muscle	Often low or from processed sources
Vitamins & Minerals	Abundant in fresh vegetables	Deficient; mostly empty calories
Lifestyle	Intense training, skipping breakfast, and post-meal napping to promote weight gain	Sedentary lifestyle with frequent, uncoordinated snacking
Metabolic Effect	Managed for controlled weight gain with significant muscle mass	Promotes obesity, high visceral fat, and associated health risks

Health on and off the ring

Despite their size, active sumo wrestlers are often in remarkably good health, possessing low levels of visceral fat (the dangerous fat around internal organs). Their intense training regimen is a key factor, with exercise helping to move fat deposits to safer areas under the skin. However, this balance is precarious. Upon retirement, wrestlers must dramatically change their eating and exercise habits to lose weight and avoid serious health complications, such as cardiovascular disease, that arise when their intense training ceases. Some retired wrestlers even require medical intervention to manage their weight.

Conclusion

The idea that sumo wrestlers eat junk food is a pervasive but inaccurate myth. Their diet is a cornerstone of their athletic performance and a key part of the disciplined, traditional lifestyle within the sumo stable. By consuming massive quantities of high-protein, nutrient-dense foods like chankonabe, they fuel their intense training and achieve the size required for competition in a controlled, strategic manner. It is not what they eat, but the quantity and strict regimen that define their diet, setting them worlds apart from an unhealthy fast-food lifestyle. To learn more about the specifics of the sumo diet and lifestyle, you can find further details from organizations like the USA Sumo Federation.

Frequently Asked Questions

The main meal for sumo wrestlers is a hearty, protein-rich stew known as chankonabe, made with meat, fish, tofu, and a variety of vegetables.

Sumo wrestlers typically eat only two large, calorie-dense meals a day. They skip breakfast and train on an empty stomach, then eat their first meal in the late morning.

Yes, it is common for sumo wrestlers to drink beer, often in large quantities, with their meals to help increase their caloric intake.

Taking a nap immediately after consuming a large meal is a key strategy for sumo wrestlers. It slows down their metabolism and encourages the body to store calories as fat, aiding in weight gain.

The sumo diet is designed for strategic weight gain for their sport and is composed of healthy, whole foods. The unhealthiness arises post-retirement if they do not change their eating habits and reduce their calorie intake.

Upon retirement, a sumo wrestler's risk of cardiovascular diseases increases. It is critical for them to lose weight and adopt a lower-calorie diet, as they are no longer engaging in the intense daily training that offset the effects of their high-calorie diet.

The misconception likely stems from the Western association of large body size with an unhealthy lifestyle. In reality, the sumo physique is the result of a highly disciplined training and nutritional regimen, not poor dietary choices.