Sumo wrestlers are competitive athletes .
Although they consume 7,000 kilocalories per day and
weigh
up to 180 kilograms
, they almost never suffer from health problems caused by obesity.
This is mainly because, despite their enormous body size, they have hardly any visceral fat.
Visceral fat is the fat that is stored in the abdominal cavity and surrounds the internal organs.
This fat leads to typical diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart attacks. CT scans show that sumo wrestlers store their fat directly under the skin. Very intensive training increases adiponectin levels.
increased.
Adiponectin is a hormone produced in fat cells. Essentially, it removes fat and glucose molecules from the bloodstream, thus preventing the accumulation of visceral fat.
Sumo wrestlers are fit thanks to their training. However, this usually ends with retirement. Then they have to drastically reduce their calorie intake.