If you’ve ever sat at a backyard BBQ and felt like a champion for finishing your third bratwurst, Joey Chestnut is here to ruin your ego. The man is a human vacuum. It’s honestly hard to wrap your head around the physics of it. On September 2, 2024, during a live Netflix special called "Unfinished Beef," Chestnut didn't just win; he obliterated the existing record for most hot dogs eaten by downing 83 hot dogs and buns in a mere 10 minutes.
That’s roughly one hot dog every 7.2 seconds.
For a decade, the number 76 was the "unbreakable" ceiling, set by Joey himself at the 2021 Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July contest. But a weird mix of corporate drama and a renewed rivalry with his old nemesis, Takeru Kobayashi, pushed him into a different gear.
The 83-Dog Milestone: What Actually Happened?
You might remember the news from earlier in 2024. Joey Chestnut was essentially banned from the traditional Nathan’s contest at Coney Island because he signed a deal with Impossible Foods—a direct competitor to Nathan’s beefy empire. Fans were crushed. The Fourth of July felt... empty.
💡 You might also like: OU Football Depth Chart 2025: Why Most Fans Are Getting the Roster Wrong
But Netflix stepped in.
They set up a showdown in Las Vegas between Chestnut and Kobayashi. This was a "pure" contest: no dunking the buns in water to make them mushy, a technique that has been the gold standard for years. People thought the lack of water-dunking would slow them down. They were wrong. Chestnut didn't just beat Kobayashi (who managed a respectable 66); he shattered his own world record.
Why the Record for Most Hot Dogs Eaten Keeps Climbing
It isn't just about having a big stomach. Honestly, if you or I tried this, we’d be in the hospital by minute three. Competitive eaters like Joey Chestnut and Miki Sudo—who holds the women’s record with 51 hot dogs—treat their bodies like specialized machines.
📖 Related: NL Rookie of the Year 2025: Why Drake Baldwin Actually Deserved the Hardware
- Stomach Elasticity: Pro eaters practice "water loading," where they chug gallons of water in minutes to stretch the stomach walls without adding calories.
- The "Solomon Method": This is the technique of breaking the hot dogs in half, shoving both halves in, and then eating the bun separately.
- Jaw Strength: Chewing 83 pieces of meat is an exhausting physical workout for the masseter muscles.
It’s gross to some, sure. But it’s also a high-stakes sport where the margins of victory are measured in crumbs. In the Netflix match, Kobayashi actually had one dog deducted from his final count because of "excess crumbs" left on the table. The judges don't mess around.
The Great Nathan's Gap of 2024
While Joey was busy setting the all-time world record on Netflix, the official "Mustard Belt" at Coney Island was up for grabs for the first time in years. Patrick Bertoletti stepped up and won the 2024 Nathan’s contest by eating 58 hot dogs.
58 is a lot. Most people couldn't do it in a week.
👉 See also: New Zealand Breakers vs Illawarra Hawks: What Most People Get Wrong
But when you compare Bertoletti’s 58 to Joey’s 83, the gap is staggering. It’s the difference between a high school star and LeBron James. Then, in 2025, Joey made his triumphant return to the Nathan's stage, reclaiming his throne with 70.5 hot dogs. He’s now won 17 Mustard Belts. It's basically his world, and everyone else is just living in a perpetual state of indigestion.
What Happens to Your Body After 83 Hot Dogs?
Medical experts, like Dr. David Metz from the University of Pennsylvania, have actually studied these guys. The results are kinda terrifying. A normal human stomach is the size of a fist. A competitive eater’s stomach becomes a "huge flaccid sac" that stops contracting.
- The Sugar Spike: Those 83 buns are a massive carbohydrate load. The body has to pump out insane amounts of insulin to keep up.
- The Sodium Hit: You're looking at tens of thousands of milligrams of sodium. That causes massive water retention and a temporary spike in blood pressure.
- The "Dumping Syndrome": This is where the stomach empties its contents too quickly into the small intestine, leading to cold sweats and heart palpitations.
Most pros fast for 24 hours before a contest and then basically eat nothing but liquids for two days after. It’s a brutal cycle. Kobayashi actually revealed in a recent documentary that he can no longer feel hunger. His brain's satiety signals are just... gone.
Actionable Takeaways for the Curious
If you’re thinking about trying to beat a local record or just want to understand the sport better, here’s the reality:
- Don't practice with water loading at home. It can lead to water intoxication (hyponatremia), which is literally fatal.
- Focus on speed, not volume first. Most local contests are 5 to 10 minutes. If you can't eat 10 dogs in 2 minutes, you won't win a 10-minute contest.
- Watch the buns. The hot dog is the easy part. The bread is what expands and makes you hit "the wall."
- Respect the recovery. If you do a big eating challenge, stay hydrated with electrolytes (not just plain water) and give your digestive system a 48-hour break.
The record for most hot dogs eaten currently stands at 83, and honestly, it might stay there for a long time. Unless Joey Chestnut finds another rival to "drive him to crazy limits," we might have reached the absolute peak of human consumption.