‘Chewing is a waste of time:’ Championship eater Miki Sudo coaches hot dog competition

Sudo shares advice on art of consumption

It’s been a week and a half since Miki Sudo dominated the Nathan’s hot dog eating contest, downing 39.5 franks in 10 minutes.

Now she is coaching two fellow Floridians, telling them what it takes to rise to the top of the competitive eating circuit.

Sudo talked about her craft with Matt Austin and Ginger Gadsden during an episode of Florida’s Fourth Estate.

“You want to minimize chewing,” she said. “Chewing is a waste of time and signals to your brain that you are getting full.”

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The Tampa-based competitor does warn, you still have to be safe by making sure your bites are small enough to swallow with a sip of water.

Before they started eating, Sudo also told the hosts to make sure they stayed away from minefields.

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“Don’t overstuff your mouth, that’s a recipe for disaster,” Sudo said.

With her experience, she is comfortable sticking more into the hatch but makes sure to keep the hotdog and bun separate.

“I would pick up two hot dogs and eat those two meats side-by-side and while I’m doing that I’m dunking one bun, I cut the bun in half, pop those into my mouth and swallow those,” Sudo said.

Miki Sudo eating competitively. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

After giving a lot of advice she encouraged Austin and Gadsden to give it a try.

Sudo holds the Guinness Book of World Records title for eating six hot dogs in one minute. She had the hosts start with three.

One minute later their bellies were a little bigger and so was their understanding of what it takes to be a competitive eater.

“I feel like I have way more respect. There’s a lot of skill in what you do,” Austin said.

To see who won the competition watch the full episode of Florida’s Fourth Estate above, download it from wherever you listen to podcasts, or watch anytime on News 6+.

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About the Authors

Tiffany is a Edward R. Murrow Award winning journalist. She produces WKMG Hits the Road, along with Florida's Fourth Estate and Talk to Tom.

Emmy Award-winning anchor Matt Austin joined the News 6 team in June 2011 and has been the evening news co-anchor since December 2013.

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