Ohtani Shohei ditches his salt-only pasta diet for hot dogs — 5ch reacts: “So the salt pasta really was stressing him out?”

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The story

Gendai Business reports that pro baseball star Shohei Ohtani has moved away from the salt-only pasta diet he once stuck to religiously, now also eating hot dogs and drinking soda. At 32, the shift reportedly reflects a change in philosophy: prioritizing being in his best shape right now over conditioning himself with an eye on years down the road. Reaction on 5ch’s live-commentary board was split — some understood the move as a reasonable way to cut stress, while others worried it signaled slipping professionalism or fretted over the effect on his physique, with the discussion spilling into comparisons with the diets of other famous players like Yu Darvish and Ichiro.

From salt-only pasta to “hot dogs”… The “diet management” Shohei Ohtani changed at 32, and the chances of a comeback

“He used to eat nothing but salt pasta, or burgers wrapped in lettuce instead of a bun. But now he sometimes drinks soda, or orders a hot dog through Uber [Eats].

Behind it, apparently, is the idea that ‘rather than managing his condition with years down the road in mind, it’s about being in the best shape right now.’ Not piling up stress over food seems to suit him better at 32, it seems.”

Source: gendai.media / Original article here

What people said

3AnonymousOct 6, 2026 19:22
There's no way salt pasta was ever sustainable long-term
I think it's a good call
7AnonymousOct 6, 2026 19:26
"Best shape" = he's fine putting on weight as long as he's stress-free

That's not a mindset a pro athlete should have, is it?
Especially now that he's getting into veteran territory
9AnonymousOct 6, 2026 19:27
He's got the money, he could just eat clean food till he's stuffed
11AnonymousOct 6, 2026 19:27
The man single-handedly demolishing the squeaky-clean "Ohtani image" everyone built for him
12AnonymousOct 6, 2026 19:28
Salt pasta's just poor-man's food with zero nutrition anyway
14AnonymousOct 6, 2026 19:32
Nah, salt pasta made with really good salt is actually delicious
Knowing Ohtani, he's probably using some ultra-premium stuff
Either way, if you eat a ton of that you're gonna gain weight regardless
15AnonymousOct 6, 2026 19:32
Darvish changed his diet partway through his career too, so I guess this is just how it goes ☺
16AnonymousOct 6, 2026 19:33
Eating the same thing over and over is just because it's easier to manage nutrition and self-discipline that way
If you've got control over your intake, what you actually eat doesn't matter beyond your own satisfaction
18AnonymousOct 6, 2026 19:36
Sounds like he found something he likes way more than baseball — good for him, that's a good thing
19AnonymousOct 6, 2026 19:36
He should get Hachimura to hook him up as LeBron's protégé
That guy's basically an old man at this point but he's barely had any injuries his whole career
22AnonymousOct 6, 2026 19:38
Wait, was this a lie too? 🤥
28AnonymousOct 6, 2026 19:40
Re: #22
He was just paid to say that, so it's fine
30AnonymousOct 6, 2026 19:43
Re: #22
Truth is, hot dogs beat FamilyMart rice balls any day! Junk food reigns supreme 🤣🤣🤣
32AnonymousOct 6, 2026 19:43
Re: #22
Rice balls in America just taste bad
26AnonymousOct 6, 2026 19:40
Well, now we know why he's getting injured and can't hit
27AnonymousOct 6, 2026 19:40
So it really was stress after all, huh
29AnonymousOct 6, 2026 19:42
Can't beat Ichiro, who just ate curry forever
31AnonymousOct 6, 2026 19:43
He was supposed to be built like a pitcher but had all that extra softness on him — guess this explains it
Didn't his professionalism take a hit here?
33AnonymousOct 6, 2026 19:43
Processed meat's gotta taste bad though, right?
A steak sandwich or chicken sandwich would be way better
34AnonymousOct 6, 2026 19:44
Even gym bros who lift don't eat processed meat
35AnonymousOct 6, 2026 19:44
He probably hasn't drunk even one bottle of Oi Ocha (a popular Japanese bottled green tea brand) all year
37AnonymousOct 6, 2026 19:45
39AnonymousOct 6, 2026 19:47
333: "Eat a cheeseburger too while you're at it"
41AnonymousOct 6, 2026 19:48
So the salt pasta really was stressful…
47AnonymousOct 6, 2026 19:51
Re: #41
He's got a wife now, so he probably stopped being so picky about food
42AnonymousOct 6, 2026 19:48
I mean, he's pulling in like $100 million a year, he could just hire a chef…
50AnonymousOct 6, 2026 19:54
So that was a lie too, huh…
79AnonymousOct 6, 2026 20:23
He's probably gonna start smoking next
88AnonymousOct 6, 2026 20:36
Re: #79
Kuri already started smoking, apparently
82AnonymousOct 6, 2026 20:26
So what are the "Tani-jii" (die-hard older Ohtani fanboys) going to do now, after gushing over him with "He's so smart for picking an ex-athlete wife, since conditioning management matters so much!"?
91AnonymousOct 6, 2026 20:39
Re: #82
Then again, since his wife retired from being an athlete in her 20s,
that means she got through all that on youth alone

An athlete's wife who retired past 30, like in Darvish's case, would probably have more real knowledge about that kind of thing
94AnonymousOct 6, 2026 20:41
Watching this, I'm starting to think the old Showa-era approach of "watch your diet, but still smoke" had a point after all
97AnonymousOct 6, 2026 20:47
Re: #94
I'm a smoker myself, but diet definitely has a bigger impact than smoking does
Though smoking's out of the question too, obviously
100AnonymousOct 6, 2026 20:54
Re: #94
Messi's still a god even drinking Sprite and smoking, so there's that
103AnonymousOct 6, 2026 20:58
This is Ohtani's hot dog

Background and Talking Points

This shift in diet was reported by Gendai Business as stemming from 32-year-old Ohtani’s new priority: being in the best possible shape right now, rather than managing his condition with an eye on years down the road. Given that he had long been known for extreme discipline — eating only salt pasta or lettuce-wrapped burgers — the move to incorporate hot dogs and soda split opinion among fans. On the thread, some defended the decision as a reasonable way to cut down on stress, while others were skeptical, wondering whether his professional discipline around body management had slackened. Commenters also frequently drew comparisons to other players, such as Darvish’s own dietary shift and Ichiro’s famously curry-heavy diet. Worth noting: the image-linked “was this a lie too?”-style replies posted in the thread are unverified social-media reactions with no confirmable source, and are a separate matter from the Gendai Business article quoted in the main text — something readers could easily conflate.

*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Live Commentary G board) thread “[Good News] Ohtani Goes From Salt Pasta to Hot Dogs.”

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