How does Piccolo survive?

[Warmmedown]

He doesn't eat. I always thought he did photosynthesis, but then he never got a boost from being on Namek where there's probably more sunlight. Or is he already at his maximum possible sunlight processing rate while he's on Earth? Or he eats microbes through his skin?

 

[Yoshi]

He most likely only drinks water and survives off of sunlight.

 

[SSJ2]

The Super Exciting Guide covers this:

Then Toriyama is asked about Namekians being able to get nourishment from just water. Toriyama says that he thinks the reason Namekians can live on just water is because they have enzymes in their bodies that turn water into nutrients. Incidentally, he says, the plants the Namekians cultivate, the Ajissa, are named after hydrangea plants (ajisai in Japanese), which snails like (they do?). As it happens, Viz actually flat-out called the Ajissa plants “hydrangea plants”.

Super Exciting Guide: Character Volume • Kanzenshuu

www.kanzenshuu.com

 

[Warmmedown]

So he's a walking fission and fusion reactor or CERN or something