The Health Impact of a Hot Dog Eating Contest

“No one thought anyone could beat the great Joey Chestnut ". said famous Hot Dog Eating Contest emcee, George Shea, after Matt Stonie defeated the unbeatable in 2015. He was the #1 competitive eater in the world,”

Defeat must not have sit well with eight-time Mustard belt Champion. In 2016, Joey Chestnut ate his way to a dramatic victory, by devouring 70 hot dogs in 10 minutes for this ninth title.

Every year, on the 4th of July, Americans eat hot dogs, a lot of hot dogs. According to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, 150 Million hot dogs are consumed on July 4th.

That comes out to less than a hot dog per American, but there are some people that eat more than their fair share. They are the contestants at Nathan's Famous 4th of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest, which is held annually in Coney Island, Brooklyn. This year marks 101 years since the first contest in 1916. The contest attracts 40,000 fans and will be broadcast on ESPN.

What is the health impact of eating 70 hot dogs in 10 minutes?

According to nutrition facts listed on the Nathan's website, each hot dog contains 290 calories, 17 grams of fat and 710 milligrams of sodium.

That means that consuming 69 hot dogs provides:

1. 20,300 calories! That is enough calories for as someone on a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet would to last ten days.

2. 1,190 grams of fat, which is over 5.5 pounds!

3. 49,700 milligrams of sodium. Sodium intake should be about 1,000 mg a day and should not exceed 3,000 mg/day. That exceeds the maximum recommended sodium intake for 16 days!

It isn't talked about much, but I speculate that these competitive eaters can't actually digest all of that food. There simply isn't enough hydrochloric acid and pepsin, along with the other digestive enzymes to perform that job. The food would putrefy in the stomach before it could be broken down and digested. The only logical survival strategy for these contestants after these competitions, would be to vomit or purge the contents of their stomachs.

Very little research exists surrounding the effects of competitive eating on the human body, mainly because so few people compete in this "sport".

There are however significant risks associated with stuffing the stomach beyond its capacity, even just one time, such as rupturing the stomach.

Contrary to logic, the majority of the successful eaters on the professional circuit aren't morbidly obese. thinner people can expand their stomachs with less fat pushing back against the stomach.

Nathan's Website