Comments on: Why Is Hot Dog Eating A Sport?

By: Tom

Tom — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 02:43:18 +0000

I just fear for the lives of these eaters. The esophagus cannot possibly take that kind of beating on a continual basis. It’s a pretty sensitive organ that’s prone to damage. It’s also not easily repairable. How much time passes before we start reading of competitive eaters dying of digestive organ diseases? It is a dire prediction, surely….but one that is surely coming.

By: annie

annie — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 07:41:53 +0000

For more info than you’ll probably ever want to have about this topic read “Horsemen of the Esophagus” by Jason Fagone.

http://www.amazon.com/Horsemen-Esophagus-Competitive-Eating-American/dp/0307237389

By: pimpchamp

pimpchamp — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 22:26:09 +0000

The reason these (athletes) can take in this much food, is extreme trainging including drinking gallons of liquids a day, usually water, let me advise people, not to try this at home and to leave it to the proffesionals.

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 15:33:21 +0000

A Japanese television show a couple of weeks back, in which Tomoko Miyake was given an MRI before and after an eating competition and examined by doctors, concluded that she was somehow able to throttle down her hepatic portal vein (Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hepaticportalvein ).

This is what transports the nutrients from the intestines to the liver. Cutting that off prevents the food from being metabolized.

Their stomachs temporarily distend during the competitions, and then shrink back. To give you an idea, here’s an MRI of Miyake after a televised curry eating stunt:

http://calorielab.com/news/2007/05/14/nibbles-calgary-hospitals-to-pay-for-lap-band-surgeries/

The right is Miyake post-meal, the left a “normal” woman after stuffing herself. Miyake pre-meal had a stomach that was just a sliver, very small.

Unlike many U.S. eating champions, the Japanese champs are uniformly thin.

By: Megan

Megan — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 01:40:29 +0000

I was just looking at his picture again & he looks like he is about to hurl!

By: iportion

iportion — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 19:14:20 +0000

Some people burn more some people exercise and some might have an eating disorder at the competitions make their binges acceptable.

By: Dan

Dan — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 18:55:59 +0000

I did the Fuddrucker’s Challenge once, and I’ll never do anything like that again. I think its just silly that anyone would consider this a ’sport’.

By: Elastic Waist

Elastic Waist — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 15:25:38 +0000

I doubt Joey Chestnut is eating like that every day, but still, this is really unhealthy and pretty darn gross, in addition to being offensive to the world’s starving masses. And think of all the processed meat and chemicals he ingested by eating all those hot dogs. I wonder how he felt the day after!

By: Megan

Megan — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 15:17:16 +0000

I saw this on the news & read about it on the internet & they treat this story like it was the top news story of the day. And I am always amazed at how most of these “athletes” are so thin! Why doesn’t it catch up to them like it does to me? Especially, when I don’t overeat (anymore). Great post, Laura!