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In my hemisphere, summer is ON! 90° F days are in sight, and the sun
hangs high until nearly 9 p.m. That means the Fourth of July (the best holiday
of them all!) is upon us. Fireworks. BBQ. Swimming. Baseball.
And eating more than 60 hot dogs in 10 minutes.
Oh, that's not part of your holiday tradition, you say? Well
I say, "COMMUNIST!"
 ...via What's Cooking America
Every Fourth of July, the world's best competitive eaters
convene at Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs on the boardwalk in Coney Island, N.Y. It
began as a friendly bet between immigrant friends in 1916; the one who could
eat the most hot dogs was clearly the most patriotic. The contest has been an
annual event since 1972.
 ...via Slash Food
In 2009, Joey "Jaws" Chestnut ate a world record 68 hot
dogs, and has placed first in the competition every year since 2007, when he
ended the six-year reign of Japan's Takeru Kobayashi. While you might expect
these individuals to have a gut like Santa Claus, they're surprisingly fit.
Watch Kobayashi eat-battle a bear!
 ...via Mun Fitness Blog
 ...via MLE
There is a reason these "gurgitators" maintain a healthy
physical composure. Fat, specifically abdominal fat, limits the amount a
stomach can stretch. A typical human stomach has a capacity of one liter, but a
competitive eater's stomach can stretch to hold four liters. It's common for
competitors to training by drinking gallons of milk, and by eating large
quantities of low-fat, high-fiber foods which take longer to digest. There are
some other training methods eaters can employ to enhance their eating ability.
The masseter muscle is one of the strongest muscles in the
human body, and competitive eaters must develop the muscle to quickly grind
food. This muscle is trained by chewing several pieces of gum for hours. A
competitive eater can bite with up to 280 pounds of force!
 ...via Finney Dental
After the food gets past the jaws, it encounters the
esophagus. Peristalsis is the name given to the sequential contraction of
smooth muscles in the digestive tract. This provides locomotion to food,
bringing it to the stomach. However, this process takes about ten seconds,
which is valuable food consumption time.
To quicken the swallowing of food, eaters will use the Valsalva maneuver
to increase thoracic pressure. This is done by blocking in the airways, but attempting
to exhale. Observers will also witness
competitors jumping around to physically force the food into the stomach.
A major attribute in aggressive consumption is also
willpower. The feeling of hunger comes from contracted muscles that are sore with
an empty stomach. When the stomach is filled, these muscles relax, and the
hunger is alleviated. At this full point, the eater's brain tells them they are
full and the eater may begin to feel fatigued, but it's important to power
through this mental barrier. Overeating is often represented by nausea and
vomiting, but gurgitators need to overcome these sensations as well. The
ability to belch on command is important as well, since swallowing air with the
food takes up valuable stomach space.
 ...via Soda Head
Just like broken bones and torn ligaments are common in
other sports, competitive eating carries with it the potential for injury. The
most serious injury possible would be gastric rupture, where the contents of
the stomach perforate the stomach and infect the abdominal wall. This can be
extremely painful, and also deadly. Competitive eaters regularly consume over
10,000 calories during a competition, but may elect to purge their foodstuff
after the competition. The stomach acid associated with vomiting can lead to
wear on the esophagus and on tooth enamel.
But,
can competitive eating really be classified as a 'sport'? Wikipedia lists it as
an activity. Major League Eating, competitive eating's sanctioning body, calls
it a sport. We can't go on what the Olympics declare sports, because they
include racewalking --but not baseball.
I think I'll let readers decide if it qualifies
as a sport, but here is what International Federation of Competitive Eating president
George Shea had to say in a 2003 ESPN interview, "My point is competitive
eating is a very fundamental sport. The fundamental sports are running,
jumping, pushing and fighting. Eating is even more fundamental: Who can eat the
most to survive and in the quickest time when that mattered whether you
survived. There are rules. We have a governing body, and we keep track of the
records. No question, it's a sport, but the issue is there are people resistant
to change. Like it or not, competitive eating is here to stay"
 Pictured: Athletes...via Uncoached
Resources
International Federation of Competitive Eating
Wikipedia - Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest; Competitive eating
Popular Science - Why Do Thin Guys Always Seem to Win Eating Contests?
Slate - Death by Cheese and the Dreaded Ruptured Stomach
ESPN - Competitive eating a man-eat-dog world
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Re: Competitive Eating: A Glutton's Glory
