Search:

By Rocio Villalobos

In just 12 minutes, Oleg Zhornitskiy finished off four bowls of mayonnaise – totaling eight pounds – winning a round of the 2002 Glutton Bowl.

What did he win? Nothing.

Eating? Drinking? Consuming mayonnaise was only one of the qualifying rounds to make it to the finals and win a $25,000 prize. Other competitions of the night included butter, hard-boiled eggs and beef tongue.

Zhornitskiy was beaten out by Takeru Kobayashi who achieved his victory by eating nearly 18 pounds of cow brain.

Major League Eating began in America in 1916 when Nathan’s Famous held a hot dog eating competition on Independence Day. The tradition carries on today. The winner of 2018’s contest downed an incredible 74 hot dogs in only a matter of 10 minutes.

I can’t imagine this is healthy for one’s internal organs and digestive system… Actually, it definitely is not!

In addition to the potential for choking, there can be many consequences to competitive eating. According to the American Journal of Roentgenology, contestants risk pancreas and liver damage, metabolic stress, gastro perforation, brain damage from hypoxia, to name a few.

Prizes awarded for eating contests range from thousands of dollars, to only a belt and a title. And that title is at risk of being taken away the next year when someone new beats the record.

While you might imagine competitive eaters live in abnormally large bodies, that is typically not the case. The top five competitive eaters, according to Major League Eating, possess a healthy BMI.

Joey Chestnut is considered “one of the greatest eaters in history,” currently being ranked first in Major League Eating standings. He holds 43 world records for different types of food. From Twinkies, to tamales, and jalapeño poppers, Chestnut can stomach more than the average person.

He stands at 6’1” and weighs 230 pounds.

In fact, it is commonly held belief that fat people do not make good competitive eaters because they tire easily and have trouble breathing. For the most part, healthy body weights are reflected across MLE’s list for top competitive eaters.

For comparison sake, most people can consume an entire pizza, albeit, with some struggle perhaps. How long would it take? Forty-five minutes? An hour?

Chestnut can eat 45 slices of a 16-inch pie in only 10 minutes!

And while males typically dominate the world of competitive eating, there are some notable female contenders.

One hundred and twenty-five pound Miki Sudo ranks number seven on Major League Eating’s standings and Michelle Lesco makes it in MLE’s Top 10.

As for the disgusting regimes these eaters practice, there are a few.

In order to prepare their stomachs to house such a large amount of food, many competitors begin their training with fluids. An example is water training. This requires the individual to drink a full gallon of water in 30 seconds to stretch their stomach. They may then progress to drinking a large volume of milk or vegetable juice to get used to the calories.

As the competition nears, many contenders engage in water fasting to ensure they keep their stomachs vacant for the large amount of food they’ll soon be eating.

Look up the two-and-a-half-hour Glutton Bowl competition that aired years ago on Fox and just try not to be grossed out.

Considering Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest has been around for more than a century now, I’m afraid competitive eating appears to not be going anywhere.

If you’re into that kind of thing — watching people hurriedly stuff their faces full of food — by all means tune in, but know that you are a part of the problem.

Hot dogs don’t do it for you? Consider watching the World Pie Eating Championship, or maybe Berkwood Farms Bacon Eating Contest.

I can’t help but sympathize with theses competitor’s internal organs and the pounding they take.

Personally, I think all 50 states should ban the practice of competitive eating.

No, I do not think doing so is an abuse of state power. In Illinois, it is illegal to fall asleep in a cheese shop. In Tennessee, you may not share your Netflix account password. In New Jersey, pumping your own gas is prohibited.

And for good reason, probably.

Those who partake in such a practice ought to find an actual skill to make their living from that would contribute to the betterment of society.

Tradition be darned!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnZAsljAcKE
Pulse Magazine 2018. The views on this website do not necessarily represent the views of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley or it’s employee’s.