Competitive Consumption: a Profusion of Pie, Pizza and Pulled Pork CMAJ
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News CMAJ Competitive consumption: A profusion of pie, pizza and pulled pork ne morning in 2007, Peter Czerwinski and several friends O visited a breakfast pub. He was feeling particularly hungry, so he ordered a dish called “The Linebacker,” which contained two of every breakfast item on the menu. After wolfing it down, he noticed his friends were only a quarter of the way through their plates. And he was still hungry. Also, he was curious: How many Lineback - ers could a person eat in one sitting? “The record was two plates in an hour. I did four,” says Czerwinski, who at the time was studying mechanical engineering at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. i k s Realizing he had an uncommon n i w r capacity to consume food, Czerwinski e z C went in search of other gustatory chal - r e t e lenges. He shattered restaurant records. P He competed in online eating contests. Peter Czerwinski (centre), a world-class competitive eater, and friends stay in shape After eating a 72-ounce steak (sirloin, through weight training and eating healthy outside of speed-eating events. medium rare) in six minutes and 48 seconds, setting a new world record, he competitive consumption. After all, a It is reasonable, of course, to specu - drew the attention of the competitive contestant in a hot dog –eating contest late about the risks of any extreme eating circuit in the United States and ingests more calories in 10 minutes than behaviour, but it might be more produc - was invited to put his mouth up against a typical person consumes in 10 days, tive to explore how competitive eaters some stiffer competition. not to mention all the sodium, fat and are able to ingest such large volumes of Now 27 years old, Czerwinski has cholesterol. Some people have even food. A greater understanding of that been a professional eater since 2008, called for the sport of competitive eat - could prove helpful in aiding those who winning contest after contest and earn - ing to be banned in their jurisdictions, are polar opposites, gastronomically ing a living through sponsorships, claiming it glorifies gluttony — not speaking, of competitive eaters — peo - prizes, YouTube videos and television exactly a positive message for nations ple with dyspepsia, a common condi - appearances. He has consumed a profu - such as Canada and the United States, tion characterized by discomfort after sion of pie and pizza and pulled pork, a which are struggling with epidemic lev - eating modest portions of food. mountain of meatballs, a cornucopia of els of obesity. “Maybe we can do something for cabbage and curry and chicken wings, a Yet there is no body of evidence to these people by looking at the people barge of burgers, a superfluity of sand - indicate either the short- or long-term on the other end of the spectrum,” says wiches and sausages, a deluge of effects of extreme eating. Many of the Dr. David Metz, a professor of medi - dumplings and a wagonload of water - top eaters in the world are actually cine at the University of Pennsylvania melons and waffles. He’s guzzled a bot - quite fit, including Czerwinski, a body - in Philadelphia, who contributed to a tle of olive oil, downed a pound of but - builder who is 104 kilograms of solid study of competitive eating ( Am J ter and survived the Trinidad Moruga muscle. Japanese legend Takeru “The Roentgenol 2007;189:681-6). Scorpio (the world’s hottest pepper). Tsunami” Kobayashi — a victor of the “We know of no studies on the In short, Czerwinski, known as Glutton Bowl who has eaten 83 vege - short- or long-term effects of speed eat - “Furious Pete,” is an extreme eater. tarian jiaozi dumplings in eight min - ing on its competitors,” states the study. It should come as no surprise that utes, 58 bratwurst sausages in 10 min - “Nor are there any data in the literature many doctors, nutritionists and dieti - utes and 337 chicken wings in a half about the science of speed eating and tians aren’t big fans of extreme feats of hour — weighs a mere 58 kilograms. how its competitors are able to con - 290 CMAJ, March 5, 2013, 185(4) © 2013 Canadian Medical Association or its licensors News sume such enormous quantities of food pletely relax all the muscles in their tors increase the capacity of their stom - in such short periods of time.” esophagus, creating a hollow tube, in achs through training, such as chugging In the study, a world-class eater and effect, that can be crammed with food. gallons of water. This can be danger - a control subject were asked to eat as But it is the unusual stomachs of gus - ous, though, posing risks such as water many hot dogs (without buns) as possi - tatory athletes that seem to hold the most intoxication, a potentially deadly dilu - ble. Both ingested barium and were potential for helping people with dyspep - tion of electrolytes in the body. Then placed on a fluoroscopy table, in a sia. A normal stomach is around the size there are people like Czerwinski, who semiupright position, to allow the cap - of two fists and can hold 2–4 litres of don’t need to train. ture of x-ray images of their stomachs food. When someone eats, the brain “Part of it is natural, being born with in real time. The control subject ate informs the muscles in the stomach to a big stomach and the ability to fill it seven hot dogs before stopping. The relax to accommodate the food. The up, to relax and expand it,” says Metz. competitive eater ate 36 hot dogs in 10 stomach contracts when full, pushing A better understanding of the ability minutes and still didn’t feel bloated or food into the intestine, and sends a signal of a competitive eater to consume such full, only stopping at the insistence of of discomfort to the brain to stop the con - large quantities of food without experi - the researchers, who observed his mas - sumption. In people with dyspepsia, this encing pain, however that comes about, sively distended abdomen and worried signal is sent prematurely. In competitive may be the key to helping those for he would suffer a gastric perforation. eaters, on the other hand, the signal is whom eating regular-sized meals are There are several theories about how delayed. Or perhaps it isn’t sent at all. discomforting experiences, suggests people such as Czerwinski are able to “People usually feel full after 20 Metz. “Our hope is that for people with eat so much, so quickly. It has been minutes,” says Czerwinski. “I never dyspepsia, we could potentially train attributed to factors such as a strong really get that sensation.” them to take bigger volumes of food.” jaw, extreme mental focus, high pain In Metz’s study, the stomach of the — Roger Collier, CMAJ tolerance and a deadened gag reflex. competitive eater was described as an Some competitors seem able to com - “enormous flaccid sac.” Some competi - CMAJ 2013. DOI:10.1503/cmaj.109-4394 Competitive consumption: Ten minutes. 20 000 calories. Long-term trouble? t all started, according to legend, as 10 minutes. Mullen had eaten just over nationally on ESPN. Then there are those an argument between four immi - one hot dog per minute. Chestnut ate who find the whole affair grotesque. Cel - Igrants about who loved their adopted one every nine seconds. ebrating overconsumption in a nation homeland the most. The heated discus - The annual contest at Nathan’s suffering an obesity epidemic, they sion took place in 1916 at Nathan’s Famous is but one of dozens of events argue, is just plain wrong, and competi - Famous, a hot dog stand that had recently sanctioned by Major League Eating, the tive eaters are setting themselves up for a opened on Coney Island in New York franchise behind the professional com - lifetime of health problems. City. The establishment’s owner, Nathan petitive eating circuit. Other competi - But are participants in speed-eating Handwerker, feared fisticuffs might tions include Ben’s Chilli Bowl’s World contests really putting their health at ensue, so he proposed a contest. Chilli Eating Championship (total cash risk? And if so, to what extent? Whoever could eat the most hot dogs purse: US$3000), Western Days Festival “The bottom line is, there is such in 12 minutes would be declared the most World Tamale Eating Championship minimal data that we are doing a lot of patriotic of the bunch. James Mullen, a (total cash purse: US$3500) and the conjecture,” says Dr. David Metz, pro - native of Ireland, claimed the title by Oktoberfest Zinzinnati World Bratwurst- fessor of medicine at the University of downing 13 hot dogs, buns included. Eating Championship (total cash purse: Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, who con - That contest continues to this day. Held US$2000). tributed to a study of competitive eating annually on July 4, it is considered the If an item is edible, there is probably (Am J Roentgenol 2007;189: 681-6). top dog of all eating competitions, with somebody somewhere eating a whole That said, physicians do know US$10 000 going to the champ. lot of them in hopes of winning a prize. enough about how the human body Do today’s winners eat more than 13 Reactions to the rise in popularity of works to take some educated guesses hot dogs? Ah, yeah, a few more. Let’s the “sport” of extreme eating generally about the possible effects of repeatedly just say masticating a baker’s dozen of fall into two categories.