This just in from the Department Of Things That Are Unsurprising: Ex-competitive speed eaters report weight gain, chest pain and clogged arteries. Oh my!
CNN has a gripping piece on former competitive speed eaters.
“Any way you look at it, it’s not healthy,” Dave “Coondog” O’Karma, a retired competitive eater, said of his former hobby. “You do it once in a while, and it’s fun. I don’t think loading your body with fat and salt is healthy.”
After 35 years of gobbling hamburger, oysters, eggs, corn on the cob and even bull testicles, O’Karma listened to his family and retired from the competition.
Maybe his family was just upset that he gobbled bull testicles. Moving on!
According to the article, the effects of speed eating hadn’t been tested before. If I had to venture as to why, I think because everyone would know that it’s bad for you. That’s common sense. But someone just HAD to do a test on it.
n 2007, four University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine doctors who specialize in gastroenterology and radiology conducted an experiment on the stomach activities of a competitive eater and an average eater. The average eater ate seven hot dogs before he felt sick. Champion speed eater Tim Janus ate 36 hot dogs in 10 minutes before doctors intervened.
The doctors had to intervene!
If you want to watch people clog their arteries just for funsies, Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest airs tomorrow on ESPN. Happy hot dog gobbling this weekend, folks!
[Posted by Kathleen]
six words to change the world. 