# Eating contests and health **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 1, 2006, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-contests-and-health/346617 "2006-03-01T15:12:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2006, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-contests-and-health/346617/1 "2006-03-01T15:12:41Z")
There’s another thread about the ethics of eating contests in Great Debates, but I want to stick to factual considerations as much as possible here. What would be the immediate effect of eating 30 ordinary hot dogs in ten or fifteen minutes? Disregard the buns, consider only the meat. As hot dogs are a very fatty food, I would assume that, at the very least, you’re injecting a huge amount of cholesterol into your system all at once. That can’t be good, and I’d think a heart specialist would be aghast. Granted, conventional athletic events all involve some degree of stress and risk. You’re obviously stressing yourself when you try to run as fast as you can for a mile, and there’s always the risk of injury. But don’t eating contests involve stress and risks that more conventional athletics don’t involve? I just can’t believe that repeatedly gorging yourself like that would not have a serious, deleterious long term impact on one’s health, but I’m open to correction on the point. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2006, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-contests-and-health/346617/2 "2006-03-02T05:11:01Z")
Pure WAGgery here, but I don’t think the cholesterol per se would matter in the slightest - dietary cholesterol is only a minor contributor to systemic cholesterol, since the liver’s quite good at producing it on its own. I’m guessing the major problems would be digestive - it’s hard to digest that much food, and particularly with something that fatty, I’m guessing you’d get a wicked case of the runs . . . ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2006, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-contests-and-health/346617/3 "2006-03-02T06:23:31Z")
A few hours later you will be taking a dump of epic proportions 😃 ---
**Author:** ![mittu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@mittu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mittu)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2006, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-contests-and-health/346617/4 "2006-03-03T10:48:47Z")
I can’t say that any of the “athletes” in these events would actually do this but I know if I entered such a competition I would induce vomiting once I had accepted my award to avoid the impending bowel motions. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2006, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-contests-and-health/346617/5 "2006-03-03T10:56:16Z")
I doubt it would make that big a difference in your health, even in mass quantities if it is only a once a year type deal, I don’t think it would be as dangerous as taking smaller, but still large amounts over a prolonged period. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2006, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-contests-and-health/346617/6 "2006-03-03T15:26:06Z")
> [@pool](#): > > I doubt it would make that big a difference in your health, even in mass quantities if it is only a once a year type deal, I don’t think it would be as dangerous as taking smaller, but still large amounts over a prolonged period. I read on Sonya Thomas’ website that she does contests once or twice a month, where she can put away roughly 10% of her bodyweight in a single meal.