# Hot dog eating contests / body limit

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-dog-eating-contests-body-limit/253570>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 4, 2004, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-dog-eating-contests-body-limit/253570 "2004-07-04T23:56:07Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![SoulSearching](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@SoulSearching](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoulSearching)\
**Post date:** [July 4, 2004, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-dog-eating-contests-body-limit/253570/1 "2004-07-04T23:56:07Z")

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For those of you unfamiliar with the topic:

> **[Top dog: Kobayashi sets wiener-eating record](https://www.espn.com/espn/news/story?id=1834236)**
>
> For the fourth straight year, rail-thin Takeru Kobayashi chewed up the competition at the Nathan's Famous hot dog eating competition Sunday, breaking his own previous world record.

I am curious as to how these contestants are able to eat so many hot dogs. Is the human stomach flexible enough to endure this? Does it really matter if the contestant is 130 pounds of 350 pounds (are stomach sizes constant in all humans)? And what are the negative health reactions, if any, of eating so many hot dogs (and I don’t mean heartburn). I just think that if I were to eat maybe 10 hotdogs, then I would die and suffocate in my own vomit.

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**Author:** ![Bob\_Scene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Bob\_Scene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Scene)\
**Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-dog-eating-contests-body-limit/253570/2 "2004-07-05T04:31:22Z")

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> [@SoulSearching](#):
>
> … then I would die and suffocate in my own vomit.

Who else’s vomit might you suffocate in?

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**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\
**Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-dog-eating-contests-body-limit/253570/3 "2004-07-05T06:05:01Z")

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> [@Bob Scene](#):
>
> Who else’s vomit might you suffocate in?

I, for one, do NOT need an answer to this question!

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**Author:** ![Abbie\_Carmichael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@Abbie\_Carmichael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abbie_Carmichael)\
**Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-dog-eating-contests-body-limit/253570/4 "2004-07-05T06:54:30Z")

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**Does it really matter if the contestant is 130 pounds of 350 pounds**

Mostly, yes.

**(are stomach sizes constant in all humans)?**

No.

The more overweight you are, in general, the bigger your stomach (internally) is. This is why in weight loss surgery they go to make your stomach really small. It can get stretched out to a point that eating “normally” leaves you physically hungry all the time, which makes dieting torture.

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**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\
**Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-dog-eating-contests-body-limit/253570/5 "2004-07-05T11:19:12Z")

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It is counter-intuitive, but smaller people are more successful at eating contests.

I suspect that multiple thick layers of fat and muscle restrict stomach stretching more than a thin abdominal wall does.

Of course, an overdeveloped six-pack probably does not stretch as well either.

Simon