Physically impossible to drink an entire gallon of milk?

Factual Questions
41

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by schief2 *
**
So far the theories are:
[ul]
[li]lactose intolerancy[/ul]**[/li][/QUOTE]

Produces bloating, cramping, loose, foul-smelling stools. Doesn’t lead to nausea and vomiting. Next.

[quote]
** [ul][li]more milkfat than the body can handle[/ul]**[/li][/QUOTE]

I’ll get back to this one. Next

[quote]
** [ul][li]cramping due to lactic acid[/ul][/li][/quote]
**
Why? Are you running uphill while drinking the milk. Lactic acid is not derived from digestion of lactose by humans. Both compounds share the root “lac” because they are found in association with milk products. Lactose is present in fresh milk. Lactic acid is produced by the fermentation of milk (into yogurt) by lactobacilli. Lactic acid is also produced by you and me when our short term energy demands exceed the rate of oxygen supply to our tissues, but this has nothing to do with lactose in milk. Next

[quote]
** [ul][li]pH of milk (not too likely, as someone pointed out it’s close to neutral)[/ul]**[/li][/QUOTE]

I agree, not likely. Next

[quote]
** [ul][li]the volume of liquid (also seems unlikely - see text above)[/ul]**[/li][/QUOTE]

IIRC, human stomach capacity is about 2 liters (or slightly more than 1/2 gallon. So gastric overdistension is my leading theory. But then why is there a consensus that drinking one gallon of water is considerably more doable? See below. Next

[quote]
** [ul][li]one person who can’t handle that much liquid pukes, and the smell sets everyone else off[/ul]**[/li][/QUOTE]

Nah. Next.

[quote]
** [ul][li]milk is a “buffering solution”(?)[/ul]**[/li][/QUOTE]

Nah. Next.

On preview I see that Qadgop has chimed in. I’ll second his assertion that overdistention is the main problem. Additionally, overdistention occurs to a greater degree with milk than water because milk contains substances that slow gastric emptying (fat and protein). Pure water, OTOH, will not only be rapidly absorbed in the stomach, but can be passed into the proximal small bowel without much ado.

42

I did it…sort of.

Once when not having anything better to do on a day off
(and thinking I could get on David Letterman’s Stupid
Human Tricks) I took a gallon milk jug, filled it with water ( wasn’t going to waste all that milk on a dumb bet with myself) and drank it ALL in 5 minutes.

The last five swallows hurt, but I did it.

43

I once drank a gallon of milk, and kept it down. It made my guts roll over something fierce, but I didn’t hurl.

But then again, maybe I just lead a charmed life. :slight_smile:

44

Just to let you guys know that I’m not wussing out here, but there is a scheduling change. I will try it Thursday afternoon (late night Wednesday US time) when I get home from work early. That way I’ll have plenty of free time in case I get sick, and my girlfriend won’t be around to ask “what the HELL do you think you’re doing?!?”

And how much time do I have to drink it in, 30 minutes, 1 hour, or what?

–sublight.

45

Yurk.

I have failed.

I didn’t puke, but after 2 1/2 liters I got the sensation of my stomach telling me “you don’t even want to think about touching that milk carton again.” There was no way I was going to make it to a gallon. To be honest, I think I’d have a hard time drinking more than 2.5 liters of anything.

FTR, it was non-fat milk.

–sublight.

46

Well I tried yesterday. I ate a footlong meatball for lunch, then a 6 or so oz steak (the kind with the bacon around it) for dinner. After dinner I realized I hadn’t drank a gallon of milk like I said. I got out a glass of the size such that eight full glasses would equal a gallon. So I poured a glassfull of chocolate milk, slugged it back in one draught no problem. Poured the second of chocolate, slugged it back no problem. Poured the third of chocolate, and stared at it a moment before picking it up and slugging it back. This took place over about 5 - 10 minutes. Then Dad started asking me what I was doing and Mom got pissed that I was drinking milk just for the hell of it, so I switched to skim. I drank the fourth after staring at it and questioning my manhood for about 30 seconds, then slugged it back. I waited about two minutes, and poured the fifth. I stared that bastard down with a cold, hardened eye, then relented and slammed it down. As the last trickle ran down my throat, I heard my stomach ding like the gas pump when your car’s tank is full. I pulled off my shirt and saw that my stomach had distended terribly and had cold spots. I tried to pour a sixth, but sense got the best of me. I slowly stumbled to the computer chair, leaned it waaay back, and let my gut work itself down for about 20 minutes. With about 20 minutes remaining in the hour, I decided that while I could drink another three glasses, I don’t like the idea of vomiting without profit of some sort. So I gave up.

But MAN, did I have gas later!

–Tim

47

Well, I certainly applaud Sublight and Homer for their pioneering work in advancing lactic science.

But… will it answer the OP’s question?

I’m inclined to believe it’s some sort of reaction to that much lactose, or to a product of its digestion.

I vaguely remember a story about 15th or 16th century settlers in the New World hosting a feast for their native neighbors where they served cow’s milk. The indians had never tasted cow’s milk before and thought it was fabulous, and so they all gorged themselves with milk.

Later, when they got back to their camp, they all got violently ill with much diarrhea and vomiting. Of course, it was just a bad case of lactose intolerance. But the natives concluded that they had been poisoned by the white man and so they returned and massacred the entire settlement.

Does anyone know any more about this story, esp. whether it’s true? I can’t recall where I heard this story.

48

Again, lactose intolerance doesn’t enter into it, as lactase, or the lack of it, involves the small intestine. This is a gastric distension and emptying problem. The gut effects, in the form of diarrhea and excess flatus, are secondary, and do not impact on the vomiting phenomena. Add as much lactaid to the gallon of milk as you like, and I expect you’ll still get the same degree of vomiting with that much volume.

Controlled studies of this type of phenomenon are hard to come by.

Qadgop

49

Indeed, although the MTV show Jackass did show that the flavor of milk seems to have no bearing on things as normal, chocolate, and strawberry milk was puked up with equal regularity.

Our local radio station also tried to verify this fact and got one guy out of ten to drink it all. Lost it half and hour later.

As everyone has said, it is really the sheer volume and density of milk that is the problem.

50

If anyone is interested in watching a video of a valiant effort… http://www.heavy.com has a good one. :slight_smile:

Warning: Only for high bandwith users only!

Enter the heavy site and click on the lower icon second from the left labeled “blister”. The video is the last one on the second row labeled “When Milk Attacks” Pretty cool.

51

Oops - sorry.

I didn’t intend for my tale of the Indians to imply that it had any bearing on the OP question. Obviously, the problem in that case was the natives’ complete lack of tolerance to lactose, since the only milk they ever drank was mother’s milk (as infants, naturally).

I still suspect that it’s lactose (or some other component unique to milk) that promotes the gastric rejection of large quantities of the stuff.