# Will PF Chang's constipate you so bad that you need to take the world's biggest crap? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 1, 2009, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-pf-changs-constipate-you-so-bad-that-you-need-to-take-the-worlds-biggest-crap/515954 "2009-11-01T17:23:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-pf-changs-constipate-you-so-bad-that-you-need-to-take-the-worlds-biggest-crap/515954/1 "2009-11-01T17:23:57Z")
I’ve been wondering about this since the South Park episode where Randy set the world record for biggest crap after eating there. I’ve never been there myself, but there’s one near where I live and every time I drive by it, I can’t help but think of that episode. So does the restaurant have a reputation for clogging your innards? If not, are there any other reasons Matt Stone and Trey Parker might have chosen to poke fun at PF Chang’s in that manner? ---
**Author:** ![Ad\_Astra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Ad\_Astra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ad_Astra)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-pf-changs-constipate-you-so-bad-that-you-need-to-take-the-worlds-biggest-crap/515954/2 "2009-11-01T17:40:37Z")
I can’t really answer your last question, but I’ve eaten at P.F. Chang’s more than a few times, and I’ve never had any problem ‘moving things along’ afterward. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-pf-changs-constipate-you-so-bad-that-you-need-to-take-the-worlds-biggest-crap/515954/3 "2009-11-01T17:50:55Z")
They made a similar joke about Chipotle recently (it makes you crap blood so your undies get all bloody). I think it’s just a generic “bad/foreign food gives you digestive problems.” I’ve never had digestive problems from eating any one food (I mean, if the food itself is off or something, maybe, but not like the food at x restaurant always clogs my insides or all Indian/Mexican/etc. food screws with my insides). ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-pf-changs-constipate-you-so-bad-that-you-need-to-take-the-worlds-biggest-crap/515954/4 "2009-11-01T18:42:03Z")
I can’t remember PF Chang’s specifically, but in general Chinese food (well, American Chinese food, let’s be realistic) actually speeds things along for me, as it were. ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-pf-changs-constipate-you-so-bad-that-you-need-to-take-the-worlds-biggest-crap/515954/5 "2009-11-01T19:30:29Z")
SP is hilarious, but it’s not a very reliable source of info on human digestion, unless you count farts as part of digestion! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-pf-changs-constipate-you-so-bad-that-you-need-to-take-the-worlds-biggest-crap/515954/6 "2009-11-01T19:40:55Z")
From PF Changs Wikipedia entry: > [@](#): > > The restaurant chain is frequently referenced in the animated sitcom South Park. Laura Cherry, a spokesperson for the chain, has spoken positively of the series, and stated that creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone frequently dine there. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-pf-changs-constipate-you-so-bad-that-you-need-to-take-the-worlds-biggest-crap/515954/7 "2009-11-01T19:54:29Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > They made a similar joke about Chipotle recently (it makes you crap blood so your undies get all bloody). I think it’s just a generic “bad/foreign food gives you digestive problems.” I’ve never had digestive problems from eating any one food (I mean, if the food itself is off or something, maybe, but not like the food at x restaurant always clogs my insides or all Indian/Mexican/etc. food screws with my insides). PF Chang’s is not foreign food. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-pf-changs-constipate-you-so-bad-that-you-need-to-take-the-worlds-biggest-crap/515954/8 "2009-11-01T19:56:10Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > I can’t remember PF Chang’s specifically, but in general Chinese food (well, American Chinese food, let’s be realistic) actually speeds things along for me, as it were. Never had PF Chang’s (there’s not one around here), but this is true for me, too. I remember some years ago, when General Tso’s chicken was considered “exotic” here in good ol’ 'Merica. The supermarket I did my weekly grocery shopping at had a number of kiosks at its perimeter, and one of them sold “American Chinese” food (they called it Chinese, but I know what it was, really. . .). I would time it to get to the market about lunch time, and eat an order of General Tso’s chicken (well, the experts _do_ recommend not grocery shopping on an empty stomach!) and sure enough, before I was finished my marketing, I’d be in the public restrooms! ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-pf-changs-constipate-you-so-bad-that-you-need-to-take-the-worlds-biggest-crap/515954/9 "2009-11-02T00:34:35Z")
There is an ancient “joke” about Chinese food, from back when it was exotic. It went more or less, the problem with Chinese food is that when you eat it you are hungry again in an hour. This is back in the early '60s at least and probably earlier. Doesn’t do anything in particular to me, though. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-pf-changs-constipate-you-so-bad-that-you-need-to-take-the-worlds-biggest-crap/515954/10 "2009-11-02T01:07:11Z")
Is there any connection between MSG and constipation? Maybe that’s where the SP guys were going with the joke. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-pf-changs-constipate-you-so-bad-that-you-need-to-take-the-worlds-biggest-crap/515954/11 "2009-11-02T01:39:16Z")
Yes, because it’s a chain, and all chain restaurants are terrible. The worst independent restaurant is better than the best chain. Microwaved food, got sick within an hour of eating there, not authentic, yadda yadda yadda Applebee’s Applebee’s Olive Garden. [/doperland] ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-pf-changs-constipate-you-so-bad-that-you-need-to-take-the-worlds-biggest-crap/515954/12 "2009-11-02T04:04:17Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > PF Chang’s is not foreign food. Well, not foreign exactly, but you know what I mean. As in it’s supposed to be Chinese or whatever. Chipotle isn’t either but they made the same joke. ---
**Author:** ![Zjestika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/8edcca/32.png) [@Zjestika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zjestika)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-pf-changs-constipate-you-so-bad-that-you-need-to-take-the-worlds-biggest-crap/515954/13 "2009-11-04T02:14:28Z")
Does sodium constipate? Because a bowl of their egg drop soup has 6310 mg of sodium. [Menu](http://www.pfchangs.com/menu.shtml) here, though you have to open a PDF.