Nathan's hot dog eating contest - can science explain how they do it?

As I sit here on a overcast 4th of July, I stumbled acrossed ESPN's coverage of Nathan's hot dog eating competition. It seems interesting enough - 20+ eaters enter a competition to crown the one true great eater. As the contestants enter, I was surprised how many of them were skinny! That's right - the greatest eater is not even a fat man. How does someone who is so small, and skinny manage to eat so much. Is there a scientific explanation as to why these people can eat so much? Are they freaks? Well-trained? Or simply evolved eating machines?

Here are the rules behind nathan's: *only 10 minutes starting 2008

During the event, the field of about 20 contestants stands on a raised platform behind a 30-foot-long table with drinks and Nathan's Famous hot dogs in buns. Most contestants drink water, but other kinds of drinks can and have been used. Condiments are allowed, but are usually not used. The hot dogs themselves are allowed to cool slightly after grilling to prevent possible mouth burns. Whoever consumes (and keeps down until the contest has ended) the most hot dogs and buns ("HDBs") in twelve minutes is declared the winner. However, starting in 2008, the contest will be only ten minutes long due to recent evidence suggesting the original contest in 1916 was this length (rather than 12 minutes). However, this has been somewhat controversial and critisized by the reigning champion of the event, Joey Chestnut. [3] There is further confusion about the length because of two articles suggesting the length of the contest was a mere three and a half minutes. A designated scorekeeper, known as a "Bunnette," is paired with each contestant. The Bunnette flips a number board counting the hot dogs consumed. Partially eaten hot dogs count and the granularity of measurement is eighths of a length. Hot dogs still in the mouth at the end of the 12 minutes count only if they are swallowed. There can be deductions in score for excess HDB debris. Both hands may be used. After the winner is declared, a plate with the number of hot dogs eaten by the winner is brought out for photo opportunities.

Wow...this is just sick.
Photo finish for the title between...
Joey Chestnut (59 hot dogs)
Kobayashi (59 hot dogs)

Joey Chestnut wins the "first to five hot dogs" overtime. I haven't felt this proud to be an American since the end of Rocky 3.

Joey Chestnuts welcome to your digestive system.

Small Eaters
When small eaters like Thomas and Kobayashi first arrived, some eaters developed the theory that fat actually hinders competitive eating. The idea was that a lot of fat around the mid-section made it too difficult for the stomach to expand. This theory was originally proposed by eater Ed Krachie. His paper on the subject, "Can Abdominal Fat Act as a Restrictive Agent on Stomach Expansion? An Exploration of the Impact of Adipose Tissue on Competitive Eating," was rejected by numerous scholarly journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine. However, a 2003 Popular Science article supports the theory: "The size of the stomach at rest is inconsequential. All that matters is the stomach's ability to expand, to adapt itself to the amount of food being shoved down the esophagus. A skinny man's stomach has little fat to push against it and fight the food for space". Some eaters believe that a muscular abdomen hinders stomach expansion as well, although Kobayashi's muscular body would seem to contradict this theory.

Secrets of Competitive eating
Competitive eaters have a few secrets that they have developed over the years to help them stuff food into themselves a little bit faster. The most basic is the water dunk. Virtually every competitor keeps a cup of water at the table to dip the contest food. This softens and lubricates the food, allowing them to chew it faster and swallow it more easily. Technically any liquid could be used, but anything that has calories will make it harder to eat more in the long run.

Another key technique is to break the food into smaller pieces before eating it. This allows competitors to fit more food into their mouths at once, and also cuts down on chewing time. Kobayashi's "Solomon Technique" (also referred to as "Japanesing") involves breaking a hot dog in half and then stuffing both halves into the mouth at once. Otherwise, it would be difficult to fit an entire hot dog at once because of the length. Almost all serious eaters eat hot dogs and buns separately.

Other than those basic tactics, competitive eating is largely a matter of willpower. Competitors must fight their gag reflexes and their stomach's natural reaction to such a large amount of food being dumped into it very quickly (what the IFOCE refers to as "urges contrary to swallowing").

Too Much of a Good Thing?
Drinking a large amount of water in a short period of time can dilute the electrolytes in your blood, which can lead to a loss of heart, muscle and brain function. Under most conditions, drinking 8 to 16 ounces of water per hour should be enough to keep you hydrated [ref].
It is possible to train ahead of time for an eating contest, although the IFOCE does not recommend it. Competitors can train their brains to ignore the "full" feeling (actually the stomach muscles relaxing as they stretch) by repeatedly filling the stomach with large meals or through water training. Water training requires drinking an entire gallon of water in 30 seconds. The water stretches out the stomach. Supposedly, this makes it easier to down food in huge quantities. Neither of these activities is healthy. The water exercise can be very dangerous, resulting in perforations of the stomach lining and water intoxication, which is potentially fatal.

Pontential Problems
Can competitive eating be harmful? Let's take a look at some numbers. At the extreme end of the spectrum, Kobayashi eats around 50 hot dogs in 12 minutes. Estimating 150 calories per dog and 100 calories per bun, Kobayashi consumes 12,500 calories in one sitting. As a point of reference, the USDA recommended caloric intake for an adult male is about 2,300 calories.

Competitors who don't reach Kobayashi's level still routinely down 18 to 25 dogs in one contest, which is more than 4,000 calories. It's easy to see that competitive eating is not the healthiest thing to do. That's not to mention the risk of choking or damaging the stomach by filling it beyond its natural "full" point. Some competitors do not digest what they eat at a contest -- they purge the contents of their stomachs via a "Roman incident." This isn't healthy either -- stomach acids from frequent vomiting can damage the esophagus and the enamel on teeth.

According to the National Eating Disorders Association, 11 million Americans suffer from bulimia or anorexia, while 25 million more suffer from bouts of binge eating [ref]. By glorifying the extreme eating necessary to compete in eating contests, competitive eating could be contributing to these problems. The training and competing patterns of competitive eaters could also be considered signs of an actual eating disorder.

For the full article http://people.howstuffworks.com/competitive-eating.htm