In a forum thread on bodybuilding.com, “Furious” Pete Czerwinski reports that he is going to Los Angeles today to record a competitive eating themed episode of “Sport Science” which appears on the Fox Sports Network. This is the second competitive eating program announced for Fox Sports; the Krystal Square Off finals will be televised on Fox Sports South.

The New Scientist has an article about a study conducted by a research team led by Alain Dagher at McGill University in Montreal about the effects of the hormone ghrelin:

Made in the stomach, ghrelin levels rise when people are hungry and wane after a meal. People who get injections of the hormone gorge themselves, while those suffering from a rare disease that keeps ghrelin levels unusually high tend to be obese overeaters.

“I think it’s the most powerful appetite stimulant that has ever been found,” Dagher says.

The article says that drugs that block ghrelin are in the under development at pharmaceutical companies.

The blog for Discover magazine has an entry about an artificial mouth which is the subject of an article in an upcoming issue of the American Chemical Society’s Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

The chewing simulator—which was maintained at 98.6 °F, sported artificial teeth, and included artificial saliva and helium flow “to reproduce the breathing phenomena”—went up against actual human mouths in a Golden Delicious apple-eating contest. These human mouths chewed apple pieces “as naturally as possible” before spitting out the chewed up mass when they would have otherwise swallowed. The resulting mush was tested for texture, color, and volatile compound release, parameters which the group will soon use to optimize the device for aroma release.

The “Science of Speed Eating” will be rerun on the National Geographic Channel tomorrow (March 7) at 3pm eastern.

Ameba.JP has an article about possible explanations why “Gal” Sone does not gain weight when she eats so much: (automatically translated)

The body of a person eating a single keyword explain this “portal” it said. Voracious eater, a food-filled stomach too long, narrow portal pressure has been heard. In other words, they can not transport nutrients, and the blame will no longer be absorbed by the idea of the theory. Results of the escape-not fat.

The blog for Popular Science magazine has an entry analyzing Ken Domon drinking the contents of a plastic bottle in less than five seconds on Food Battle Club. The blog believes he would not have been able to repeat the stunt using a glass bottle:

The plastic bottle is critical. If he were just holding it upside down, gravity would be doing most of the work, and that’s just not fast enough. Instead, he squeezes the plastic bottle, forcing half the water out. Next, he wisely pauses for a moment there in the middle of his chug, allowing air to creep up through the water and into the space between the new, lower water level and the interior bottom of the bottle.

David Metz, who examined Tim “Eater X” Janus on “The Science of Speed Eating”, has published a paper with three other researchers called “Competitive Speed Eating: Truth and Consequences” in the American Journal of Roentgenology. Access to the paper requires payment of $10, but an abstract is available which concludes:

Our observations suggest that successful speed eaters expand the stomach to form an enormous flaccid sac capable of accommodating huge amounts of food. We speculate that professional speed eaters eventually may develop morbid obesity, profound gastroparesis, intractable nausea and vomiting, and even the need for a gastrectomy. Despite its growing popularity, competitive speed eating is a potentially self-destructive form of behavior.

A subtitled program in which Nobuyuki “the Giant” Shirota and Natsuko “Gal” Sone receive a medical examination to determine what gives them their eating ability can be seen at http://subtitle.in/w/j0qT_UGSSYQ/IbI___wRkiD

The “Science of Speed Eating” will be rerun on the National Geographic Channel at 2pm eastern today.

(From Jeff Chapman) “The Science of Speed Eating” documentary will be rerun on Sunday on the National Geographic Channel at 2pm eastern.

A teleblog of the “Science of Speed Eating” documentary is available after the jump.
Read the rest of this entry »

(from Paul Barlow) Video of Tim Janus on the Today Show this morning to promote Sunday’s “Science of Speed Eating” documentary on the National Geographic channel is available. Tim did a one minute donut eating exhibition during his appearance.

SPTimes.com has an article about Sunday’s “Science of Speed Eating” documentary.

The second half of the show follows gastroenterologist Dr. David Metz as he tries to figure out if there’s anything qualitatively different about how competitive eaters digest. To this end, Janus eats 36 hot dogs and radioactive scrambled eggs with a sidecar of barium smoothie.

The conclusion? Competitive eaters seem to relax their muscles in such a way that postpones peristalsis (waves of muscular contraction in the stomach that break down food into smaller pieces). Their stomachs become, as Dr. Metz notes, “giant flaccid bags,” four times their normal size. Their stomachs remain inert, their brains don’t experience satiation, and the eating machines keep eating.

(From Dan Cesareo) Two new trailers from the “Science of Speed Eating” documetary, which will be televised on the National Geographic channel on Sunday, are embedded in a blog entry on the National Geographic website. One of the trailers introduces Sonya Thomas. Sonya will apparently attempt to eat 18 pounds of food in the program.

Historical weather data from JFK airport (which presumably is the same as the weather on Coney Island) is available at wunderground.com. Using this archive, it is difficult to discern any connection between the weather and Kobayashi’s performance at the Nathan’s finals.

(weather data is from approximately 12:50 pm)

2001 50 HDB 71.1 °F / 21.7 °C 93% humidity, overcast
2002 50.5 HDB 96.1 °F / 35.6 °C 40% humidity, partly cloudy
2003 44.5 HDB 81.0 °F / 27.2 °C 72% humidity, clear
2004 53.5 HDB 77.0 °F / 25.0 °C 64% humidity, mostly cloudy
2005 49 HDB 78.1 °F / 25.6 °C 48% humidity, scattered clouds
2006 53.75 HDB 84.9 °F / 29.4 °C 65% humidity, haze

(from Dan Cesareo) A clip of next month’s “Science of Speed Eating” documentary on the National Geographic channel is available on the documentary producer’s website, bigfishdc.com

Contest footage from last summer’s Waffle House contest, Cherokee ribs, and Atlanta Zoo qualifier appears in the preview.

update The clip can be downloaded directly from http://bigfishdc.com/BIG%20FISH/Our%20Work_files/Speedeaters_web.mov

A letter to the Brooklyn Paper disputes Gersh Kuntzman’s assertion that Joey Chestnut’s mark of 59.5 received assistance from the Arizona Mills air conditioning:

Gersh is spreading lies — like the one that air-conditioning has a major effect on competitive eaters. It’s false! These eaters have been training — and air conditioning, let me assure you, is not a big factor.

Capacity is the only issue, and air conditioning does not change that.

The author lives in North Carolina, so he had the ability to show off his hot weather hot dog eating expertise at Concord Mills.

From a Bubba Yarbrough email:

I just received an advanced copy from National Geographic with the air dates and time. It will air July 8 at 9pm et/pt. It features Me (Bubba) tim and Sonya. Tim is run through some very exhaustic digestive testing and Sonya and I go through some training and other stuff Overall it looks great.

update TVWeek has a preview (from Rhonda Evans)

japanprobe reports that the program “Dream Vision” did an episode about the science of competitive eaters. Gal Sone and Nobuyuki “The Giant” Shirota were given an MRI exam after eating over 100 sushi each. The body temperature after eating was also observed. Two clips from the program are available in the episode.

R Suzuki also has a blog entry about the program.

I want a doctor to take your picture
So I can look at you from inside as well

The Vapors, Turning Japanese

(From R Suzuki) Natsuko “Gal” Sone submitted to a medical examination at Kitasato University hospital for an article in the current issue of AERA magazine, published by the Asahi Tribune. The objective of the investigation was to determine how Gal Sone could eat as much as she does and not gain weight: (automatically translated)

The large quantity the stomach which can eat and, however much eating, it united the body which does not get fat “Muse gal 曽 root of appetite”. It probably is to be possible to know the secret of that body with metabolic coming from abroad?

As for doing the Kitasato University hospital. Physique inspection, blood inspection and inspection of breath and the inspection of the gene which which is related to CT scan and obesity relate to inquiry and energy exchange were done.

Burrito Blog reports that the National Science Foundation requested permission to use footage of a burrito eating contest in an educational video. The purpose of that video is not mentioned. After receiving the rights to use the contest video, the NSF responded that they would use video from another source for the project. It would be interesting to learn if anyone else in competitive eating has been contacted by the NSF.

KGO TV has an article and video on the science of competitive eating in which a gastroenterologist offers his opinion on why competitive eaters can eat as much as they do. Bob Shoudt is interviewed and segments from the Philadelphia Nathan’s qualifier in which Sonya Thomas and Pat Philbin competed against Humble Bob is displayed. The upcoming National Geographic documentary is not mentioned.

The Andrews Air Force base website has an article about Sonya Thomas, who manages the Burger King at that location. The article says that Sonya was filmed for a documentary to be televised on the National Geographic Channel in 2007 called “The Science of Speed Eaters” Tim Janus and Loren Yarbrough are also expected to appear in that program.

Updated Big Fish DC, the production company, has a program description:

In this thrilling hour, we’ll take viewers inside the bellies of competitive eaters and see how the human body can be pushed to its gastronomical limit. We will follow an up and coming southern eater, Bubba, a father of two, as he tries to reach the big time in speed eating. We’ll meet famed 105 lb. Sonya “Black Widow” Thomas - a woman who out eats men four times her size. We’ll follow a champion eater as for the first time, the medical community studies the physiological changes that allow a person to consume over 50 hotdogs in ten minutes, with no apparent ill effects. NCG goes inside the world of competitive eating and brings viewers what until now, has never been seen.

Controlled Labs, a bodybuilding supplement company, has sponsored eating contests for hard boiled eggs and cans of tuna. What makes their contests unique is they do not take place in a central location. Instead, competitors record their efforts and upload videos of their performances to youtube or Google video. A clock must be visible in the video at all times. Videos of the winning performances, 12 hardboiled eggs in a minute and 6.75 cans of tuna in 3 minutes are available on line. The company is currently seeking ideas for the food to be used in its third eating contest. Winners receive a year’s supply of Black Hole, an appetite enhancer that suppresses the impulse to feel full after eating a large meal.

The connections between bodybuilding and competitive eating are stronger than an outside observer would expect. Not only is Kobayashi an avid bodybuilder, several other top eaters including Tim Janus, Bob Shoudt and Chip Simpson are into weightlifting as well. It would be interesting to see if Sonya Thomas working out with weights would improve her eating ability.

(from slashfood) The BBC reports that The Institute of Food Research have built a stomach simulator to enable better understanding of the human digestion process. There is no word on whether the artificial stomach will participate in the mince pie eating competition later this month.