What does a hot dog eating contest do to your stomach? Experts detail the health effects of competitive eating.
CBSN
Competitive eating champ Joey Chestnut gulps down dozens of hot dogs each Fourth of July at the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest — and comes back do it again year after year. But no one really knows what long-term impacts it might have on his body or the bodies of other competitive eaters.
Chestnut has eaten as many as 76 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes, setting a world record in 2021, and downed 63 to win again in 2022.
Long-term consequences are not well known because competitive eating is a relatively new sport with a relatively small number of participants, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics spokesperson Debbie Petitpain said.
A class of drugs known as GLP-1s have been helping people lose weight, but out of pocket costs put them out of reach for many Americans. In West Virginia, a subsidy program for public employees was showing promising results, but then the state abruptly ended it, leaving many searching for new solutions.