When I watch various food contests on TV and see people finishing off their 70th hot dog, cookie, or chicken wing of the day, I can’t help but think, “How is it even possible?” I mean, it’s hard to think that someone can consume that many calories in 10-20 minutes. Another “gross” fact I think about sometimes is how much salt, sugar, oil, and butter is in the contestant’s body at one time.

Intrigued by this, I did a little research on food contests. Here are some fun facts I found that will definitely interest you.

1. Even though it might not seem like it, you actually need a lot of hand-eye coordination to do well because it helps you multi-task (e.g., eating a hot dog and crumpling up the bun at the same time).
2. It is actually a “real” sport. Contestants get paid and win major prizes, and competitions are broadcasted on TV.
3. A lot of the contestants are surprisingly healthy. Some run over 10 miles a day and eat a lot of “superfood”.
4. Some people eat more than 20,000 calories just from a few contests.
5. There are contests for almost every food imaginable. People even have sauce drinking contests (soy sauce, chili sauce, etc).
6. Some contestants don’t eat for 5-6 days before the contest.
7. Eating contests are the real deal. Some people spend their entire lives (or most of it) training for the big day.

I very much encourage you all to research more about food eating contests because honestly, there’s a lot more to it than you think. I also recommend watching  more of these competitions on youtube or the TV because it’s so interesting to see the techniques and style of the participants. My favorite one is the Annual Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest on July 4th.  Speaking of Nathan’s Hot Dogs, isn’t it ironic that my parents named me Nathan, as I love hot dogs so much? After you watch this video, I 100% guarantee that after a couple of rounds, you’ll be asking yourself, “How is it even possible?”