Food Myth or reality?

Hello LTH,

During Saturday's Beefathon III some interesting topics were referenced. From the notion of boiling beef to the addition of green peppers on a hot dog. However some discussion (In Dickson's car, at least) revolved around food myths.

First eatchicago mentioned that it is physically impossible for a human to drink a gallon of milk within 1 hour. Apparently there is some chemical reaction that results in autopurge. I have never heard of this, or witnessed anyone trying to accomplish this task. Anyone care to comment?

Second either VI or EC mentioned the 'Taco Bell Challenge'. Unknown to me it is said that noone can consume $20 of Taco Bell menu items. (the term 'food' was omitted intentionally) Although I am not particularilly fond of Taco Bell, I immediately stated that I could do it and am awaiting a time and date for the challenge.

Are there any other food myths or challenges that I should be aware of? If yes, I should probably start purchasing my Rolaids from Costco by the case.

Flip

i once (very badly) lost a bet that i could not eat (including swallowing) six saltines in a minute. think copious amounts of sawdust in the mouth.

The back page of this month's chicago magazine has 4 - 5 different food challenges listed. Things like eating a giant steak at Shula's in one sitting, a big piece of pizza somewhere, etc.

I think the milk bet partly works because most human stomachs don't have a capacity anywhere near 1 gallon (most are around a liter, I believe).

Obviously someone who is a bit, uh, bigger, may have a larger stomach capacity. As would most competitive eaters. But your average joe just doesn't have enough room for a gallon of anything.

-ed

Flip wrote:First eatchicago mentioned that it is physically impossible for a human to drink a gallon of milk within 1 hour. Apparently there is some chemical reaction that results in autopurge. I have never heard of this, or witnessed anyone trying to accomplish this task. Anyone care to comment?

I have personally witnessed someone attempt this feat as part of a $100 bet. He did pretty well for about the first 3/4 of the gallon, which was gone in about 15 minutes. Then the sweating, deep breathing, and excessive salivation began. Once that starts, it's not hard to predict what will happen next.

The inevitable autopurge occurred as he was sprinting from the kitchen out onto the deck of a second floor condo (in February). The residents of the condo confirmed that the resultant regurgitated milk-sicles clung to the underside of the deck for several weeks before melting during a warm spell and dripping rancid milk-barf droplets down onto the deck of the first floor residents, who were none too pleased about it, I'm sure.

Suffice to say that if such a bet ever presents itself, bet AGAINST them being able to do it, especially since such wagers usually come into being after some fairly serious drinking has already occurred. Also, you should encourage the person considering the attempt by any means necessary, as the result is certain to be most entertaining.

ChiNOLA wrote:The inevitable autopurge occurred as he was sprinting from the kitchen out onto the deck of a second floor condo (in February). The residents of the condo confirmed that the resultant regurgitated milk-sicles clung to the underside of the deck for several weeks before melting during a warm spell and dripping rancid milk-barf droplets down onto the deck of the first floor residents, who were none too pleased about it, I'm sure.

ChiNOLA,

I must say that this brings up tales from the college dorm party memories. Ah, to be that stupid again

Flip wrote:ChiNOLA,

I must say that this brings up tales from the college dorm party memories. Ah, to be that stupid again

This actually happened a couple of years after I was out of college, but I believe the person attempting the feat was still an undergrad.

ChiNOLA wrote:He did pretty well for about the first 3/4 of the gallon, which was gone in about 15 minutes. Then the sweating, deep breathing, and excessive salivation began. Once that starts, it's not hard to predict what will happen next.

Suffice to say that if such a bet ever presents itself, bet AGAINST them being able to do it, especially since such wagers usually come into being after some fairly serious drinking has already occurred. Also, you should encourage the person considering the attempt by any means necessary, as the result is certain to be most entertaining.

Okay, I would never do this after drinking, as alcohol and milk products are not a good mix in my book (no, I don't like egg nog or White Russians). However, I would also space it out; if the bet is for an hour, why not drink increments? The guy you describe tried to get most of it down in the first 15 minutes. What's the rush? Let the body adjust. And have some cookies with it, for goodness sake.

Also, from a betting standpoint, isn't the bet to "drink" a gallon of milk? If it get's barfed up immediately afterwards, then so be it. The point is, you have to get all of it down, understanding that it's going to come out, somehow, someday, somewhere.

David "Only Bet on a Sure Thing" Hammond

I saw a similar scene to ChiNOLA's (were we at the same party?), and I've seen a couple different videos on the net. Definitely frat-boy type-stuff.

Someone once attempted to explain this to me in regards to bacteria rather than capacity. This person (a reputable source, but certainly could be wrong) claimed that the stomach can stretch to handle the capacity, but the bacteria level in the dairy would eventually rise to the point of rejection by your stomach. I don't know how true this is, but it was offered as a clinical explanation to me. True or not, it is funny to see someone try.

Google the words: gallon hour milk challege

Flip, I'd sooner try the milk challenge than the taco bell one (which I still think needs to be adjusted for inflation).

Best,
EC

David Hammond wrote:Okay, I would never do this after drinking, as alcohol and milk products are not a good mix in my book (no, I don't like egg nog or White Russians). However, I would also space it out; if the bet is for an hour, why not drink increments? The guy you describe tried to get most of it down in the first 15 minutes. What's the rush? Let the body adjust. And have some cookies with it, for goodness sake.

Also, from a betting standpoint, isn't the bet to "drink" a gallon of milk? If it get's barfed up immediately afterwards, then so be it. The point is, you have to get all of it down, understanding that it's going to come out, somehow, someday, somewhere.

David "Only Bet on a Sure Thing" Hammond

IIRC, the original bet was for $50 for the hour, or $100 for the half hour, and he was gunning for the half hour. In either case, there was some time limit afterwards that you had to keep it down - 10 minutes or something, so vomiting definitely loses you the bet, in any case.

Actually, this may not have been strictly a bet in the sense that the barfee did not have to cough up $100. Coughing up the milk-sicles was punishment enough. More like a drunken challenge - "I'll give you $50 if you can drink a gallon of milk in an hour"... "How much if I do it in half an hour?".... "$100"... "You're on!"...

eatchicago wrote:I saw a similar scene to ChiNOLA's (were we at the same party?)

Could very well be. This one occurred in a condo on Altgeld St. in 1990 or so. If you think it could be the same place, pm me & I'll reveal the owner's name.

Hi,

I have the dubious honor of watching the volume food contest on FOX a few years ago. The Japanese guy who specializes in hot dogs, dips his food in water before stuffing it down his throat. If crackers were eaten with water, then I believe they could be consumed quickly. Until I watched that show, I didn't quite appreciate what saliva does in preparing our food for descending our esophagus. The japanese guy's stomach was painfully distended when he finished his round.

You can potentially drown by over consumption of liquids. There was a babysitter who forced a 3 year old to drink water beyond her capacity, which caused the child to die. This was in the press within the last year for those who need affirmation.

In one of these contests, they competed to eat a large volume of mayonnaise. I think they must be somewhat disengaging their gag reflex to accomodate the volume they are shoving down.

The also had a very long sushi roll with large sections of wasabi. The sections of pure wasabi did many in. As much as they tried to keep the hurlers off camera, you could see a few violent sprays in the background.

Yeah, I was pretty ashamed at the use of my time after watching the entire show.

Oddly enough there is a circuit of competitive eating contests and contestants. The best known of which is Nathan's hot dog eating contests in New York. (Americans have not won this seemingly most American of events since 1999 - it seems to be an Asian thing - although not all winners are Sumo wrestler types. A petite Korean woman appears to be one of the stars on the circuit).

I received an e-mail from a reporter from Philadelphia Magazine, Jason Fagone, who is writing a book on the speed-eating, Insatiable Appetites, to be published by Random House in 2006. Philadelphia is apparently known for its Wing competition. His website is at http://eating.typepad.com.

There is also a graduate student at NYU who is studying these competitions for her Ph.D. Science marches on!

While I was at Orbitz they were one of the sponsors of the Nathan's contest:



-ed

GAF wrote:Oddly enough there is a circuit of competitive eating contests and contestants. The best known of which is Nathan's hot dog eating contests in New York. (Americans have not won this seemingly most American of events since 1999 - it seems to be an Asian thing - although not all winners are Sumo wrestler types. A petite Korean woman appears to be one of the stars on the circuit).

I had this petite girlfriend in college who would routinely kick the ass of football players in speed-eating contests. Usually they ate Whoppers, and she would always down more in less time than the big guys. Her secret? Catsup. She felt it provided the right lubrication to help her slam back the burgers. Her competitors were afraid they'd fill up on catsup; she was willing to take on a little extra for the added speed advantage.

Hammond

So that is the origin to the Hammond Catsup/Ketchup obsession.

Florida Man, 32, Dies Shortly After Winning Pet Store's Roach-Eating Contest

...
The roach-eating contest was part of the reptile store's October 5 "Midnight Madness" sale. Contestants had four minutes to devour the most discoid roaches, which can grow up to three inches long. "Oh yeah, any vomiting is an automatic DQ," the store cautioned in a Facebook post prior to the revolting competition.

Another promotional piece referred to the upcoming event as "the soon to be infamous 'Eat Bugs For Balls Contest.'" The python for which Archbold competed is known to curl up into a ball as a defensive reaction.
...
Asked about the python won by Archbold, the store reported on its Facebook page that, "The snake is being held in his name and is full property of his estate."

Regards,

Anyone ever hear of the Cinnamon Challenge? I guess it is very hard to eat a tablespoon of ground cinnamon. there are lots of vids of this on youtube

I just saw that 6 flags was stopping their contest of people eating hissing madagascar cockroaches due to the Florida incident. The spokesman said they were canceling even though the roaches were bred to be food in sanitary conditions.

My son has gone through a gallon of skim milk many times, just not in an hour. He did learn his lesson of chugging a half gallon before going to football practice. Now he will not even touch ice cream the night before any athletic practice.

gleam wrote:Obviously someone who is a bit, uh, bigger, may have a larger stomach capacity.

A little less obvious than you might think... the idea that fat people have larger stomachs is a myth. In fact, some studies show they eat LESS than thin people. This phenomenon is called the American Paradox.

There are a lot of myths and misconceptions surrounding obesity (not exactly a food myth, but food-related, so I'm gonna toss it in here for the sake of edification).

I did an article once about a young woman who may very well have died of hyponatremia (drinking too much water). Not a pleasant way to go.

My 15-year-old daughter asked for a glass of wine during Thanksgiving dinner one year. At the end of the meal, she still had a mostly-full glass. She chugged it, then drank her brother's full water glass, stating that "everyone knows" that if you drink a glass of water for every glass of alcohol, you won't get a hangover. Within 30 seconds, she gave us the most... memorable... end to a holiday dinner imaginable.

One of my best friends nearly died from drinking 5 gallons of water. Shortly after college, workday after a night of excess, a new five gallon jug was placed on the water cooler. "I'm so thirsty, I bet I could drink that whole thing." Several collegues assembled a pile of bills as prise for the challenge. He got it down over the course of a couple hours, began to sweat, got a splitting headache, and nearly passed out. A buddy drove him to the hospital (luckily) where he was put on an IV drip of salts and potassium. Apparently the kidneys shut down when they can no longer find all the building blocks of urine, which leave the body faster than five gallons of extra water can.

This was twenty years ago, and has always stood as my proof that anything done to excess can be bad. . . and I often need the reminder.

The gallon of milk challenge can be done - in fact I, uh, "know a guy" who has done it.

I'd say there are two keys:

1. As someone said before, take your time. There is no rush. An hour is a long, long time for something like this.
2. Ice cold milk = bad for something like this. The closer to room temp the better (this goes for water also).

It wasn't so bad. The day I did it I went to a show at Empty Bottle afterward and other than a few extra trips to the bathroom I-, um, this guy I know, was fine.

The Sprite and Banana Challenge consists of eating two bananas and then drinking a liter of Sprite. This causes you to projectile vomit and throw up all over the place!

You first!

Chugging plain water to excess is dangerous because it causes hyponatremia, which is fatal for many reasons, not the least of which is severe cerebral edema (particularly when hyponatremia has a rapid onset, like when a person chugs too much water in a short period of time). There are actually a good number of documented cases of this happening (the saddest I can remember was a young mother participating in a radio contest to win a playstation for her kids, she died within hours of the contest.)

Yep. That was "hold your wee for a Wii" or something like that. Drink as much as possible, last person to urinate gets a Wii. Hyponatremia is especially common in marathon runners (death from it, less so, but still more than a small handful), and they are usually instructed as to how much plain water they can safely consume.

Cathy2 wrote:Florida Man, 32, Dies Shortly After Winning Pet Store's Roach-Eating Contest

...
The roach-eating contest was part of the reptile store's October 5 "Midnight Madness" sale. Contestants had four minutes to devour the most discoid roaches, which can grow up to three inches long. "Oh yeah, any vomiting is an automatic DQ," the store cautioned in a Facebook post prior to the revolting competition.

Another promotional piece referred to the upcoming event as "the soon to be infamous 'Eat Bugs For Balls Contest.'" The python for which Archbold competed is known to curl up into a ball as a defensive reaction.
...
Asked about the python won by Archbold, the store reported on its Facebook page that, "The snake is being held in his name and is full property of his estate."

Death declared accidental:

A 32-year-old man who died after downing dozens of roaches and worms last month to win a python at a Florida reptile store choked to death, medical officials said Monday.
Edward Archbold died "as a result of asphyxia due to choking and aspiration of gastric contents," said the Broward County Medical Examiner's Office. It said his airway was obstructed by bug body parts, and ruled his death was an accident.
...
Soon after the contest was over, Archbold fell ill and began to vomit, the Broward County Sheriff's Office said.
A friend called for medical help. Then, Archbold himself dialed 911, the store said in a Facebook post.
Eventually, he fell to the ground outside the store, the sheriff's office said. An ambulance took him to North Broward Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
No other contestant fell ill, the sheriff's office said.

Man eats 28 raw eggs, dies: A Tunisian man may have won his bet--to eat 28 raw eggs--but in doing so, he lost his life.

Dhaou Fatnassi, a 20-year-old man from the town of Kairouan, swallowed more than two dozen raw eggs on a dare from his friends.

According to Tunesia's Shems FM radio, the friends called an ambulance after realizing something was wrong, but it was too late.

I will guess he died from pulmonary aspiration with some of those eggs going into his lungs.