The capacities required for competitive eating seem little needed in the real world -- and some doctors worry that such eaters may endanger themselves by developing them.
Metz and colleagues suggest that competitive eaters run the risk of stretching their stomachs so much and so often that, like an old baggy sweater, they eventually won't be able to shrink back to their original size. There is some evidence supporting this fear. Research has shown that obese people have larger stomachs than lean people, and a 2004 study found that obese binge eaters have the largest ones of all. A permanently and severely over-stretched stomach could lose the ability to contract and empty itself, necessitating surgery to relieve the consequent nausea and vomiting.
Dr. Thomas Zarchy, a USC gastroenterology professor, says competitive eaters put themselves at risk for a Mallory-Weiss tear, a rupture where the stomach and esophagus meet. And, over the long haul, doctors say, these eaters might become obese.
Shea says that none of these problems have yet occurred among competitive eaters. "The top 20 are all in incredible shape," he says. (Sonya "Black Widow" Thomas, holder of 26 world eating records, weighs 100 pounds.)
But the danger might come later, the doctors say, when eaters have stopped competing and may have lost the willpower needed to curb their enthusiastic appetites -- having long ago lost the ability to tell when they're full.
Still, with health risks largely theoretical so far, even doctors tend to water down their warnings. "Speed-eating isn't the best thing in the world," Metz says. "But it's not yet been shown that it's a bad thing."
Adds Zarchy: "Everything has a benefit and a risk. Would I do it? No."
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health@latimes.com
