To most of us, competitive hot dog eating looks like pure chaos—dozens of buns and dogs disappearing down someone’s throat in minutes.
But behind the madness lies a surprising amount of science, training, and body control.
Especially when it comes to the world-famous Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest held every 4th of July in New York.
And no one knows this world better than Joey Chestnut, the reigning champ who once devoured a jaw-dropping 76 hot dogs in 10 minutes back in 2021.
It’s Not About Chewing—It’s About Swallowing
You might think the best competitive eaters are just super-fast chewers.
Not even close. According to pros and researchers, chewing is minimized, and swallowing takes center stage.
Contestants train themselves to break food into the smallest possible chunks and then gulp it down quickly, shifting the effort from jaw to throat.
It’s not glamorous—but it works.
Stretching the Stomach Is Key
To handle that many hot dogs, professional eaters train their stomachs to expand far beyond normal capacity—up to 10 to 15 times bigger than average.
That’s enough space to hold over four liters of food, or roughly 50+ hot dogs.
Contestants push their limits using a combination of liquid diets, low-calorie foods, and stretches.
Milk, water, and even aloe vera juice are all part of the prep.
Chestnut, for instance, swears by stretching exercises, yoga, and even “burping drills” to get his stomach ready to perform.
Meet the Real Hot Dog Lovers: Montana Leads the Pack
While New York hosts the iconic contest, it’s not actually America’s most obsessed hot dog location.
That title goes to Montana, where the average resident eats 17 hot dogs a month—that’s 204 hot dogs a year, nearly three times the national average.
Next in line? Wyoming and Delaware, eating 13 and 11 hot dogs a month, respectively.
Other top states include Washington D.C., Maine, Tennessee, Louisiana, Arkansas, Washington, and Arizona.
How Do They Eat That Fast?
Besides a stretchy stomach, elite eaters need rhythm and breath control.
Chestnut explains it’s all about timing swallows with nasal breathing, describing a pattern like “exhale, swallow, swallow, inhale, swallow.”
It’s a delicate dance of focus and muscle coordination.
Another trick? Dunking buns in water. It may look disgusting, but it helps soften the bread, reduce chewing, and slide it down the throat more easily.
Think of it like turning your food into fuel as fast as possible.
The Health Risks Are Real
As wild as it looks, this kind of eating doesn’t come without health concerns.
A University of Pennsylvania study found that rapid eating can lead to temporary gastroparesis—a condition that messes with your stomach’s ability to pass food.
That means nausea, bloating, and vomiting could follow shortly after the contest.
Long-term dangers include stomach damage, dehydration, and potential obesity.
And with the high sodium content in each hot dog, proper hydration is critical.
That’s why competitors skip sugary drinks and stick with plain water.
And then there’s the scariest risk of all—choking.
Since eaters can’t breathe through their mouths mid-bite, they rely entirely on nose breathing and hope for no slip-ups.
So, What’s the Human Limit?
Believe it or not, scientists have actually studied the max number of hot dogs a person can eat.
A 2020 study published in Biology Letters concluded that 83 hot dogs in 10 minutes is probably the ceiling.
That’s just seven more than Chestnut’s current record.
Researchers analyzed decades of contest data to calculate the peak speed of human food consumption—around 832 grams per minute.
