Hot dog eating contests may look like a gross display of ravenous gluttony, but there’s actually a science behind eating dozens of hot dogs in mere minutes.
The Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest in New York is the Super Bowl for competitive eaters, with the returning Joey Chestnut holding the world record by eating 76 hot dogs in just 10 minutes back in 2021.
While many people might think that makes Chestnut and other contestants fast chewers, studies and pro eaters have revealed that downing that many dogs has little to do with actually chewing your food.
Instead, the biggest part of quickly eating hot dogs is learning how to swallow properly while chewing less.
Moreover, eaters actually train their stomachs to hold that much food at one time without setting off the body’s nausea reflex.
This allows a competitive eater’s stomach to expand 10 to 15 times its normal size, holding more than four liters of food (over 50 hot dogs).
If you’re looking for a more low-key hot dog frenzy this Fourth of July weekend, however, a new survey has also revealed the true hot dog capital of the US – and it’s not New York.
Montana, Wyoming, and Delaware are actually where Americans eat more hot dogs than anyone else in the nation.
Joey Chestnut has won the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest multiple time and returned to the contest in 2025 after a one-year absence
A recent survey found that Americans in Montana eat more hots dogs than any other state, consuming 17 dogs each month
According to a survey of over 2,000 Americans, commissioned by CanadaCasino, Montana is America’s hot dog-eating capital, with the average resident eating 17 hot dogs every month.
That adds up to 204 hot dogs every year, nearly three times the national average.
Wyoming came in second, with locals eating 13 hot dogs every month, followed by Delaware, where the average resident eats 11 hot dogs a month.
Rounding out the top 10 most hot dog-obsessed states were Washington DC (which is not actually a state), Maine, Tennessee, Louisiana, Arkansas, Washington, and Arizona.
Overall, the survey found the average American eats seven hot dogs every month, about the same number Chestnut consumes in one minute!
As for how the famous competitive eater does it, he focuses on a unique training program of swallowing air, burping, and lubricating his throat.
‘I do burping exercises where I swallow air and burp it up just to get those muscles used to being stretched,’ Chestnut told the New York Post.
‘Usually I’m in bed before 9 pm, wake up about 5 am, and start doing stretches and yoga and burping exercises to get my stomach loose and stretched after sleeping,’ he continued.
Chestnut and other competitive eaters focus on chewing less and swallowing more food so they can clear their mouths faster
Competitive eaters’ stomachs often expand 10 to 15 times its normal size, holding over 4 liters of food
Along with stretching out his stomach and throat muscles, Chestnut revealed he also drinks lots of aloe vera juice to make sure all the hot dogs will slide down safely as he’s rapidly swallowing them.
Meanwhile, consuming drinks like milk and water and low-calorie foods like vegetables help Chestnut and others stretch out their stomachs while preparing for these major eating events.
‘I do drink milk like a big baby. I’m a believer that if your body can digest milk, it’s great for you. Every now and then I’ll drink half a gallon of milk in the morning with some water. That’s a nice healthy stretch,’ Chestnut added.
However, once the contest begins, the focus shifts from the size of your stomach to your ability to get food down the throat fast.
‘Swallowing is one of the most important things in competitive eating,’ Chestnut told Food & Wine last year.
Elite eaters try to reduce chewing to the bare minimum needed to break food into manageable masses for swallowing.
Their goal is to shift the workload from the jaw and teeth to the throat and esophagus so they can start chewing up another dog – like a human conveyor belt.
As plenty of viewers of the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Content have seen, the competitors also famously dunk their dogs in water.
Although that make make them pretty disgusting to eat, dunking hot dog buns in water softens them up to reduce the need for chewing and allows the bun to slide down the throat easily.
Pro eaters like Chestnut also dunk their hot dogs in water to make the buns easier to swallow
While professional eaters like Chestnut may swear by their secrets to success, studies have found that there are plenty dangers that go along with these eating techniques.
A 2007 study by Dr David Metz at the University of Pennsylvania found that rapid eating can lead to temporary gastroparesis, a condition where the stomach struggles to contract and pass food. This can lead to bouts of nausea or vomiting.
The researchers also found prolonged stomach stretching may lead to long-term issues like obesity or permanent stomach damage if not managed carefully.
The high sodium content in each hot dog can cause temporary water retention and dehydration if the competitors don’t hydrate properly before and during the contest.
That’s why you’ll always see plenty of cups of water on the contest tables in New York. It’s best to avoid sugary beverages like soda and sports drinks because they can spike your blood sugar and lead to an energy crash while eating.
Perhaps most obviously, there’s also the risk of choking, especially since the competitors are unable to breathe through their mouths while shoving all that food in.
‘I have to sneak in breaths through my nose,’ Chestnut said in 2024. ‘So I exhale and I swallow, swallow, swallow, then I inhale and I swallow, swallow swallow. It’s this block breathing and I keep a rhythm.’
As for how many hot dogs the human body can possibly eat, a 2020 study published in Biology Letters revealed that 83 hot dogs is likely to limit, just seven more than the current record.
The research analyzed 39 years of Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest data to estimate the theoretical maximum active consumption rate (ACR) for humans, finding it’s about 832 grams per minute, or about 83 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes.
