Q: On July 4, Takeru Ko bayashi ate 53.75 hot dogs in 12 minutes at a Coney Island contest. How do competitive eaters such as Kobayashi avoid damaging their health?
A: Counting the hot dogs and each bun half, Kobayashi consumed 161 items of food – “which is literally more than gross,” said Dale Schoeller, a UW-Madison professor of nutritional sciences.