The Skinny on Gluttony

The contrarian science website Mental Floss recently asked the logical question “Why Are the Best Competitive Eaters So Skinny?” It especially cited Sonya Thomas, the competitive eating circuit’s famous “Black Widow,” who has won numerous chowdown smackdowns despite weighing in at a svelte 105 pounds. Most recently, she won the Women’s Division of the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest by downing 40 dogs—over 12,000 calories worth—in 10 minutes.

According to the article, the reason thin is in for professional chowhounds like Thomas is that stomach fat impedes one’s ability to hold food in the gut, so there’s actually more room for 12,000 calories worth of hot dogs in a skinny woman’s stomach (as long as it has been stretched sufficiently) than in a fat one’s.

Thomas also does a lot of exercising and watches what she eats when she’s not competing. It just goes to show that it takes a lot of discipline to pig out…