U of M says Hot Dogs Shorten Your Life

To no one's surprise, Joey Chestnut won yesterday's Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating contest...again. He devoured 62 dogs in 10 minutes. Sports Illustrated says the winner of Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest gets $10,000. The runner up gets $5,000 while the third place finisher gets $2,500.

But at what cost?

A study by the University of Michigan reveals that eating a hot dog can shorten a person's "healthy life" by up to 36 minutes. A "healthy life" is defined as 'the ability to live without sickness or disability'. The same study found that eating a serving of cashews can extend a 'healthy life' by 26 minutes (but I can't put cashews on a bun at a baseball game, so there). 

Getting back to Joey:

Joey ate 62 hot dogs at this year's Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest. Multiplying this total by 36 means Joey's life expectancy was reduced by 2,232 minutes (we'll that's just depressing - but he looks happy and seems like a nice guy).

Researchers found that substituting 10% of daily meats with a mixture of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and certain seafood items can extend a 'healthy life' by 48 minutes every day (but hot dogs are soooooo good to eat).

Here's what Joey consumed at the Nathans contest (according to USA Today):  

Calories: 17,920 (896% of daily recommended value)

Sodium: 48,980 mg (20,408% of daily recommended value)

Total Fat: 1,116 g (17,169% of daily recommended value)

Saturated fat: 372 g (18,600% of daily recommended value)

Trans fat: 62 g (28,182% of daily recommended value)

Total Carbs: 1,490 g (4,960% of daily recommended value)

Dietary Fiber: 62 g (248% of daily recommended value)

Sugars: 124 g

Protein: 620 g

Cholesterol: 1,860 mg

We actually had Joey in studio earlier this year when he was in town with the Pistons for a charity event - great guy and told some interesting stories about getting into competitive eating (including his first contest and getting a degree in Engineering).