On a heavier note

By LB on October 9, 2006 9:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) | Sphere: Related Content

I like hot foods, but this is beyond my tolerance level:

DALLAS - A 62-year-old retired accountant from Nevada swallowed 247 peppers in eight minutes to win the Jalapeno Eating World Championship at the State Fair of Texas.
Richard LeFevre won $2,000 for prevailing in Sunday's contest, which was sponsored by the International Federation of Competitive Eating.

At least AP asked a medical professional to weigh in on the wisdom of this behaviour:

Dr. Daniel DeMarco, a gastroenterologist and director of endoscopy at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas, said the amount of jalapenos consumed in an eating contest is more harmful than the burn.

"It's really pretty stupid," DeMarco said. "Like any sort of abuse of your body, it doesn't make any sense."