Alcohol abuse and bariatric surgery ‎

Q: This past July 4th, I watched Nathan's hot dog eating contest on TV where the winner (for the sixth time), Joey Chestnut, ate an incredible 68 hot dogs in 10 minutes! How can someone eat that much? He's not even that big a guy. Can't someone's stomach explode from doing that? Does he need to vomit afterward?

A: The stomach is a muscular sac, and like the urinary bladder, it can be stretched way beyond its normal capacity with a lot of willpower and determination. Normally, there's a sense of fullness where you "just can't eat another bite." People who eat huge quantities of food for "sport" have learned to ignore the signals that prevent engorgement, stretching their stomach to the limits of its capacity. That capacity for most people is about 32 ounces, but these "super gurgitators" can stretch their stomachs to more than a gallon (128 ounces). One's size does not predict eating ability.

Once the true upper limit of consumption for an individual has been reached, there's nowhere for more food to go but up — as in regurgitation. The stomach won't burst. Among competitive food eaters, induced vomiting after an event is frowned upon and considered unsportsmanlike, much like athletes who take anabolic steroids.

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By the way, Chestnut consumed more than 21,000 calories, more than 1,300 grams of fat, and 46,512 milligrams of sodium (not including buns) in his gastronomic feat.

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Alcohol abuse and bariatric surgery

Question: I am seriously considering having gastric bypass surgery. I have diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis, and high cholesterol. So I know it'll help improve my life. But I just read a story about gastric bypass patients being at increased risk of becoming alcoholics. I don't drink very much, so how worried should I be about it?