If you challenged competitive eater James Webb to an eating match, he’d have you for breakfast. The world #4 ranked champ can polish off 59.5 glazed donuts in eight minutes and 276 chicken wings in 12 minutes and he’s dining in Canberra today to discuss the science behind eating.

This is his day job. James eats for a living and gets paid to travel the world for food challenges and make promotional videos for restaurants (he has 1.7m followers on TikTok and 88,500 on Instagram). 

It’s not often James gets asked to ‘discuss’ food rather than scoff food but Canberra Health Services Speech Pathology Department, at the University of Canberra Hospital, has invited him to speak about eating mechanics – and have a camera put down his throat.   

“The fact that they asked me in itself is kind of crazy,” James said from his Sydney home. “If I can help somebody somehow, I’m cool with that … it might actually scare the hell out of me.”

James balks at the thought of hospital food but it was the live nasendoscopy that had him really nervous.

“It’s going to be an experience,” James said. “They’re going to put a camera down my throat to see the width of my throat and they’re going to give me some food to eat and see how my throat adapts. Does it get thicker? Does it get thinner? What actually happens to it? When I say it out loud it kind of freaks me out but it’s actually kind of cool, in a really gruesome way.”

I’m no doctor but I think James’ throat got stretched to the limit when he chowed down 37 meat pies in 36 minutes and 22 seconds at a Dallas-Fort Worth restaurant last December. Are you hungry?

He takes the food etiquette ‘eat everything on your plate’ literally. As for the ‘chew your food properly’ advice, he ignores that. When James competes, he doesn’t chew 32 times like experts advise, he crushes.

“Got no time for that,” James said. “In a contest, you don’t chew, you compress the food enough just to swallow it down. Basically, you use your back teeth, your chompers, to crush the food then you use the next mouthful to push the food down. You have to breathe and drink at the same time to save time.”

Canberra medical experts at today’s event are primarily interested in swallowing disorders and James is their guinea pig. He will share his knowledge of “eating mechanics” and how to swallow foods of different consistency and texture.

For James, who’s ranked #1 in Australia, eating is not just a sport, it’s a science. He has trained in competitive eating for three years and pushed his body to the limit.

“There’s a lot that goes into not just the swallowing itself, but a lot of the stress on the body, the panic, the fear of choking,” James said. “We have paramedics on hand every contest. To be good, you’ve got to master that skill of holding your breath and not choking, jamming as much food down as quickly as you can. If you’re breathing through your nose, you’re opening your airway. You can’t swallow at the same time as breathing so you have to breathe as you’re about to take your next mouthful. If you cough, you’ve lost.”

Today, James will share his competition techniques, such as proper hydration, posture, and controlled breathing; as well as his physical training to enhance jaw strength and stomach capacity. James trains for speed rather than quantity.

This year, he’s competed in 18 contests in America and broken the world record for fudge. The elusive crown, however, is Nathan’s Hotdog Eating Contest in New York (he came third this year in his third attempt).

In Canberra today, at the University of Canberra Hospital, there’s no stopwatch or hungry competitors, just a nasendoscopy and an audience of medical professionals.

“Is there a limit to how much you can shove down your throat?” James said. “Because that’s going to help me compete better. I’m interested to see what I can soak up from a professional. It’s not every day you get a camera shoved down your throat.”

Bon appétit James, hope the hospital food is ok.

J Webby Can Eat is on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.