WEBVTT - Why Is It So Difficult To Chug A Gallon of Milk?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works. Hey, brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>it's Christian Seger. Have you ever heard of this gallon

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<v Speaker 1>of milk challenge before? Here's the idea. You try to

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<v Speaker 1>drink a gallon of milk and hold it down for

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<v Speaker 1>an hour without puking. That sounds unnecessary to me, but

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<v Speaker 1>I mean it's called the challenge, and you don't win anything,

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<v Speaker 1>I think, but still, thousands of people have tried it

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<v Speaker 1>and failed. So if you've already heard of this, then

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<v Speaker 1>you've probably heard it's impossible. But spoiler alert, it's not.

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<v Speaker 1>It's just really hard and really gross. So what makes

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<v Speaker 1>drinking milk difficult? Well, let's begin with the basics. Drinking

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<v Speaker 1>a gallon of anything in an hour can be hazardous.

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<v Speaker 1>Even a gallon of water can be fatal if you

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<v Speaker 1>drink it too quickly. Too much water overloads the circulatory

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<v Speaker 1>system and the kidneys, elutes blood electrolytes, and can cause

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<v Speaker 1>cells to swell, potentially causing brain damage or death. So

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<v Speaker 1>it's not surprising that a gallon of milk is also

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<v Speaker 1>bad business stomach wise, most people who attempt it vomit.

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<v Speaker 1>There are a few proposed causes for this condition. You'll

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<v Speaker 1>often hear people blame lactose for the pucatude let's call

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<v Speaker 1>it of milk. Lactose is essentially milk sugar, and your

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<v Speaker 1>body can only process so much of it at a time.

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<v Speaker 1>You need the enzyme called lactasee to deal with lactose,

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<v Speaker 1>and the idea here is that people who are lactose

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<v Speaker 1>intolerant can't process any lactose and they may throw up

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<v Speaker 1>from just one glass of milk. But nutritionists like Dr

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<v Speaker 1>Sarah Ash at North Carolina State University point out that

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<v Speaker 1>lactose intolerance is a problem of the large intestine, not

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<v Speaker 1>the stomach. Since pctose is digested and absorbed in the

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<v Speaker 1>small intestine, the trouble doesn't really hit until it passes

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<v Speaker 1>to the large intestine, where it's consumed by bacteria, producing

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<v Speaker 1>diarrhea and gas fun both unpleasant in their own ways,

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<v Speaker 1>but nothing that could stop you from holding the milk down.

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<v Speaker 1>Then there's calcium. Milk contains a lot of calcium, about

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<v Speaker 1>three hundred milligrams per eight ounce glass. A Tom's chewable

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<v Speaker 1>tablet contains about two hundred milligrams of available calcium, so

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<v Speaker 1>drinking a gallon of milk is like downing twenty five

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<v Speaker 1>Tom's tablets, it messes up the acid balance in the stomach,

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<v Speaker 1>giving your stomach another reason to consider puking. The most

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<v Speaker 1>likely culprit, however, is surprisingly simple. It's just stomach size, guys.

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<v Speaker 1>The average stomach can hold about a half a gallon

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<v Speaker 1>of well whatever. More than that, you run the risk

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<v Speaker 1>of triggering these stretch receptors in your stomach, which can

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<v Speaker 1>induce vomiting. There are a few people with the ability

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<v Speaker 1>to complete this challenge, like professional competitive eaters, but for

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<v Speaker 1>most of us, this is a pipe dream that could

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<v Speaker 1>quickly turn messy. So while chugging a gallon of milk

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<v Speaker 1>may be more difficult than chugging water, it turns out

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<v Speaker 1>that drinking a gallon of anything this quickly just isn't

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<v Speaker 1>a great idea. Check out the brainstuff channel on YouTube,

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<v Speaker 1>and for more on this and thousands of other topics,

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<v Speaker 1>visit how stuff works dot com.