Got milk.

November 9, 2006 2:34 PM

I've agreed to put some money down on the milk challenge. My boss has bet me that I can't drink a gallon of milk in one hour. Do I have a chance? How?

People always tell me that this is impossible, but I'm kind of skeptical. I know that I can drink a gallon of soda, beer or water in an hour. What makes milk so special? What is my limiting factor going to be?

People have told me that it's a matter of processing the lactose, is there any truth to that?

I have a few ideas:

Taking a bunch of lactaid before the challenge. OR
Taking active charcoal. OR
Taking enzyme supplements like papaya tablets. (Do these actually work?)
Pepto Bismol.
Making sure the milk isn't too cold.

What am I missing here? Do you guys have any tips? I'm not above 'cheating' here.

posted by Telf to food & drink (64 comments total)

I have seen 5 determined men with great capacity try this and fail. I've never seen anyone succeed. I hope you didn't put too much money down.

My impression has been that it's not a problem in the stomach, but on the way down. The milk coats your mouth and throat, stops you being able to produce enough saliva or something that helps you with swallowing. (This is of course anecdotal description from my friends who have tried it, not scientific.)
posted by LobsterMitten at 2:39 PM on November 9, 2006

I've never heard of this difficulty before, but I'll point out that milk is pretty filling. If you're allowed to use skim milk, that might make it a little easier.
posted by textilephile at 2:39 PM on November 9, 2006

Here's someone who has (maybe) done it.
posted by defreckled at 2:42 PM on November 9, 2006

It may be tougher than you expect. I found this article on Google.
posted by DrSkrud at 2:44 PM on November 9, 2006

All I can say is that a group of friends in college tried this, and the results were not pretty. I think even if you can keep it down somehow and win the bet, you're going to be pretty damn miserable. Good luck.
posted by SBMike at 2:45 PM on November 9, 2006

How much time to train and/or experiment do you have? I often get through a third of a gallon of milk without trying, just drinking it with a meal (and I'm not a big guy). Usually a greasy meal - I find milk goes down great with fatty/greasy foods - lots of emulsifiers.

Perhaps if it's some saliva or throat-coating thing as LobsterMitten suggests, a small amount of food at strategic times during the hour would be a counter-intuitive but perhaps effective means to succeed.
posted by -harlequin- at 2:48 PM on November 9, 2006

although i don’t have any tips on how to do this successfully i can confirm that it is possible. while living in dorms i had a sadistic ra who regularly purposed the gallon challenge. i witnessed many a man try and fail and when i say fail i mean get violently ill. there was one student who successfully consumed a gallon in under an hour; however, he was awfully sick for a while afterwards. if there is going to be money on the line i would suggest agreeing upon how long you need to keep it down after the hour.
posted by phil at 2:55 PM on November 9, 2006

The way I've seen this bet is always with whole milk; I personally think a gallon of skim milk would be a snap, but not so with whole. The thing about whole milk though is that it's not just a pure liquid like soda or water, it's essentially a diluted form of butterfat or creme. Think about drinking down the equivalent mass of cooking oil or cheese. I don't even think there's enough room in your stomache for a gallon of anything, so being able to do this relies on some of it being either absorbed out or past on to the intestines during the alloted drinking period (usually stated as an hour) -- that's easy with water or something close to water like soda, but not so for milk, at least according to this guy.
posted by Rhomboid at 2:56 PM on November 9, 2006

I believe the reason this bet usually works is that the average human stomach can only hold about 2 liters. This is half a gallon (also referenced in DrSkrud's link).

Now, some competitive eaters claim to have stretched their stomach enough to hold up to 16 pounds of food (around 2 gallons of liquid), but I imagine they've been training for quite some time.

If you expect to be successful at this, you'd probably want to do some training to stretch your stomach out beforehand. Any site on competitive eating should give you some ideas.
posted by fishfucker at 3:01 PM on November 9, 2006

I personally think a gallon of skim milk would be a snap, but not so with whole

I've known people who've lost using skim. Seen video of it, in fact. Good times.
posted by fishfucker at 3:02 PM on November 9, 2006

It's a chemistry thing.

Awhile back a chemistry teacher got FIRED for having his class try this. No kidding.
posted by konolia at 3:10 PM on November 9, 2006

Here's a linky.

Hope you didn't bet much, btw.
posted by konolia at 3:12 PM on November 9, 2006

Also chiming in on the "never seen it finished" side. We had a 3am fire drill at the dorms once and some kids thought it'd be a wonderful time to try the gallon challenge while we waited to go back inside ("THERE'S FIRE ALARM!!! GRAB THE MILK!!!")
As others of witnessed, they all failed in a flaming blaze of upchucking.
posted by jmd82 at 3:12 PM on November 9, 2006

Water, soda and beer pass through the stomach with little or no digestion. I think the milk stays until it gets partially broken down. Given the high protein content that may be a long time.
posted by caddis at 3:16 PM on November 9, 2006

It's a chemistry thing.

Awhile back a chemistry teacher got FIRED for having his class try this. No kidding.

The link you give claims it is the 'acid' (presumedly, the reporter was referring to lactose). This possibility is called unlikely by the professor* questioned in the article linked by DrSkrud:

Many people seem to think that it's the body's intolerance of the lactose in milk that makes binge drinking result in vomiting.

"The lactose is not likely the cause of the vomiting. Lactose intolerance, caused by too little of the digestive enzyme that breaks down lactose, is a problem of the large intestine, not the stomach," Ash said. "Lactose is normally digested and its components absorbed in the small intestine... then it continues to travel on down to the large intestine where it attracts water and is acted on by the bacteria that live down there. The result is diarrhea and gas. Your participants may have experienced those problems too later on -- but that would have nothing to do with the vomiting."

* Admittedly, they don't say what *kind* of professor, so for all we know she could be in art history -- although they did mention she was in charge of Undergraduate Nutrition Program
posted by fishfucker at 3:18 PM on November 9, 2006

If you have a serious amount of money on it, practice with water. Expect to fail a bunch of times.

If you can do it with water, then try milk.

Also, try to get a rule change so you can go vomit *after* the hour is up.
posted by Tacos Are Pretty Great at 3:19 PM on November 9, 2006

Another serious consideration is that consuming a gallon of water in an hour can raise your blood volume to the point where it can heart failure or a stroke in some. I suspect that milk is more slowly absorbed because of the fat coating the stomach wall, however, I certainly wouldn't want to become the statistic.
posted by RMALCOLM at 3:28 PM on November 9, 2006

When I was in medical school, I developed a taste for chocolate Yoo-Hoo. Besides being very delicious, it is packed with all sorts of good stuff that makes a body grow. I was buying it in quart-sized cartons and drinking it in moderation, daily.

One morning I woke up with a ridiculous thirst for something sweet and refreshing. Looking in my fridge, I found only two quarts of Yoo-Hoo and a tin of dessicated buffalo wing remnants that I had put inside from the previous week so that my cats wouldn't knock over my garbage can.

Anyway, I drank. I had a glass, and then remembered that my car was parked at a friend's house. So I took the quart with me and finished it on the walk.

I arrived at the clinic I was scheduled to work at, feeling a little warm. One of the nurses said I didn't look so hot. That's when the cramping began. Intense, debilitating cramps. And then the color change: another nurse said I looked green. I broke out in a cold sweat, and then felt chills. The attending asked me a bunch of questions to which I mumbled responses I can't remember now. Then she walked me to a surgeon's office.

He asked some questions, and grew concerned about appendicitis. In the privacy and comfort of his office, I was given a digital rectal exam. You know, to rule out... something. I think at that point I was able to put two and two together. 2+2=Yoo-Hoo, in this case.

That day I had the most intense bout of diarrhea ever. Ever. What's the average volume of a bowel movement? I don't know, but I'll tell you what: I'm confident that I put out at least one quart in one sitting.

The moral of this story? I advise you not to do it. And if you find yourself in the position where you must, take some Lactaid to up the amount of lactase in your system, get a MedicAlert wristband and write "I DRANK ONE GALLON OF MILK" on it, and "NO RECTAL EXAM PLZ" above that.
posted by herrdoktor at 3:36 PM on November 9, 2006 [19 favorites has favorites]

I MEANT A FRIEND. A friend drank a quart of Yoo-Hoo! Goddammit.
posted by herrdoktor at 3:38 PM on November 9, 2006

I've seen this done, successfully, with 2%. Here are some pointers:

* take up crew (ie, rowing) from middle school, and compete on your high school and college teams
* starting from age twelve or so get into the habit of drinking lots of milk daily (think 3 cups -- that's 240z -- or more at every meal), and also get into the habit of consuming at least 5000 calories per day (a generally quick metabolism)
* weigh approximately 220lbs, most of which is muscle
* wait until about six hours after a particularly exhausting crew practice your last year of college competition

I don't know that there's a royal road to mass milk consumption.
posted by little miss manners at 3:42 PM on November 9, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

Do it somewhere where it doesn't matter if you puke copious amounts of milk everywhere (like outside on some grass). Because this will happen, I can assure you.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 3:44 PM on November 9, 2006

I'm just kinda thinking out loud here because I'm not sure about this. I sort of remember hearing that the problem is that the milk is alkaline and that much of it throws off the pH in your stomach. Maybe you could pop a bunch of betaine HCl pills right before the hour. These are digestive supplements meant to provide extra stomach acid for people who are deficient, and acid is what breaks down proteins.
posted by Durin's Bane at 3:46 PM on November 9, 2006

Foolish Mortal!!

p.s. Lactaid is cheating. And so is barfing within 10 minutes of finishing the gallon.

p.p.s. Don't "eat greasy food" or ANY fod to try and help it down. The only guy I ever knew who completed the gallon left a thirty foot trail of milk and enciladas vomit in a dorm hallway that nessitated carpet replacement after repeated cleaning attempts over three miserable Welcome-To-Hell's-Dairy weeks. And he was well nigh 350 lbs.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 3:48 PM on November 9, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

Nobody wins the Dairy Challenge.
posted by Danelope at 3:50 PM on November 9, 2006

I've tried this. The first half gallon was easy. I got down 13.5 cups of milk before my stomach started pressing on my lungs enough that it was difficult to breathe. There's just not room in my chest cavity for the gallon of milk.

If I ever tried again, I'd try to get down the first half gallon quickly, then sit around until the 45min mark to let that process, before going for the second half.

But I suspect that, short of cracking some ribs to make more space, I still wouldn't be able do it.
posted by aneel at 4:03 PM on November 9, 2006

Would you mind giving us a follow-up, please?
posted by sophie at 4:17 PM on November 9, 2006

Fat (in moderation) slows your gut down (relative to water). I don't recall if protein does the same—inclined to say it does. At any rate, the fat factor means that it'll be harder with whole than with skim, just because of the stomach-capacity issues.
posted by eritain at 4:18 PM on November 9, 2006

Two [male] friends of mine pitted themselves against each other in this challenge in college. One of them was a burly 6'4" monster of a man...and even he failed miserably, spouting a spectacular fountain of regurgitated milk.
posted by limeonaire at 4:31 PM on November 9, 2006

I've seen this attempted.

Shortly thereafter, I saw all that milk again.

It smelled bad.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 4:33 PM on November 9, 2006

If you do this, use blue food coloring in the milk. It will make the eventual YouTube video MUCH more interesting. Only use red if you want to spend the next week in the emergency room.
posted by blue_beetle at 4:39 PM on November 9, 2006

It can be done.

Let this video inspire you.

And be sure to post a follow-up with your results, however it turns out.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 4:43 PM on November 9, 2006

The only time I saw someone actually do this was in the lobby of the dorm floor I lived on my freshman year of college. The guy who tried just started projectile vomiting into (and around) the trash can near the elevators after about 3/4 of the gallon was empty.
posted by catseatcheese at 4:45 PM on November 9, 2006

Ive had friends try this with a gallon of water and end up with water poisoning and getting pretty sick. Personally I wouldnt try to force that much liquid into a stomach that isnt large enough to hold it, most people that succeed at this train their bodies over a long period of time to withstand large amounts of liquid. You are going to be throwing up milk, and personally I cant think of anything that would be worse coming back up.
posted by trishthedish at 5:12 PM on November 9, 2006

Summing up what previous posters and links have said:

1) Don't drink the milk cold. It's a big deal for your body to try to raise 8 pounds of liquid mass to body temperature, and even if you are doing it 4 pounds at a time, the mass in your stomach is close to your heart. You never want your resting heart to cool dramatically. Cold milk will also drastically slow the production and action of stomach enzymes on the milk, preventing the seperation of milk protiens into curd, and the passage of clearer whey fluid from the stomach.

2) Skim vs whole. Non fat skim milk is about 86 calories an 8 oz glass, or about 1376 calories per gallon. Whole milk is about 155 calories a glass or about 2480 calories a gal, of which about 144 grams is butter fat (about 1 & 1/4 sticks of butter). So no fat skim should be easier for the stomach to process.

3) Lactose intolerance may not directly affect the stomach's ability to deal with a large amount of milk directly, but a gallon of milk in short time may well push even a normal system over the edge. Lactaid brand no fat milk might help with the after effects of this stunt on the lower intestines.

4) Ingesting 1/2 gallon of milk near the start of the process, giving the stomach the maximum time to empty thereafter, before attempting to consume the remainder of the milk near the end of the allotted time for consumption may help the stomach process the milk, and empty as much as possible between loads.

Now, for a few of my own thoughts.

Another big problem for the stomach with breaking down a lot of milk is that the stomach has to produce a lot of protein cleaving enzyme, usually pepsin in adults, in order to start the coagulation of the milk protein, if the milk is to go through a normal digestion process. One might be able to ingest a significant amount of rennin or pepsin immediately before drinking the milk [possibly in combination with additional lactase in a commercial preparation], promoting the formation of curd in the stomach, and permitting the stomach to pass liquid whey while retaining the curd for further digestive activity. A pepsin/HCL supplement taken along with the milk might also help the formation of curd in the stomach, and permit the sooner passing of whey fluid to the intestine, relieving mechanical pressure on the stomach and surrounding organs. It would also be useful to have some amount of room temperature water on hand, for ingesting near the halfway point of the contest, as the stomach acidity is changing rapidly, in response to the stomach's intial rush of digestive enzymes when presented by the first large quantity of milk. A little water may help a lot, but not too much, as more than what is barely required will not cause the stomach to empty to the intestine, as would be desired.

Next, I am personally of the opinion that a moderate amount of constant movement during heavy digestion is helpful to the process. For a large volume of milk, the movement of gentle walking may create a more effective mixing of stomach enzymes and milk being digested, particularly if whey curds are being formed in the stomach. Mild massage of the stomach area may also be soothing, if the person is used to it, and expects a benefit of relaxation or relief of pressure.

Finally, while I wish the OP good luck with this, committing yourself to doing something with potentially serious consequences to your digestive system, in an effort to impress your boss, sounds like a foolish idea. I'd back out, if it was humanly possible. It's really a no win situation. If you do the stunt, and keep it all down, and go about your business as if nothing happened, it won't make your boss look ridiculous, and probably, nobody but you will long remember. If you blow chunks, it's embarrassing for you, and potentially icky for innocent bystanders, and while that is all going on, you look like an idiot for letting your boss suggest something which would be so demeaning for you. The only way you can really win in this thing, is not just to win, and then upchuck after collecting the bet, but to win cool, without any signs of duress, which could be pretty hard to do.
posted by paulsc at 5:21 PM on November 9, 2006

I like how the one answer that suggests it's possible if one just pops a couple of magic pills gets the best answer, while the other three dozen answers suggesting that this is just all-around impossible for the untrained do not. Self-delude much?
posted by Rhomboid at 5:21 PM on November 9, 2006

You could wear a thick fake beard or groucho-mask, to hide a tube running from your mouth to a plastic bag under your shirt taped to your stomach. When drinking, have most of it go down the tube.

If you are a woman however, they might suspect the beard is fake.
posted by -harlequin- at 5:23 PM on November 9, 2006

Accept the gallon jug of milk, unscrew the top, take a deep breath, raise the jug (cue all the spectators leaning in to get a better view), then smile and hand your boss the money without taking a sip :-)
posted by -harlequin- at 5:27 PM on November 9, 2006

Conclusion: Ask question, then bet money.
posted by ardgedee at 5:37 PM on November 9, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

My old company sponserred this, thanks to me talking smack during lunch one day. We had over 30 people doing it. Most couldn't even finish without, er, expelling the milk.

Two people finished. A TINY old japanese lady, and a large, Star Trek loving IT guy. They both felt fine afterward. The woman used a straw, claiming that helped her, but I'm not sure.

They each won a sweet $900 from the company (it started out as $100 each, but as time went on, and more people, er, expelled, the owner of the company upped the cash value).

So, I've actually *seen* it done, by two people with very different bodies.
posted by duckierose at 6:11 PM on November 9, 2006

Close -harlequin-:

Accept the gallon jug of milk, unscrew the top, take a deep breath, raise the jug (cue all the spectators leaning in to get a better view), then smile and hand your boss the money while pouring the milk all over him. :-)

At least get some return for your investment.
posted by Rock Steady at 6:42 PM on November 9, 2006

I really hope we get an update on this one... best post I've read in a long time.
posted by kdern at 7:16 PM on November 9, 2006

Secretly drink half a gallon of dyed-blue milk right before the challenge.

That way, after drinking just a little bit of milk, within a few minutes you'll barf up about 5 times as much as everyone saw you drink.

They'll be trying to figure that one out for years, and telling all their friends about it.

You're going to hurl. It's going to suck. The least you can do is go big.
posted by JekPorkins at 7:38 PM on November 9, 2006 [6 favorites has favorites]

Please, please, please let us know if you can do it!
posted by elvissa at 7:59 PM on November 9, 2006

Me and my housemates tried this in college. We all failed miserably. I remember waking up in the middle of the night with a strong desire to go to the bathroom but my stomach was so cramped up I couldn't walk. I literally had to crawl to the bathroom. That wasn't pleasant.
posted by mmascolino at 8:19 PM on November 9, 2006

I would hate to do this, as I know it would ruin milk for me for awhile, and I love an icy cold glass of skim in the morning.

Also, for those of you suggesting to warm the milk - have you ever had luke warm milk? I agree it would prevent the cooling issue, but I think it would make the actual drinking much harder because milk just tastes so gross when its warm.
posted by rsanheim at 9:05 PM on November 9, 2006

JedPorkins, replace the blue-dyed milk with blood-red-dyed milk and the reaction of every else freaking out would be priceless. :D
posted by yeoz at 9:19 PM on November 9, 2006

Insist on doing the stunt in your boss's (carpeted) office. Offer to NOT do the stunt if s/he pays you twice the amount you stand to lose by backing out :-)

rsanheim: Warm milk tastes just like milk, only you are more able to detect the flavour - if you think warm milk tastes gross, I think you mean that milk itself tastes gross, and you chill it in order to avoid tasting it :)
posted by -harlequin- at 9:21 PM on November 9, 2006

Here's what you do. You say you can drink a gallon of water or soda? So empty half the gallon of milk out, replace with water, and voila! You have a gallon of white water.
posted by po at 9:53 PM on November 9, 2006

This can be done. And I know this not because I heard about somebody doing it, or because I saw it done in a video, or even saw somebody do it in person. I know this because I did it.

Except the person who bet me didn't give me an hour. He gave me five minutes.

I did it in four.

Tips: I was 16 at the time, which probably helps. I had never heard it was impossible, which probably also helps. I drank skim, and drank it glass after glass, not straight from the jug, which I think would be too intimidating. No vomiting. Some quality time in the necessary room afterwards, though.

After reading this thread, I feel I really should have gotten more than twenty bucks.
posted by escabeche at 10:05 PM on November 9, 2006 [4 favorites has favorites]

I am amazed, totally amazed; as I said above I have firmly believed for years that this is impossible. Also escabeche, my husband (a mathematician) has met you and says I have to believe whatever you say. So: damn, man. I doff my hat to you.
posted by LobsterMitten at 10:33 PM on November 9, 2006

harlequin: I don't think so - I mean the temperature of foods definitely alters how we taste them. Most people don't like eating cold soup, or warm soda, etc. You could say the basic "taste" is the same regardless of temp, but people usually prefer their food a certain temperature.
posted by rsanheim at 1:58 AM on November 10, 2006

I remember an episode of Jackass, where they tried this:

1) A female friend of theirs, trying a gallon of regular milk
2) 2 other dudes, 1 trying chocolate, and 1 trying strawberry milk.

The dudes were throwing up after about a little while, and continued to keep drinking and throwing up for the rest of the hour. The girl managed to drink the entire gallon, and then threw up.

Correction - just found the clip (warning! contains people throwing up various flavours of milk!) on Google Video - they show the girl finishing it, and then throwing up... but in the part where she throws up, there appears to still be milk in her jug. Nice try, Jackass!
posted by antifuse at 3:08 AM on November 10, 2006

as I said above I have firmly believed for years that this is impossible

You clearly didn't click my link, then.

The video I linked to has a man consuming a gallon of milk in 41 seconds, and not throwing up.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 4:20 AM on November 10, 2006

I feel I ought to clarify -- Telf, I am not telling you this is easy. It was easy for me, but I too have seen and heard about many, many people failing at this.
posted by escabeche at 5:46 AM on November 10, 2006

Of course this is entirely anecdotal... but...

When I was in college we used to do this all the time. Like, every weekend. Basically there was a standing bet of about 50 bucks to the first person who could accomplish it. We videotaped each competition, due to the sheer hilarity of watching 5 or 6 determined guys puke after downing most of their gallon.

However, there were two times that it was done, without vomiting.

The first was by a guy who weighed about 130 pounds, just a skinny little guy with not much of an appetite. And yet, he managed to finish a gallon of 2% without puking. He said his secret was all of the marijuana he had smoked prior to ingestion.

The second success was done by a guy who weighed probably 250 pounds. He simply powered through his jug of milk, pouring a cup out and slamming it until there was nothing left. By the time he was finished he looked no worse for the wear, and in fact seemed to be doing quite well (in stark contrast to the others who were rolling around clutching their bloated stomachs). He never said how he did it, but he did.

So, it certainly is possible, though in my experience I would say that these 2 victories were out of over 100 tries from a variety of people, both male and female.

If you want a good shot at it try getting them to let you use skim milk (even though that is actually cheating). Don't use chocolate milk. If you just want to try and puke, use Vitamin D or buttermilk. Simply disgusting!
posted by dead_ at 6:39 AM on November 10, 2006

And just because... here's a classic photo of a good friend losing it all during one of our competitions. Don't click if you aren't into looking at white, icy cold vomit.

(Yes, this does somehow answer the question, I think.)
posted by dead_ at 6:44 AM on November 10, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

OK there are so many responses I can't read anymore. We do the gallon challenge every year with new members of an organization I am in, we make tshirts, we film it, we love it.

I haven't seen any other people who did it and held it down post so I'll give you the strategy I used.

First, acidic breakfast- oj and some sausage 9 am
Gallon Challenge - 12:30 pm
Get two gallons of skim milk for this, whole milk is too filling for me and chocolate is too rich. I do recomend the food coloring because it makes for quite a showing.

The strategy mentioned above is the correct one- pound the first half as fast as you can. I used a beer bong and finished the first gallon in 8 mins. Then I spread out on the grass (we were outside for known reasons) and did the little shake that one asian pro eater does (wiggle?) to help my stomach expand. Then I just waited till I didn't feel any effects (bout 20 30 mins) and then I began again with the second half. This time gulp as much as you can stand then rest, repeat. I finished with about 7 mins to spare setting a new club record. My other friend did it as well last year, but he went with the constant as much as you can gulp strategy.

Our reasons for success? I'm 6'2" and almost always first pick on draft day (NFL Draft- teams of four, keg of a domestic beer...) cause I can expand my stomach so much. I always have been able to since I was young... I'd pose for pictures at the beach and I'd look like one of those kids with flies on their face with a distended belly just because I could expand it that much. My friend - 6'5" 270 lbs. There has to be somewhere for all that volume to go.

You didn't give us a portrait of yourself- how big is your frame? We had a guy who was 5'6' crush one the year before last so don't let that stop you, but it is much easier if you have room for that.

Oh and be prepared for the aftermath, if you colored it- get ready for the festive fun in the bowl, the sweats, shakes, and spasms... oh and be prepared to have plenty of time to count that money- you could be in there for an hour or so.
posted by eleongonzales at 7:11 AM on November 10, 2006

I'm just kinda thinking out loud here because I'm not sure about this. I sort of remember hearing that the problem is that the milk is alkaline and that much of it throws off the pH in your stomach.

The first Google hit for "milk pH" confirms that milk is pH 6.4-6.8, which is acidic--not alkaline--albeit only very slightly so. (Tip: very very few foods are alkaline. Most are acidic to a greater or lesser degree.)
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 9:10 AM on November 10, 2006

I'm 5' 9" but with a pretty well formed beer belly. I'm not a huge eater normally but I can put away ridiculous amounts of barbeque and steak. If it's a fat content processing thing, I don't think that I'll have a problem.

I'll definitely post a follow up, with pics I guess. It's happening this weekend.

Should I MeTa the results, or just add to this post?

Here's my plan of attack:

Room temperature milk. It has to be whole as per the agreement.

I'm going to take a bunch of lactaid. I think we agreed that this won't help my stomach process it faster, but it can't hurt and will at least help my intestines.

I'm going down to a healthfood store now to buy some HCL/Pepsin.

I'm going to try to drink the first half as quickly as possible and give my body time to process it before loading up on the second half gallon.

I'm going to do my stomach stretching/digestion aiding exercises through out the challenge.

I was thinking about what an advantage marijuana would give in terms of appetite and and anti-nausea, but I don't smoke so that's a trick I can't use.

Thanks for the tips guys. I'll mention you in my victory speech. All you haters can go drink your haterade.

PS Just kidding. I know you guys warning me have my best interests at heart but I'm set on trying this even though I know I will regret it.
posted by Telf at 12:54 PM on November 10, 2006

Damn, I should check my bookmarks out more often. Filed under Humor is a great Tripod website dedicated to the Gallon challenge. Here's the link for posterity's sake.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 9:05 AM on November 12, 2006

The first Google hit for "milk pH" confirms that milk is pH 6.4-6.8, which is acidic--not alkaline--albeit only very slightly so. (Tip: very very few foods are alkaline. Most are acidic to a greater or lesser degree.)

Admittedly, I could have been more specific but what I meant was that milk was alkaline relative to the stomach environment. Of course this is true for just about everything you'd drink, but due to mineral content, milk has more buffering capacity than, say, water or soda. Therefore the stomach will have to produce a lot more acid if you drink a gallon of milk compared to a gallon of water.
posted by Durin's Bane at 8:48 AM on November 13, 2006

Should I MeTa the results, or just add to this post?

Just add it here. Add it here! Please! Now!
posted by gleuschk at 3:52 PM on November 13, 2006

Results, please.
posted by Savannah at 1:04 PM on November 18, 2006

Any follow-up?
posted by greycap at 12:27 AM on November 19, 2006