In the world of competitive eating, it's all about pushing pounds of food down your throat in a matter of minutes. Sometimes it's dozens of hot dogs with buns; other times it's pounds of asparagus, deep-fried, tempura-style.

On Wednesday it will be ribs, as 15 contestants from around the U.S. will compete at the second Best in the West Nugget World Eating Championship, the kickoff event for the Sparks casino's rib cook-off.

At stake is $5,000 and a chance to beat Joey Chestnut, 23, of San Jose, Calif. Chestnut is a two-year veteran of the professional eating circuit and holds several world records, including one for consuming the most amount of rib meat (8.4 pounds) in 12 minutes. Last year he won the Nugget's inaugural rib-eating contest by scarfing down 4.5 pounds of rib meat.

"Guys like that practice all the time," said Nevada's reigning speed-eating champion Rich "The Locust" LeFevre, 61, of Henderson -- also set to chomp on ribs Wednesday. "I do it for the fun," he said. "I don't practice in between competitions. Joey probably eats 60 hot dogs every three days to practice."

LeFevre said he got his name "The Locust" because he eats with his body bent forward. That's how he ate an entire gallon and a half of chili in 12 minutes and 247 jalapeños in eight minutes, just to name a few milestones.

"Ribs are pretty common at contests these days," LeFevre said. "They should be pretty good. Sometimes at the events the food is chewy because it's been sitting around before the competition for too long. It's hard not to taste it, though the objective is to get it down as fast as you can." It's hard to breathe sometimes, too, he added, because of the "constant shoving of the food."

But competitive eating isn't just about the food, said a spokesperson for Major League Eating, the 10-year-old company that organizes nationwide events and pitches eating as a sport. Competitive eaters even appear occasionally on the TV network ESPN.

What does all of this mean for the digestive system? Per competition rules, an EMT will be on site for any medical problems that could arise, which is a good idea if you ask Dr. George Vagujhelyi, a gastroenterologist with Digestive Health Associates in Reno.

Vagujhelyi said there are "possibilities for aspiration, the inhalation of gastric contents into the lower airways." In other words, food particles could enter the lungs.

Vagujhelyi pointed out that many of the participants are professionals who train extensively to force their stomachs to be more "compliant," and able to accommodate large quantities of food. An average person would not be able to do it, he said. They would vomit.

Vagujhelyi also said he's not surprised that someone could down 15 pounds of cake in a very short period of time.

"It's our culture of indulgence," he said. "It's what we do."