You ever see that picture from the Guiness Book of World Records where that guy is smoking what looks to be 100+ cigarettes? His mouth is totally distended as he's got all those cigs flaming away.

I imagine that is the smoker's equivalent to eating 12 Krispy Kremes at one go.

Oh man! Weren't we just comment-chatting about horrendous diet habits such as these? I've never eaten that many donuts (mmmm...donuts...) but I HAVE eaten an entire pan of fresh-baked brownies*. That I baked for myself. For that express purpose; to eat right then and there. And they're almost as nutritionally bankrupt as donuts, except for the inordinately large amount of chocolate they contain, which is sort of a nutrient, if you ask me.

*only once, I swear.

I could only eat 2 Krispy Kremes at once. Any more is a sure sugar OD.
My mom, dad and I did once eat 9 big baking potatoes that we served up as homemade french fries.

rbj - french fries, mmmmmmm. i have never been a sweets binger, but i have eaten a whole bag of potato chips or cheez-its from time to time. my wife's weakness is chocolate. perhaps salty snacks and sweets are exclusive eating addictions?

One summer in college I worked at a Winchell's Donut shop, 11 pm to 7 am shift. I'd go back to my tiny apartment each morning smelling like a giant donut after frying rack after rack of 'em all night. After I quit I even had to toss away some clothes and a favorite coat because I couldn't get the smell of fried, sugared dough out of them.

Pretty much cured me for life of a taste for donuts...

Now...See's candies is another thing... ;-)

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=7&u=/ap/20050506/ap_on_he_me/metabolic_syndrome

Americans with metabolic syndrome — a condition marked by big waistlines, diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol problems — account for $4 of every $10 spent on prescription drugs for adults, according to a study.

The syndrome — once called Syndrome X — was first recognized about 40 years ago, but the term "metabolic syndrome" did not come into wide use until the last decade. The first international symposium on the syndrome was held three weeks ago in Berlin.

Metabolic syndrome is caused by the body's inability to use insulin efficiently, and the hallmark of the condition is excessive abdominal fat. Patients also have two or more related conditions, including high blood pressure, low levels of good cholesterol, high levels of blood fats called triglycerides, and high blood sugar. Many have diabetes or will eventually.

People with metabolic syndrome as twice as likely to suffer a heart attack or stroke and more than three times as likely to die early from those causes.

According to various U.S. estimates, at least one in four adults and roughly one in eight children have metabolic syndrome, with overeating and inactivity being key causes.

The prevalence in people over 40 jumped more than 60 percent over the past decade, federal health surveys show.

Thank you for posting this! I was inspired to get together a bunch of coworkers to visit the delightful Dupont Circle Krispy Kreme today. Yeah, it's a a mere sattellite of the Virginia store, but even so, it's a bit of heaven, glazed.

That's my metro stop. I walk by it twice per day, every day.

The only way to eat a Krispy Kreme is hot, right out of the cooker. Otherwise they're sugary blobs of grease.

Out here the local supermarkets who signed on with KK to stock their donuts exclusively are backing out as fast as they can. Every night they throw unsold ones away by the tray.

Well, if you briefly reheat them, they're not as good, but close. And that's how it's easy to eat a dozen in one sitting: they melt in your mouth like puffs of hot sugary magic, almost like it never happened except for that sweet, sweet memory.

Are we now zeroing in on an explanation for Oliver Willis?

I love donuts; donuts don't love me. If I eat one donut a day for three days, I gain three pounds. That is a metabolism miracle.

But I'd gladly eat two dozen a day, for a year, if it would get the creeps at CSIPI out of Washington and out of business. Those nannies (ninnies?) have been telling us we're all gonna die for the past 30 years. Why won't any of them kick off?

That is a metabolism miracle.

Not really a miracle. The doughnut isn't just a function of the calories and fat that it contains; in addition to those fat creating properties, it also causes chemical reactions in your body that suppress lipolytic (fat burning) hormones while encouraging lipogenic (fat making/storing) hormones. And a couple hours later, after the insulin and seratonin spikes, you are hungry for more. Eating a doughnut is like taking extra-special super-duper make-me-fat medicine.

I can hardly stand the KK at the stores. Unless they are super fresh, they are substandard doughnuts. And they use way too much glaze, even for me. Got to go to the local store owned by that Vietnamese (I think) lady. Those be some good foods. Plus I have got to walk a mile to get there, and a mile to get back home, so it all works out.