What was once a trend to make people feel less lonely while eating lunch by themselves turned into something potentially a lot more harmful. Now, some TikTokers have taken mukbangs to an extreme.
This TikToker regularly films himself ordering and consuming very large amounts of food. Some viewers are shocked and worried for his health, others seem to find entertainment in these decisions.
Disclaimer: This article does not aim to body shame anyone. If this is triggering to you or you struggle with an eating disorder, you can call the American mental health hotline at: 866-903-3787 (free of charge).
The Mukbang Culture
Mukbangs are videos of people eating food on camera. It started out as a way for people to not feel lonely while they eat their lunch.
Since the first few mukbang videos found their way into mainstream pop culture many years ago, people have taken the concept and changed it into something almost unrecognizable. The very innocent trend developed into something that at times was more about monetizing eating lots of food than about building community. Creators like Nikocado Avocado and others emerged – If you want to read more about Nikocado Avocado and his weight loss journey after his mukbang career, we have a whole article on that, too.
As the social media App TikTok grew, mukbang content started showing up there, too. One TikToker called jamesbola_2 started blowing up in 2024 and people are getting more and more worried for him.
Over 20,000 Calories A Day?
James' video concepts are pretty simple: one video of him ordering at a restaurant, then one eating all the food while it arrives. What makes his content special, however, is the amount of calories he consumes in those. A YouTuber called AugustTheDuck recently made a video about James, roughly calculating the amount of calories in each order – all of which ranged somewhere between 14,000 and 20,000 calories. He then added:
"Your body can simply just not take this kind of treatment."
The YouTuber argued that this kind of an eating habit can not be sustainable. And many comments under James' TikToks seem to agree with that sentiment. A comment on one of his videos reads:
"Is the fame worth your life?"
This comment got over 3,500 likes. Ultimately, for most people it is not even about how big the portions are or how many calories everything adds up to – it's about serious health risks that can potentially be avoided by giving the videos less clicks.
Most viewers enjoy his radiant personality, another form of content with less risks tied to it could work for him just as well.