Meet the Philly man determined to eat a thousand oysters in a single sitting

Amid the tailgaters at the Eagles season opener against the Dallas Cowboys last week, there was one unusual tent.

Like the hundreds of other parties set up surrounding the stadiums, this one had a cluster of coolers, a keg of beer, and sports fans bedecked in green. But it also had folding tables with shallow tubs filled with ice, chilling dozens of shucked oysters and platters of lemon wedges.

This tent was owned by a 24-year-old Center City resident whose online handle is “The Hippie Meathead.” His goal this day: eat over 1,000 oysters — a feat he hoped to achieve by chugging several at a time, thanks to the help of two attendants in green bikinis.

If successful, he would join the pantheon of other Philadelphians who have tasked themselves with mystifying food challenges (cheesesteaks, rotisserie chicken).

The Hippie Meathead’s real name is Ty. He declined to give his last name out of concern for his professional career. He has gone viral for a series of videos where he multiplies the number of oysters he consumes with each challenge, literally doubling down each time.

Having started on July 30 with one oyster, by Aug. 16 he was up to 512 oysters — that meant, consuming 43 dozen oysters over a period of 2½ hours. “If you want something bad enough, the world truly is your oyster, keep it real,” he told the camera.

The Guinness World Record for oyster eating is 564 oysters in 8 minutes. Ty doesn’t set a time limit; this isn’t about speed. Also, considering that he is not a professional shucker and did the majority of the shucking before the 512-oyster challenge, consumption can be slow-going.

In some videos, he is seen blending up oysters in a Vitamix blender and drinking them, using funnels to speed things up. “I felt like I was battling the clock a little bit, just ’cause I didn’t want the oysters to be sitting out.”

Why is he doing this? “Oysters are a superfood. They’re loaded with a lot of vital micronutrients that a lot of people are actually deficient in, and they’re also highly bioavailable,” he said. In short, the challenge has been a roundabout, complex way for him to highlight the nutritional benefit of oysters — what he calls “zinc maxxing.”

There were antics along the way, accompanied by deadpan commentary (“History will be made today” or “Simple math, savage mission.”). On the third challenge, he went for a run at a track and ate an oyster each lap. On the fifth, he consumed his oysters in an ice bath, saying, “Full-body chills, I can’t tell if this is from the ice or the zinc.”

The oyster-eating is the first challenge Ty has subjected himself to. “I honestly was planning to stop after 128, but the video received a lot of attention and I had a lot of supporters pushing me to keep going. I did research and made sure I wasn’t causing myself serious harm, but obviously I’m taking risks by what I’m doing,” he said, acknowledging that he could give himself zinc toxicity.

He was quick to offer a disclaimer. “I do not recommend anyone attempt to replicate the Hippie Meathead Oyster Challenge. I eat oysters in quantities that could rattle Poseidon himself, but the point isn’t gluttony — it’s about highlighting one of the most nutrient-dense foods on the planet. Oysters are a superfood worth adding to your diet … just maybe not by the hundred.”

Ty’s challenge culminated in one final event: consuming 1,024 raw oysters at the season opener’s tailgate. He came dressed in green camouflage overalls (but no shirt), a pearl necklace, and cowboy boots.

There was a gauntlet set up next to the tent: a bench press, a pull-up bar, and, of course, the Great White oysters from Cape Cod being shucked by sponsor Andy Gadaleto of West Chester-based Gadaleto’s Seafood (who had also stepped in and sponsored the challenge at 512 oysters) and friend Craig McAllister, a semi-professional competitive shucker.

Also at hand was Ty’s father, who fed oysters into a NutriBullet.

“I’m so proud of him. It’s every father’s dream to see his son eat an obscene amount of oysters,” he said gamely.

Assisting Ty in the challenge were two women, one holding a bottle of hot sauce and the other a “freedom funnel” — a plastic eagle with an opening that normally spews out beer. He alternately swallowed oysters spiked with spirulina powder, because “seaweed is healthy, and also makes the oysters green because, ‘Go Birds,’” he said.

During one of the oyster pours from the freedom funnel, one of his attendants accidentally poured Tabasco into his eye. “My eye! My eye!” he shouted.

The rest of the event was otherwise subdued, with friends and family milling around the tent, drinking beer and occasionally running the oyster gauntlet: bench-pressing the weight of their choice, doing as many pull-ups as they could, then slurping (or, if they chose, blending up and drinking) oysters.

But a thousand oysters proved too much even for the might of the Hippie Meathead. He got through about 200 oysters, then decided to share much of the rest of the wealth. “Toward the end of the day we were giving a lot away to people walking by. A handful of people were trying oysters for the very first time. It was super cool!”

As for how he felt the day after? “My stomach feels solid, but my right eye is still very pink and agitated from getting hot sauce in it.”