If James Bond were real, he would have serious difficulty playing the hero. He has indeed a serious problem: he drinks too much. British doctors from the city of Derby and Nottingham had fun going through 14 novels by writer Ian Fleming (in their free time of course!). From this reading, they assessed the penchant for drink of Her Majesty’s agent.
Verdict: the British woman in love with women is also a fan of alcohol and not just “vodka martini”. It liquid the equivalent of a bottle and a half of wine a day, according to the researchers.
Excluding the 36 days when 007 is in prison, hospital or convalescing, we arrive at a total quantity of alcohol consumed of 1,150 units in 88 days. For the week, James Bond follows a rate of 92 units of alcohol with 5 vodka martinis per day.
Knowing that one unit of alcohol in Great Britain corresponds to 8 grams of pure alcohol (compared to 10 in France), we let you do the math: Bond swallows 736 grams of alcohol per week!
More than harmful consumption
To get an idea, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates at 210 grams per week, or 3 glasses of wine per day, the limit beyond which we speak of excessive consumption of alcohol. It is considered harmful from 420 grams of alcohol per week. With James Bond, we have a champion in all categories!
If the James Bond character existed, his alcohol addiction would expose him to serious liver problems, a increased risk of premature death and helplessness.
Given his blood alcohol level, “we would not want James Bond to deactivate a nuclear bomb,” ironically Patrick Davies, intensive care consultant at Nottingham University Hospital, quoted by the BBC.
Harmful alcohol consumption causes 2.5 million deaths each year according to the WHO.
