James Bond's famous catchphrase "shaken, not stirred" may have stemmed from his inability to stir his drinks due to an alcohol-induced tremor affecting his hands, researchers reveal in a new, tongue-in-cheek medical report.
According to the BMJ research, "Ideally, vodka martinis should be stirred, not shaken. That Bond would make such an elementary mistake in his preferences seemed incongruous with his otherwise impeccable mastery of culinary etiquette."
For their report, the researchers read all 14 books of the fictional British Secret Service agent, noting every alcoholic drink, and used standard alcohol unit levels to calculate Bond's alcohol consumption — all in an effort to determine whether 007 was a martini connoisseur or a chronic alcoholic.
According to the BMJ research, "Ideally, vodka martinis should be stirred, not shaken. That Bond would make such an elementary mistake in his preferences seemed incongruous with his otherwise impeccable mastery of culinary etiquette."For their report, the researchers read all 14 books of the fictional British Secret Service agent, noting every alcoholic drink, and used standard alcohol unit levels to calculate Bond's alcohol consumption — all in an effort to determine whether 007 was a martini connoisseur or a chronic alcoholic.
The results showed that Bond consumed on average 92 units of alcohol weekly (a pint of beer contains two units of alcohol). His maximum daily consumption was 49.8 units.
There were days throughout his missions when Bond didn't drink at all, but on most of these, he had no access — for example, when he was held prisoner. The researchers found that Bond had only 12.5 alcohol-free days out of 87.5 days on which he was able to drink.
At his level of alcohol intake, the quintessential spy could have not been able realistically to perform his tasks, particularly at the skilled levels described in the books.
Yet, Bond is hailed as being the "best shot in the Secret Service," the researchers said.
Applying a commonly used screening tool to identify alcohol dependence the “CAGE” questionnaire, to Bond, the authors would score him 3 out of 4. In Thunderball he recognises his high alcohol intake and that he feels better drinking less. He also admits to having an eye opener on some mornings (the “Prairie Oyster”). Also in Thunderball, together with the Living Daylights, he becomes annoyed when challenged about his drinking by his boss “M”. It is likely that an international spy and assassin cannot spend too much time worrying about remorse, so we are not surprised that there are no documented instances of alcohol associated guilt.
Cerebellar lesions are well known to cause an intention tremor and cerebellar tremor is considered a distinct clinical entity. While strokes are a more common cause of cerebellar lesions (of which Bond is at increased risk), chronic exposure to toxins, such as alcohol, that cause more generalised damage to the cerebellum can also cause a cerebellar tremor. We have shown that Bond’s alcohol intake is of sufficiently high frequency and duration to cause such cerebellar damage.
Based of the research it can be safely concluded that James Bond was unlikely to be able to stir his drinks, even if he would have wanted to, because of likely alcohol-induced tremor.
Based of the research it can be safely concluded that James Bond was unlikely to be able to stir his drinks, even if he would have wanted to, because of likely alcohol-induced tremor.
