Interesting Facts

According to doctors, James Bond is a functioning alcoholic. (Doctors analysing the Ian Fleming novels say that 007 polishes off the equivalent of one and a half bottles of wine every day. Excluding the 36 days Bond was in prison, hospital or rehab, the spy downed 1,150 units of alcohol in 88 days, which works out at 92 units a week - about five vodka martinis a day and four times the recommended maximum intake for men in the UK. He is also a drink driver. He certainly mixes it up in the films too.  According to recent research Daniel Craig is the booziest Bond yet; knocking back around 20 units in the film. 

According to a new study conducted at Loughborough University, drivers who are dehydrated can be as dangerous as those who are drunk or on drugs. (The study showed that drivers who drank only 25 ml of water an hour made more than twice the number of mistakes as drivers who had drunk enough water. Professor Maughan, who published the findings, said, “We all deplore drink driving, but we don't usually think about the effects of other things that affect our driving skills, and one of those is not drinking and dehydration. There is no question that driving while incapable through drink or drugs increases the risk of accidents, but our findings highlight an unrecognised danger and suggest that drivers should be encouraged to make sure they are properly hydrated.” I can see it now:- Policeman: "Sir, you are 3 times over the legal limit." Driver: "At least I'm not dehydrated, officer.")

According to a study published  in the journal BMJ Open, most people get little or no protection against disease from alcohol, even at moderate drinking levels. (The rather sobering study found that the only exception seems to be women over 65, but even for them the health benefits of alcohol are not enormous. Sigh. I'll still stick with my weekend tipple, because even if it isn't great for my body, I'm sure it's good for my psychological well-being.) If you want to know why you should drink less, watch this:-

The Bill and Melinda Gate's foundation has managed to help develop a waste plant that converts the sludge from sewers, which contains solid human waste (pooh) into drinkable water and bioenergy. (The Janicki Omniprocessor, designed and built by Janicki Bioenergy, an engineering firm based north of Seattle, could be a solution to poor sanitation in developing countries, which kills around 700,000 children every year. Bill Gates trusts it enough to drink a glass of extracted water, so ... Maybe a smaller household version could be created, and we can all benefit.)

According to research into adolescent health, published in the Lancet, our brains are not fully developed until the age of 24. (In the UK, young people can legally smoke and have sex at 16, drive at 17, drink alcohol, vote and are deemed adults at 18, but the brain is ill-equipped before the age of 24 to deal with the effects of all the drinking they do and less able to assess risk. I wish I had known this when I was a bit younger. I'd have had a good excuse for all the crazy things I did: "Hey, give me a break, my brain isn't fully developed yet.")

According to a series of reports on adolescent health behaviour, published in the Lancet, British teenagers are among the worst in the world when it comes to drinking. (One in five adolescents was found to binge drink on a weekly basis in the same high-income countries. England ranked fourth out of 40 high-income countries for the number of 13-year-olds who had been drunk. Wales came fifth and Scotland was eighth. Having lived in Scotland at the age of 21, I'm amazed they were only eighth.)

According to a study, commissioned by the alcohol-free bar movement in London, hangovers hit you harder when you are 29 years old. (The reason is that 29-year-olds think they can hit the bottle as they did when they were younger but end up with hangovers that last an average of 10 hours and 24 minutes instead of the usual 9 hours 45 minutes. If you can't do the time, don't do the crime.)

What do flip flops, wrist bands and space blankets have in common? They are all on offer to drunks around the UK. (In Torquay, Devon, drunk women are handed flip-flops to wear, prompted by fears that by wearing stilettos or similar footwear whilst drunk they could tumble over and hurt themselves. Space blankets are handed out in Gloucester to help prevent hypothermia (alcohol can lower the body temperature). In Cardiff, Wales, young people who drink too much are given a lift home and given a yellow wristband asking: "How did you get home last night?" Ingeniously the wrist bands will also have a bar code which they will be able to scan to read about their night's revels. Only in the UK.)

According to a study by Dr. Honglei Chen, an investigator at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, there is a link between soft drinks and depression. (Participants in the study who drank more than four servings of fizzy drinks per day were 30 percent more likely to develop depression than participants who didn't, but it's not just fizzy pop, people who stuck with fruit squash had a 38 percent higher risk than people who didn't drink sweetened drinks. And it's not just sugary drinks, the research also showed that people who drank low-calorie diet drinks, iced teas, and fruit squash were at a slightly higher risk of depression too, and the artificial sweetener aspartame may be to blame. It does make me wonder though: do sugary drinks cause depression, or do depressed people try to cheer themselves up with a sweet drink? The good news is that drinking unsweetened coffee can lower the risk of depression. I'm a happy go lucky person, guess what I d...

According to UK government figures, the cost to the National Health Service of treating drink-related problems  has reached almost £3bn a year. (That's a lot of money.  Seemingly, in 2011 there were around 200,000 hospital admissions with patients suffering alcohol-related conditions – 40 per cent more than in 2003 – while the number of people treated for extreme drunkenness more than doubled to 18,500.   I'm happy to say that the worst thing that has ever happened to me under the influence, is a, well deserved, hangover.)

According to a report in the Royal Society of Chemistry, the best hangover cure is toast with a large dollop of honey. (Hangovers are caused when the body converts alcohol into the toxic chemical acetaldehyde. Other hangover cures exist:  Hair of the dog, a fry-up, and coffee are all popular cures for a New Year's hangover, and there are lots more disgusting suggestions and concoctions that you can find on the net, but a plate of toast and honey provides the body with the sodium, potassium and fructose it needs."  The report added that the best way to avoid a hangover in the first place is to have a glass of milk before you start drinking, stick to gin or vodka with a few soft drinks throughout the night, and then have a pint of water before you go to bed, but let's be honest, the best way to avoid a hangover is to not get drunk in the first place.)

According to health campaign group Everyman, wives spend 7,920 minutes a year nagging their husbands. (This equals two-and-a-half hours of earbashing each week - which totals 11 hours a month or five-and-a-half days a year. The most common subject women nagged their partners about was not helping to tidy the home. Other complaints included not helping to wash the dishes, drinking too much and not visiting the doctor to get checked out. Of course men would call this giving advice or asking for help, but because it's the women doing it, they say it's "nagging".) Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

According to researchers at the University of Wisconsin, a pint of Guinness every day may work as well as a low dose aspirin to prevent heart clots that raise the risk of heart attacks. (Guinness used to use the slogan, "Guinness is Good for You", but were told to stop using it decades ago as there was no medical proof. Now perhaps they could bring it back. Of course we'll all end up alcoholics with beer guts, but at least our hearts will be healthy.)

According to the Department of Health in the UK, when we're on holiday we consume around eight alcoholic drinks a day. (That's around 80 drinks over the course of an average holiday, well over 200 units of alcohol. I only drink 2 alcoholic drinks per day, and only at the weekend. I can only think someone must be taking up my slack.)

The earliest authenticated record of commercial cultivation of tea can be found in 4th century Chinese documents. (But it was considered a medicinal drink. Actually infusing tea leaves in a teapot only became a widespread practice in China early during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644).)

In 2004, around 1 in 25 (3.8%) of all global deaths were attributable to alcohol. (In Europe 1 in 10 deaths were directly attributable to alcohol. And the former Soviet Union countries had the highest proportion at 15%, or around one in seven deaths.)

Average alcohol consumption worldwide is around 12 units a week. (In Europe it's 21.5 units, aross the Americas, it's 17 units, in the Middle East it's just 1.3 units per week. I'm on about 8 units a week.) You can calculate your consumption here:- http://www.bupa.co.uk/health_information/asp/healthy_living/lifestyle/alcohol/alctest.asp

A third of 11-year-olds in Milan have alcohol related problems. (Milan has banned the consumption and sale of alcohol to young teenagers, and the parents of children under the age of 16 who have been caught drinking wine or spirits in Milan will be liable to heavy fines of up to 500 Euros ($700;£450).)

When you're drinking your bubbly to see in the New Year the following notes might help to choose and then describe the taste and bouquet (smell). (Brut Zero & Brut Sauvage, are sugar free and extremely dry. These are also the best option for diabetics. Brut is dry. `Extra Dry' is actually slightly sweeter than Brut. Demi sec translates as 'half dry', which is a good choice for those who prefer medium wines. Doux and Rich are very sweet. Biscuity - a biscuit smell to the bouquet that denotes maturity and integrated flavours. Creamy - obvious tastes of vanilla or cream. Fresh - Champagne has a higher acidity compared to other white wines and usually features traces of lemon and green apple for a refreshing taste. Nutty - this flavour usually derives from age and points to maturity of the Champagne. Toasty - a bready smell to the bouquet that denotes maturity and integrated flavours. Yeasty - Champagne is made using a secondary fermentation...

Around 250,000 pints of beer were served to curious drinkers at the Great British Beer Festival in the Earls Court exhibition centre west London. (Over 750 different brews, are represented from around the world, from as far afield as the US, Nigeria, Jamaica, Sri Lanka, the Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, Belgium and Italy. And there were more than 450 British real ales, some of the stranger ones being served were Black Mass, Alligator Ale, Gorge Best, Henry's Heady Daze, A Fist Full of Hops, Beserker Export, Oscar Wilde Mild, Inferno, Land of Hop and Glory, Bravo Zulu, Side Pocket for a Toad, Mother in Law and Pig's Ear. Fancy a pint of Pig's ear anyone?)