How Caffeine Keeps Us Awake, Explained In A Whimsical Animated Short

Have you ever wondered how the world’s most widely-used drug works? While some of us consume caffeinated beverages on a daily basis as if it were water, we don’t actually know what it does to keep us awake on our morning commute.

Ted-ED created a whimsical animated short that explains in detail the science behind caffeine.

The video (which can be seen above) explains the origins of the chemical, how it acts as a stimulant for the nervous system, and how caffeine blocks the body’s sleep-inducing molecule adenosine. Ted-Ed also goes into deeper detail on the positive and negative affects of the chemical stimulant.

So now the next time you’re about to down a hot cup of coffee, trying to keep awake after a night of restless sleep, you’ll know exactly that your body goes through once that first drop of coffee touches your lips.