About this episode

This episode revisits the effects of caffeine on our bodies and brains, discussing its potential dangers, especially in energy drinks.

Today we’re revisiting caffeine. It’s a drug that tons of us take every day. So, is that a bad thing?? What is it really doing to our bodies and our brains? Plus — if we get it in the form of energy drinks, is that super dangerous? We talk to Dr. Astrid Nehlig, Prof. Gregory Marcus, and Prof. Sachin Shah. [REBROADCAST] Find our transcript here: https://tinyurl.com/ScienceVsCaffeine In this episode, we cover: (00:00) Our love/hate relationship with caffeine (04:40) How coffee affects our gut (07:29) How coffee affects our brain (12:59) How coffee affects our sleep (17:58) Coffee makes us go vroom vroom vroom! (20:45) Are we caffeine addicts?? (28:15) Are energy drinks dangerous? This episode was produced by Rose Rimler, with help from Wendy Zukerman, as well as Nick DelRose, Joel Werner, and Michelle Dang. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Fact checking by Sarah Baum. Mix and sound design by Bumi Hidaka. Music written by Bobby Lord, Bumi Hidaka, Emma Munger and Peter Leonard. Special thanks to all the researchers we spoke to for this episode – including Dr. Bryan Saunders, Dr. Sergi Ferré, Prof. Andreas Heinz, Prof. Christine Curran, Dr. Erikka Loftfield, Dr. Felix Oberhoffer, Dr…

People in this episode

Guests: Dr. Astrid Nehlig, Prof. Gregory Marcus, Prof. Sachin Shah

Topics covered

• caffeine
• health effects
• energy drinks
• addiction
• sleep
• brain function

Keywords

• caffeine
• energy drinks
• health
• addiction
• sleep
• brain
• gut

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Science Vs, Spotify Studios

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