What does caffeine do to our bodies?

BBC Inside Science

BBC

Technology, Science

4.5 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 2 October 2025

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Sweet, caffeinated energy drinks are in the headlines again as the UK Government says it wants to ban under 16s from buying them. Some can contain the equivalent caffeine as 2 to 4 espressos. James Betts, Professor of Metabolic Physiology at the University of Bath, explains the science behind how caffeine affects the bodies of adults and children.

Earthquake scientist Dr Judith Hubbard from Cornell University in the US explains what we are learning from the magnitude 6 earthquake which hit Afghanistan this week. Professor Dan Levitin is a neuroscientist, cognitive psychologist, musician, and the third author shortlisted for the 2025 Royal Society Trivedi Book Prize. In his book ‘Music as Medicine’ he explores whether music can be harnessed to heal us. And BBC science journalist Caroline Steel brings her selection of brand new research.

To discover more fascinating science content, head to bbc.co.uk search for BBC Inside Science and follow the links to The Open University

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producers: Dan Welsh, Jonathan Blackwell, Lucy Davis, Tim Dodd, Clare Salisbury Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts.
0:05.6	Your time starts now.
0:07.2	You're about to listen to a BBC podcast.
0:09.4	Absolutely right.
0:11.5	So, you might like to know that the BBC makes loads of other podcasts.
0:15.6	Really?
0:16.4	Wow.
0:17.2	Many of them are very funny.
0:19.1	Which I think means...
0:20.3	A hatful of ha-hars. And energy. Even if we do very funny. Which I think means... A hatful of ha haas.
0:21.7	And energy! Even if you do say so ourselves. I agree 100% to that. Find them all on BBC Sounds. Just tell us a joke. Come on, tell us a joke. Tell us a joke. Come on, tell us a joke. Just search comedy on BBC Sounds. I'm really looking forward to getting stuck in. You've downloaded BBC Inside Science first broadcast on the 4th of September 2025.
0:41.5	I'm Marnie Chesterton.
0:42.9	Hello. Could a few rousing bars of Ravel one day replace your medication?
0:48.7	We'll be finding out.
0:50.2	We'll also be asking why this week's earthquake in Afghanistan was so deadly.
0:54.6	And science broadcaster Caroline Steele joins me in the studio for a run-through-through-the-best-of-the- newest science.
1:01.2	Tempt us to stay tuned in sentence, Caroline.
1:04.1	Okay, so I'm going to share how a volcanic eruption is linked to the French Revolution,
1:09.4	a new way to detect unwanted solar storms,
1:12.6	and why science says your dog could go vegan.
1:16.2	Intriguing.
1:17.7	But first, energy drinks have hit the news this week, as the government announced it wants to ban sales to under 16-year-olds.
	...

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