If you’re one of those people who doesn’t need a little morning pick-me-up, then why are you even reading this article?? You’ve obviously evolved past losers like me who need to practically mainline 6 cups of iced coffee before sustaining a single thought, let alone having a decent conversation. No judgement though, I’m clearly very jealous (I also happen to be coming down from my morning caffeine-high, so there’s that). Anyway, fact is, a lot of people need caffeine in the morning, not just me. I mean, have you seen the lines wrapped around every Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts from here to kingdom-come circa 9:00 AM? It’s madness.

Problem is, most people are aware that coffee works, but they have absolutely no idea how. Seems a little illogical, no? Don’t you want to know what your favorite magical elixir is really doing to that noggin’ of yours? In the TED-Ed video below, “How does caffeine keep us awake?” Hanan Qasim explains the world’s most popular stimulant keeps us alert by blocking the substance adenosine.

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I’m personally more of a video-gal myself, but if you like to retain your information the old-fashioned way — you know, like through reading then I’ll go ahead and provide some additional information below as per Medical Daily —

“Overall, caffeine works by changing the brain chemistry, and blocking adenosine, the natural brain sleep-inducing chemical. It is through this process that we experience bouts of alertness and bouts of sleepiness when we either drink too much caffeine or not enough. So, if we rely on coffee during the day, we need to start monitoring your intake if we begin having trouble falling asleep at night.”

By Melissa Copelton