The Basic Science of Why Coffee and Alcohol Cause Dehydration

By Kasia Cieplak-Mayr von Baldegg

In this short video, the playful educational series ASAP Science tackles the biology of how kidneys regulate the amount of water in the body. Both caffeine and alcohol, it turns out, inhibit the production of a key hormone in the process. The series is produced by Gregory Brown, a high school teacher, and Mitchell Moffit, a filmmaker, with the goal of answering simple science questions in an accessible way. They talk about the making of the show in an interview here

For more videos from ASAP Science, see the Atlantic Video channel

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