Man damaged his kidneys after drinking incredible amounts of black tea. The man arrived at the hospital with mysterious symptoms that made doctors thinking.
An unidentified 56 years old man from Arkansas has been the subject of a medical study case published in the New England Journal of Medicine after his kidneys stopped working properly due to a curious cause.
After experiencing strange symptoms like nausea, fatigue and body ache, and elderly man living in Arkansas checked in at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
Surprising Diagnosis
After examination and analysing urine samples from the 56 years old, doctors have discovered that he had incredible high amounts of substances that cause kidney stones, called oxalate crystals. The oxalate secretion levels of his kidneys went up to 99 mg in 24 hours, the normal levels being between 7 and 44 mg.
The news came as a surprise for the man, who has never had these symptoms in his life and claimed that none of his family members had kidney stone history.
However, the mystery of this surprising health condition was slowly starting to make sense, after the man admitted that he is addicted to a certain liquid. He told doctors that on a daily basis, he is drinking around 4 litres of black ice tea, more precisely 16 glasses of 250 ml each. This is an intake up to 10 times larger than the average consumption of black ice tea.
The tea ingested by the man, is a sweet beverage common in the South, and it is a brew made out of black tea with great quantities of sugar. He drank this colossal daily quantity of sugared black ice tea, in spite of the fact that he is suffering from diabetes.
Consumed in excessive amounts, black tea can lead to kidney stones or in the worst cases even kidney failure.
Researches have shown that on an average basis, an American adult costumes between 10 to 11 glasses/cups of liquids among which are water, coffee, juices and any other type of liquids.
Black iced tea is known to have high levels of oxalate, a type of chemical that leads kidney stones and may even give rise to kidney failure if ingested in excessive doses daily.
A medic from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences from Little Rock, doctor Umbar Ghaffar, who has been studying the man’s case, explained that the only logical explanation for his severe condition was the fact that he has been drinking large quantities of ice tea, every single day. The sweetened beverage has intoxicated his kidneys with a chemical called oxalate, which has provoked his kidneys to swollen.
The damage that the 56 years old man has brought upon his kidneys, forced the doctors to put him on dialysis, and haven’t ruled out the possibility for the man to remain on this treatment for every single day of the rest of his life.
What Is Oxalate?
Oxalate is a substance that is normally found in the bodies of animals and human beings and also in the foods we are eating. High quantities of oxalates in our system can affect the well functioning of the kidneys. Studies have shown that up to 80% of the American adults with kidney stones, are caused by calcium oxalate.
Dangers Of High Amounts Of Tea Consumption
A specialist from the Yale School of Medicine, doctor Randy Luciano, has been dealing with plenty of patients suffering from kidney diseases and has stated that this was a particular case and that black ice tea doesn’t represent a threat if drank in controlled quantities.
People need to keep in mind, the fact that a healthy diet has to be accompanied by healthy drinking habits. Tea is among the beverages that are promoting health and are improving certain health problems, but this doesn’t mean people have to overreact with the amounts they ingest, as going overt the limit can be dangerous for the body, just like this case with black tea has proved.
Benefits & Side Effects Of Black Tea
Black tea is a supplement that improves the functioning of the brain and the processing of the information. Among others, it can also work as a cure for headaches, improves the heart condition, is a remedy for low blood pressure, many types of cancer. and type 2 diabetes. More than five cups of black tea per day are considered unsafe and dangerous.
Side effects of large quantities of black tea are: headaches, insomnia, irritability, nausea, diarrhea, dizziness and faster heart beats. Black tea contains caffeine and drank in high amounts can lead to addiction and could also affect the blood sugar levels, meaning people suffering from diabetes should consume black tea with caution.
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