The relationship between tea consumption and increased risk of urolithiaisis was studied in seven volunteers, four men and three women. All subjects were put on a tea-free diet for one week and different concentrates of tea for three weeks. Repeated biochemical analyses of known risk factors were performed on blood and urine. Urinary output increased significantly on the tea-rich diet, while calcium and uric acid excretion did not increase in all subjects. Urinary oxalate excretion showed a significant increase with increasing intake of tea in two subjects. The results of this limited trial suggest that increased ingestion of tea may cause hyperoxaluria and hence may increase the risk of urolithiasis. The incidence of urolithiaisis has been rising in affluent societies.1 Dietary intake of some foods and fluids may result in the increased urinary excretion of substances which are either stone constituents or promoters of stone formation. Epidemiologic studies show that the most prevalent stone component is calcium oxalate and that there is a direct correlation between stone disease and increased consumption of calcium, sugar, and animal protein.1 These dietary constituents increase the urinary excretion of calcium, oxalate, and uric acid, three of the most important risk factors for the crystallization and aggregation of calcium oxalate in urine. 2 Much attention has been paid to the role of calcium, but a number of investigators now consider oxalate concentration to be the most critical factor in urine for determining the risk of formation of calcium oxalate stones.
3Although dietary oxalate is responsible for only 10% to 15% of total urinary oxalate, 4 ingestion of oxalate-rich food causes a marked increase in urinary oxalate excretion. 5 Many workers observed that tea is the greatest dietary source of oxalate followed by spinach and rhubarb. Knowing that some foods with high oxalate content may induce peaks in oxalate excretion, 6 we have conducted a study to investigate the role of tea consumption on urinary oxalate excretion.
Subjects and MethodsSeven healthy adults (four men and three women) were selected for the study. Their ages ranged between 26 and 46 years. The study lasted for four weeks. For one week the volunteers were given a tea-free diet, and for the remaining three weeks they consumed 2 liters of tea using one, two, or four bags daily. The four-week regime of tea consumption and tea-free diet were allocated on a randomized basis for each subject. For example, one subject