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Washington, July 21 (ANI): If you love iced tea, it could be time for you to give up that love - a urologist has warned that drinking it excessively could lead to kidney stones.

Iced tea contains high concentrations of oxalate, one of the key chemicals that lead to the formation of kidney stones.

Though hot tea also contains oxalate, it isn’t as easy to consume a quantity large enough amount to encourage the formation of stones.

“For people who have a tendency to form kidney stones, it’s definitely one of the worst things you can drink,” said Dr. John Milner, assistant professor, Department of Urology, Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, Maywood, Ill.

Men, postmenopausal women with low oestrogen levels and women who have had their ovaries removed are at a higher risk than others.

Kidney stones are small crystals that form from the minerals and salt normally found in the urine in the kidneys or ureter, the small tubes that drain urine from the kidney to the bladder.

Usually they can be expelled from the body harmlessly, but those big in size become lodged in the ureter.

Iced tea is a highly popular drink in summers considering it’s tastier than most other fluids, but Milner suggests there’s nothing better than water, maybe flavoured with lemon slices.

“Lemons are very high in citrates, which inhibit the growth of kidney stones,” Milner said.

Spinach, chocolate, rhubarb, nuts, salt and meat should be avoided as they encourage stones, he said.

And calcium rich foods, which reduce the amount of oxalate the body absorbs, plus water, are a must. (ANI)