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title: Man&#x27;s Iced Tea Habit Caused Kidney Failure, Doctors Say
description: A man in Arkansas has been put in dialysis after drinking a gallon of black tea per day
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og:title: Man&#x27;s Iced Tea Habit Caused Kidney Failure
og:description: Doctors say he drank about 16 8-ounce cups every day.
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# Man's Iced-Tea Habit Caused Kidney Failure

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![Eliana Dockterman](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt562ce4d8c2d99f2f/69893e0822fb85100ce270af/e_docterman-resize.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1:1)

by 

[Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)


![Eliana Dockterman](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt562ce4d8c2d99f2f/69893e0822fb85100ce270af/e_docterman-resize.jpg?branch=production&width=96&quality=75&auto=webp)

## Eliana Dockterman


Correspondent

Apr 1, 2015 10:30 PM UTC

![Eliana Dockterman](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt562ce4d8c2d99f2f/69893e0822fb85100ce270af/e_docterman-resize.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1:1)

by 

[Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)


![Eliana Dockterman](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt562ce4d8c2d99f2f/69893e0822fb85100ce270af/e_docterman-resize.jpg?branch=production&width=96&quality=75&auto=webp)

## Eliana Dockterman


Correspondent

Apr 1, 2015 10:30 PM UTC

An Arkansas man’s kidney failure was apparently caused by his iced tea habit, doctors [explain](http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/too-much-iced-tea-caused-arkansas-mans-kidney-problems/2015/04/01/a5064f3a-d8ac-11e4-bf0b-f648b95a6488%5Fstory.html) in a journal article out this week.

The 56-year old man went to the hospital last May with symptoms like weakness, fatigue, nausea and body aches, the Associated Press reports. His doctors, writing in Thursday’s _New England Journal of Medicine_, said they had already ruled out several other possible causes when their patient said he drank 16 eight-ounce cups of iced black tea every day.

That type of tea includes oxalate, a chemical found in foods like nuts, wheat bran and chocolate, which can result in kidney stones—and in excessive amounts can cause kidney failure.

The man has been put on dialysis, perhaps for the remainder of his life, said Dr. Umbar Ghaffar of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock.

\[[_AP_](http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/too-much-iced-tea-caused-arkansas-mans-kidney-problems/2015/04/01/a5064f3a-d8ac-11e4-bf0b-f648b95a6488%5Fstory.html)\]

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