Green Tea Extract may decrease the risk of developing kidney stones

  Drinking green tea may help prevent painful kidney stones. A new study shows compounds in green tea extract make it more difficult for certain kidney stones to form. Most kidney stones are a type known as calcium oxalate. The researchers found that Green Tea Extract bonds to calcium oxalate and changes the structure of the crystals making them less likely to clump together to form large kidney stones. The smaller crystals or stones will then pass through the urine harmlessly. The results show that as the amount of Green Tea Extract applied increases, the calcium oxalate crystals become flatter and flatter. The researchers say flatter crystals form less stable kidney stones that break up more easily. The study is published in CrystEngComm; a peer-reviewed scientific journal publishing original (primary) research and review articles on all aspects of crystal engineering published monthly by the Royal Society of Chemistry .