Too much tea can lead to bone disease
By: Nikki Henderson
Updated: March 22, 2013
Drinking too much tea could be harmful to your bones.
Researchers found that people who drink a large amount of tea over a long period of time may develop a bone disease called skeletal fluorosis.
The condition is caused by consuming too much fluoride, a mineral found in tea as well as drinking water.
Doctors at Henry Ford Hospital looked at a 47-year-old Michigan woman who developed skeletal fluorosis after she drank a pitcher of tea made from at least 100 tea bags daily, for 17 years.
The woman told doctors she had been experiencing pain in her lower back, arms, legs and hips for at least five years.
X-rays revealed areas of very dense bone on the spinal vertebrae and calcifications of ligaments in her arm. Her blood levels of fluoride were also four times higher than what would be considered normal.
Excess fluoride is typically eliminated from the body by the kidneys but if you consume too much over time the fluoride forms crystal deposits on the bone.
Researchers say once the patient stopped drinking tea she experienced an improvement in her symptoms because the fluoride deposits gradually go away as the bone repairs itself.
The findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
