bonescwa wrote:Hmm you're right. I hate renal physiology lol. But tea catechin or polyphenols being some kind of chelator for calcium is one thing, antioxidants somehow helping renal tubular cells to dissolve calcium oxalate crystals is another.
tea catechins/polyphenols are antioxidants themselves..
in kidney stone treatment there are a myriad of practices with varying efficacies with different people. one is direct EDTA infusion into the ureter. the other is EDTA in the oral administration form. both are not 100% working methods but there are people that report curative properties. the mechanism is just to chelate calcium..
tea polyphenols should be able to do the same, but it will be a competing reaction, considering tea contains both polyphenols and oxalate (which contributes to stone formation), and the ratiometric content could be suggestive why green tea is always more recommended, and black tea is prohibited (more oxidized) .