The Iced Tea Tastes Better

Last January I had an episode with kidney stones. You may have heard that kidney stones are very painful. I can confirm these reports are true.

During the kidney stone adventure an emergency room doctor told me various foods I should avoid because they increase the chances of developing kidney stones again. The easiest way for me to explain the correct diet for avoiding kidney stones is to tell you the foods that are allowed.

If you want to avoid kidney stones here is a list of the healthy foods to eat: 1) Celery.

That’s it. That’s the whole list. You can eat celery. So live it up with all the celery you want. Whoo hoo! Go nuts with the celery! Occasionally, if you really want to get crazy and spice it up a bit you can throw in a little bit of lettuce.

(I’m kidding. Sort of. But not much.)

At one point in this conversation the ER doctor said to me, “Do you like iced tea?”

I said, “I love iced tea. I drink it every day.”

He said, “No more iced tea. Only drink water. Lots of water.”

I said, “I hate drinking water.”

He said, “Of course you do. That’s why it’s important to drink it.”

With sadness in my heart I had to stop drinking my beloved iced tea.

But several months after this conversation with the ER doc I was telling this story to one of my friends, a person who has been a nurse for many years, and she said, “If you had an iced tea once in a while it would be alright. Don’t drink it every day. Have some occasionally. Moderation is the key.”

So, that’s what I have been doing. About once a week, or sometimes even less frequently, I will have an iced tea.

And you know what I’ve noticed? Now, when I do have an iced tea I have a greater awareness and sensitivity to the flavor of it. Seriously. There really is a difference. When I was drinking two or three large iced teas every day (I know, that’s a lot. Don’t point your fingers at me and shake your head disapprovingly.) I think I, unintentionally, desensitized my palate to the taste.

I had an iced tea tonight—I haven’t had one in about a week—and the flavor was delicious. It is as though my sense of taste has been heightened because I’m not drinking it as often.

What’s the point? The point is there is actually a silver lining in the cloud. I was sad that I couldn’t drink iced tea all the time because of the possibility of kidney stones. But now when I do drink iced tea—the occasions are rarer—but the taste is better.

Okay, time to go. I have a mouth-watering celery ensemble waiting for me.