Detox: How to Flush Marijuana’s THC Metabolites From Your System – Marijuana.com (blog)

Marijuana’s many cannabinoids are medicinal therapy for a host of complex ailments; MS, PTSD, cancer, and epilepsy, just to name a few. That said, there’s also a good chance they could make passing your next drug test a tad more complicated.

Whether hoping to pass a health insurance screening or a workplace drug test, there are countless explanations that may justify someone seeking to “flush” their body of Marijuana’s obstinate THC metabolites. Unfortunately for those concerned, these easily detected metabolites have a half-life of approximately one week (7 days). So, after swearing off all vaporizers, bongs, and concentrates, the THC metabolites half-life signifies a 50% decrease each week in the amount of detectable metabolites remaining in your system.

With this concept of THC’s lifespan firmly entrenched in the 420 psyche, most consumers can guesstimate how quickly their body will be relatively clean of THC’s detectable byproduct, THC-COOH, and ready for testing within 4-6 weeks. Allowing for important variables like individual body fat index and frequency of cannabis ingestion, below are a few suggestions on how to do a little housekeeping within the blood system before your next drug test.

Food for thought, and flushing THC

Provided you have the time, are in relatively decent health, and enjoy a healthy diet – the body can cleanse itself of these opportunity-halting molecules through the dilution method. Focusing on diluting the concentrated THC metabolites within the blood system, many believe it is important to fortify your individual creatinine levels through a diet of lean red meat or dietary supplements. This is a critical first step for those hoping to pass a drug test, as most drug tests that utilize urinalysis also check for the creatine metabolites as a means of ensuring an undiluted sample. When preparing for a drug test, it’s best to pass on processed food and tempting cheeseburgers. Instead, focus on hydrating the body with water and consuming large amounts of leafy greens that are high in vitamins A, C, K, and folate. Nature’s gift, these nutrients are lacking in salt, sugar, and fat, each of which is known to retard our metabolism.

Will exercise flush THC?

While there is little scientific evidence to substantiate it, many believe that exercise represents one of the more cost-effective (and healthiest) ways of expelling THC from the body. Because THC is stored in the body’s fat cells, it’s believed that vigorous activity kicks our metabolism into overdrive, allowing the stubborn metabolites to be excreted through our sweat glands. With this technique there is one small caveat; though exercise elevates the body’s metabolism and theoretically could reduce the duration of saturation, this pesky cannabinoid can be more difficult to remove than stubborn love handles. At least one study shows that excessive exercise can ultimately elevate an individual’s THC blood levels in the near-term. So while Exercise is a healthy choice for living the good life, it is, unfortunately, a bad short-term solution for flushing THC from your system.

Flushing with detox kits

Some kits will work IF you have minimal THC exposure. However, there are plenty of fraudulent and unscrupulous “detox” companies anxious to line their pockets with your hard-earned cash. Depending on the type of test your facing – urine, saliva, blood, or hair – some detox products work better than others. In today’s modern labs, altered urine samples meant to conceal concentrated levels of THC are now easily discovered thanks to the newest scientific advancements in testing. Historically, some consumers were able to pass a drug test by using one of these detox kits to cloak the presence of THC in their system, which has now become a risky proposition. Ensuring the specimens authenticity, labs now test for temperature, creatinine levels, and gravity specific pH. Making the proposition of successfully passing a drug test with a detox kit significantly more challenging – though not impossible for the most casual cannabis consumers.

While abstinence and cleansing remain the best options for passing your next drug test, provided the DEA reschedules cannabis later this summer, marijuana will no longer be considered a schedule 1 narcotic –  and likely no longer a target for workplace drug testing.

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