Drug testing is becoming very common in all sorts of situations, particularly in pre-employment physical examinations but also for continuing employment, for participating in the military and for investigating traffic accidents, industrial accidents and, of course, crimes. If your test has to do with an accident or a crime you will probably have no time to prepare but if your test is for a pre-employment or continuing employment physical or for entry into the military, you will have varying degrees of advanced notice. Thinking about passing an upcoming drug test can cause a lot of anxiety so in this article we propose to help you reduce that anxiety by increasing your knowledge of the marijuana and other drug testing procedures and what you can do to use your own body’s natural processes for detoxing yourself. We will also discuss in detail a variety of detox pills and kits with pills that flush weed out of your system which is now on the market. We will discuss these cleansing pills, what they contain, how to use them and how likely they are to help you in successfully detoxing your body and passing drug tests.
What kinds of drug tests are there?
First of all, what types of drug tests are there? The most commonly used test is a urine test which can be used to detect prior use of cannabis products as well as other drugs such as methamphetamine, opiates, cocaine, heroin, LSD, ketamine, alcohol, and nicotine. The urine test for marijuana actually does not test for THC which is the psychoactive component of weed but instead, it tests for THC-COOH which is the main metabolite of THC and is excreted in the urine. The most common version of this test is the so-called EMIT test. Other tests include saliva, hair and blood tests. Blood testing is mainly used to investigate traffic accidents and can test for current use of THC as well as other drugs like alcohol and methamphetamines among others.
How long does weed stay in your system?
Next, let’s consider how long marijuana or more specifically THC-COOH stays in your system. It turns out that there is no simple answer to this question because a number of factors affect how long THC-COOH will stay in your system. The most important factors are the strength of the weed – the product that you use and how often you use it.
After smoking a single joint, if you are only a very occasional user, THC-COOH can be detected in your urine within 2 hours or so and may continue to be detectable for perhaps 24 hours. There is really no reliable way to know what the concentration of THC is in any pot product because there is no accepted standard to test the amount of THC in any marijuana product. In addition, how “high” you feel after using pot is not a reliable measure of how much weed you have taken in or of how much will show up in your urine as THC-COOH at any time after using it. For regular, heavy users of marijuana products, THC-COOH will be detectable for at least 30 days or more even after prolonged abstinence and in some cases, it can be found for 90 days or even more.
Other factors that affect how long weed stays in your system
Several other factors affect how long THC-COOH can be found on a urine test. These factors include the amount of your body that is fat tissue, your basal metabolic rate, how much you exercise and what food you eat. THC-COOH is fat soluble and is stored in fatty tissue so THC-COOH will remain longer in people with more fat tissue and therefore appear in their urine. A high rate of metabolism either at rest or with vigorous exercise will cause fat to be burned for energy thus releasing THC-COOH from fat cells so it can be excreted in your urine. So vigorous exercise can reduce the amount of time that THC-COOH can be found in your urine. Foods high in fiber such as many vegetables will encourage the diversion of THC-COOH from the bloodstream into the gut where it can be excreted in the feces instead of the urine, thus reducing THC-COOH in your urine.
Why and when do you need a detox from THC?
So, why and when might you need a detoxification program from marijuana? The easiest answer is that you might want to stop using marijuana products altogether or it may be that you have been informed that you have to take a urine test for drugs as part of a pre-employment or continuing employment physical exam. As to when you might start a detox program, the sooner you can get started after you know that you have a drug test upcoming the better will be your chance of passing the test.
How do detoxification and detox remedies work?
How do detoxification and detox remedies work? There are two types of detox methods, one using your own body’s natural detoxification processes and another using a variety of detox methods either as a homemade detox program or as a commercially available detox drink or pills that you can buy. Your own body’s naturally occurring detox mechanisms work by taking THC from the bloodstream into the liver where it is metabolized to THC-COOH which then re-enters the bloodstream and is filtered out by the kidneys and excreted in your urine. As mentioned before, how long this natural cleanse will take to clear your system of toxins depends on a lot of factors but mainly how strong is the weed product that you use and how often do you use it. Natural detoxing alone can take anywhere from a day or so up to three months or even longer in the case of a heavy regular user.
Your body’s natural detoxing mechanisms can be enhanced by doing a few fairly easy and healthy things like drinking lots of fluids, performing heavy exercises to raise your metabolic rate and burn fat to release THC-COOH and eating a diet rich in fiber-containing vegetables to divert THC-COOH to your colon rather than to your kidneys. If time is of the essence, however, and you need a fast detox, you may need to enlist some outside help to speed up the detox process or in other ways to reduce or eliminate THC-COOH from your urine.
How to help your body’s naturally occurring detox system
What then are some ways in which you can help your body to detox you from marijuana products? One of the fastest and most convenient ways for the removal of toxic products from your body is with the use of detox pills. The major ingredients in most detox pills are a combination of vitamins, diuretics, electrolytes, creatine and proprietary herbal mixtures designed to get you clean, fast and by actually removing the toxins and not just masking them. In addition to the pills themselves, this detox method also relies on your drinking large amounts of fluids to help your body’s naturally occurring cleansing processes and to dilute your urine to reduce the concentration of THC-COOH.
Will water pills help you pass a drug test?
Water pills or diuretics can help you pass a drug test but only Midol, a diuretic medication used for menstrual cramps, is available over the counter. Other diuretics can only be obtained with a doctor’s prescription. Various herbal products are said to have diuretic properties and these are often contained in the detox pills that are available to buy.
What are the best detox pills for weed?
What pills can cleanse your system from weed? Let us examine each of these components of detox pills and kits and then look at some commercially available detox pills to see just what they contain and how to use them to get yourself clean. We will discuss pills that flush weed out of your system. It is also worth noting that there are upwards of 100 detox products on the market and it would be impossible in an article like this to review all of them, but we hope that this article will help you find a good detox product. It is also important for you to understand that no detox product will be a permanent cleanse of toxins if you continue the same use pattern. In trying to select cleansing pills and in comparing the various claims made about the products you should be aware that the claims are made in an attempt to sell these products and so you should assess the claims carefully.
Fluid intake to help you detox
Before we begin let’s be sure that we understand the role of large amounts of fluids in a detox program using detox pills. All detox pill methods are really flush pills and depend heavily on you drinking large amounts of water or electrolyte-containing fluids like Gatorade to flush your system of marijuana products. Detox pills alone without large amounts of fluids will not sufficiently detox your system to allow you to pass a urine drug test.
Vitamins
Vitamins, particularly B vitamins are an essential part of all detox pills mainly because B vitamins will help to color your urine sample a natural yellow color. Drinking large amounts of plain water will dilute your urine to the point that your urine sample will not pass the test for acceptability of the sample because the sample will be mainly clear water so that B vitamins will give a more normal yellow color to your sample.
Electrolytes
Electrolytes such as sodium, potassium, chloride which are included in most detox pills will give the necessary specific gravity to your sample so that it will pass the acceptability test. Drinking large amounts of plain water over many days can lead to a condition called water intoxication which can lead to serious and even permanent neurological problems and death so that it is important either to drink electrolyte-rich fluids like Gatorade or Pedialyte or to use the electrolytes in detox pills to replace the electrolytes which are lost by drinking just water.
Creatine
Most detox pills also contain creatine. Creatine derived from muscle is converted to creatinine which is a normal component of urine. Drinking large amounts of fluids will dilute your urine sample to the point that the creatinine level will be too low, and your urine will not pass the acceptability test. Finally, detox pills usually contain various combinations of herbs which can act as diuretics to promote urination to help flush your system of marijuana metabolites.
Now that you know the major ingredients in detox pills, let’s look at some of the commercially available and most popular detox pills.
Toxin Rid
Toxin Rid is one of the most complex and highly recommended products on the market and is available in one day, three- day, five -day and ten- day formulations. The product has three parts: Pre-Rid tablets or pills, a Pre-Rid drink, and fiber in the form of both soluble and insoluble parts. The Pre-Rid pills contain carbohydrates, calcium, iron, magnesium, chloride, sodium, potassium, low sodium sea minerals, Alfalfa Leaf Extract, Kelp and Boron. The pills are to be taken in different amounts depending on how extensive a program you intend to pursue to clear your system of toxins.
Let’s look at the ten-day program since it covers all aspects of the Toxin Rid cleansing program. The program begins with taking three Toxin Rid pills with eight ounces of water every hour for five hours or a total of 15 pills a day for the entire ten days of the program. A diet of lean protein, a source of creatine and fiber to promote excretion of THC-COOH by way of the colon is also part of this regimen. On the day of your test after taking your last Toxin Rid pill, drink eight ounces of water with 0.5 ounces of the Toxin Rid liquid and don’t eat or drink anything else for two hours and then repeat the Toxin Rid liquid and water. One hour before your test mix the fiber sources with sixteen ounces of water and drink it all and proceed to your test. As you can see, drinking large amounts of fluid is an essential part of this program. The one, three, and five- day programs reduce the days during which you take the Toxin Rid pills but the final day when your test is scheduled is the same for all three of the programs. You can find a good review of this product here. Some people feel that Toxin Rid is the best available whole body detox regimen because it clears your system not only from marijuana products but also from other toxins such as methamphetamine.
Ultra THC Total Herbal Cleanser
Another popular detoxification pill is the Ultra THC total herbal cleanser. This product contains organic Burdock Root, Organic Dandelion Root, Pau D’Arco bark, Organic Rhubarb Root, Organic Sheep Sorrel Herb, Organic Goldenseal Root, and Organic Cat’s Claw Bark. It is advertised as a totally natural herbal formulation which is in the form of a seven- day program. The directions are to take two capsules three times a day with 16 ounces of water with each dose. This is a much simpler program than the more complicated Toxin Rid program and although there are some negative reviews, overall the reviews seem quite positive for this product.
One-day detox cleansers
Maybe you do not have much notice before you have to take your urine test and you are looking for a one-day detox cleanse which will work in 24 hours or less. One such product is actually three different products under the Nutra Cleanse banner for light, moderate or heavy toxin exposure. The maximum product is Fail-Safe Kit which is recommended for heavy to extreme daily toxin exposure in people with increased body fat and weighing over 200 pounds. This product is a combination of four pre-cleanse pills, a 2.5- ounce cleansing drink and 12 “clean caps.” The pills or capsules contain whey protein, creatine, riboflavin, and proprietary herbal formula. The drink is a combination of soluble fiber, carbohydrate, protein, Vitamins B 1, 2, 6, and 12 as well as sodium and potassium and a proprietary herbal blend.
The medium product Clean-Shot Nutra Cleanse is for moderate toxin exposure and is a combination of a 2.5 oz drink and pills. The product is for people with average body fat who weigh less than 200 pounds. This product is a combination of four pre-cleanse pills or capsules and the same 2.5- ounce drink as in the Fail-Safe Kit.
The lightest product is Clean Capsules which are for light to moderate toxin use in people with low body fat, weighing less than 130 pounds who are not even sure that they are “dirty.” This product consists of twelve pills or capsules with the same composition as those used in the Fail-Safe Kit.
All three of these products in this THC detox kit are said to work in 90 minutes and the cleanse is said to last for up to 6 hours so if you have a short notice before your test you might want to explore one of these same days, almost instant, cleanse products. Reviews for the Nutra Cleanse products seem quite positive.
5-Day Full Body Detox Pills
One of the top products said to be the most advanced, reliable and complex detox product on the market is 5-day Full Body Detox Pills, a product of the Ever-Clear Company. The 5 Day Detox ingredients are vitamin A, vitamin D, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6, folate, vitamin B12, biotin, pantothenic acid, calcium, magnesium, zinc, selenium, manganese, chromium, green tea, fruit pectin, burdock, milk thistle, nettle, uva ursi, creatine monohydrate, filtered water, fructose, natural flavors, citric acid, phosphoric acid, potassium sorbate, and sodium benzoate. Along with this product a rather strict diet is recommended which might be difficult for some people to follow. There is also a ten-day version of this product for heavy toxin users with body weights over 200 pounds and increased body fat content. A very good review of this product can be found here. This product is a combination of four different types of pills to be used in a somewhat complicated manner including before you start your official cleanse, morning and evening during your cleanse and then for follow-up pills at the end of your cleanse.
The first or “head start” pills are four in number and are to be taken with 24 ounces of water, there are six mornings and six evening capsules to be taken each day with 24 ounces of water. On the day of your test, you should fast with no solid or liquids for five hours and then two hours before your test you drink the fluid portion of the detox regimen followed by filling the bottle with water twice and drinking the contents. You should then urinate at least 3-4 times before giving your urine sample for testing. This regimen is said to provide a toxin-free interval of at least 3 hours and up to 5 hours.
Stat Flush
One of the simplest and easiest products to use is Stat Flush a one- day detox cleanser that says it can clear your system in a few hours. The product contains Vitamins B 1, 2, 6, and 12 as well as a proprietary blend of herbal substances. The directions are to avoid toxins for 48 hours before your scheduled test. Sixty to ninety minutes before your test you are to consume all five pills along with 32-40 ounces of water. You should then wait 30 minutes and urinate 2-3 times. The product claims to provide a 4-5- hour window when your urine toxin levels will allow you to pass your test. Reviews of this product are mixed.
Do detox pills work for weed?
The answer to this question is yes, BUT! The “but” is that you usually have to do other things like changing your diet or drink large amounts of fluids and perhaps most importantly, stop using your marijuana products. With these qualifications, yes, detox pills will work for weed. If detox pills will work for weed what are the best detox pills to pass a drug test? The answer depends on your own situation. If you have time, one of the best detox pills to pass a drug test is one of the 10-day programs because these combine your body’s natural cleansing ability with the benefits of the pills over a long enough time to pretty well guarantee that you will pass your test. If you have little or no notice of an upcoming urine drug test for THC, you might want to consider one of the one-day detox cleansers which actually tend more to mask the marijuana products in your urine than to actually detoxify your system but those products may help you to pass a drug test when you don’t have time to plan. Different detox pill plans may work for different smokers of weed products. If you are a light user, you will be able to detox in a relatively short period of time so that a 5 or 7-day program should work well. If you are a heavy, regular user a much longer and more intensive program such as the Toxin Rid 10 -day program may be required to help you pass your test.