Want to learn how to Detox from Marijuana? We got you covered. Detoxing from Marijuana and THC is sometimes necessary. If you smoke weed regularly, at some point, you may need to figure out how to detox from THC. Perhaps you have to provide a urine sample or pass a drug screening as part of a job hiring process. Maybe you’re trying to switch from using THC to CBD but are concerned about lingering effects. Regardless of why you may need to detox, we’re here to help.
Before learning how to detox from cannabis, it’s important to understand how your body deposits and breaks down cannabis.
The Low-Down on the THC Breakdown
Immediately after consuming cannabis, the fat-soluble THC enters your bloodstream and, to a small extent, your brain, where it causes the high.
Contrary to popular misconception, the THC in weed isn’t what drug tests look for. Instead, they look for THC-COOH, a metabolite that THC produces that lingers in the body for a lot longer than THC.
What Is THC-COOH?
Your bloodstream transports the THC to your liver, which is then converted into 11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC-COOH) by metabolic processes.
THC-COOH is a lipid-soluble compound stored in our fat cells and is not water-soluble. As a result, it has a substantially longer half-life in the body than other drugs. The THC leaves the body quickly, typically in a few hours. THC-COOH, on the other hand, can frequently be found for weeks after your last use. This substance is what’s examined in drug tests, such as a hair analysis or a urine sample.
The Half-Life of THC-COOH
A small part of the metabolite, THC-COOH excretes slowly in the kidneys via your urine. However, most of the THC-COOH and a small portion of the THC accumulate in adipose tissue because it’s fat-soluble. The substances remain there and excrete slowly from the body. Some studies indicate the half-life of THC-COOH (the time in which the substance amount is reduced by half) is around six days.
After just one smoke sesh, the THC-COOH disappears from your body via the urine after about a week. If you consume regularly, you’re supplying your body with more THC than it can metabolize and thus excrete. This continuously increases the THC-COOH value in your body. The amount of THC-COOH is always examined in drug tests because it provides information about how often you have consumed cannabis.
Eliminating THC-COOH From Your Body
The only way to eliminate THC or THC-COOH from your body is to metabolize the THC stored in the fatty tissue in the liver and excrete the THC-COOH already present in the urine.
Depending on the body and individual metabolism, the THC and THC-COOH get back into the bloodstream from your fatty tissue at different speeds. Since THC is not broken down and excreted evenly but rather with varying degrees of intensity, it’s impossible to make reliable statements about the rate at which a person is actually clean again.
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How to Detox From Weed Quickly
No matter why you need to detox from THC, there are lots of facts and tips that can help you remove THC from your system quickly.
Drink Lots of Fluids
Drinking lots of fluids (probably even more than you think you should drink) might help you at least provide a urine sample that returns negative for THC. Try creating a mixture of nettle, dandelion root, green tea, and cranberry juice in addition to several liters of water.
- Nettle is known to be diuretic and metabolism-enhancing. It helps to stimulate your metabolism and your kidneys, which then excrete the THC-COOH faster.
- Dandelion roots activate bile in the liver and also have a diuretic effect. They help ensure that the THC released via the fatty tissue is metabolized as quickly as possible and then excreted through the urine by stimulating kidney activity.
- Green tea boosts metabolism and encourages the burning of fat tissue. It helps you accelerate the release of THC from the tissues and then metabolize it in the liver.
- Cranberry juice is known to be diuretic and, like nettle and dandelion roots, stimulates kidney activity.
All four natural substances help dissolve the existing THC in the fat, convert it quickly, and excrete the existing THC-COOH through the urine. These substances help the body perform this process faster, which is why they will help you detox from THC more quickly.
But Don’t Drink Too Much…
Don’t drink too much liquid before and on the day of the test. If you drink too much, you can decrease the creatinine level in your urine and sabotage your drug result.
The urine screening result depends on how much of the drug residue is in the urine and how concentrated your urine is.
The creatinine value in your urine shows the water content and thus the concentration of drug residues. Although diluted urine and the resulting low creatinine value mean that fewer drug residues can be found in the urine, the urine screening result is invalid from a creatinine value of less than 0.2 g/l. That’s not a good thing.
Normal urine contains about 1g/l of creatinine. If the urine is too watered down, the lab can’t provide accurate results because there aren’t enough substances and must assume that you have deliberately manipulated your sample.
Basically, drinking too much liquid before giving a urine sample leads to you ratting yourself out.
Say No to Cardio (For Now)
Now there’s a headline: How to detox from THC? Stop exercising!
As mentioned earlier, the THC and THC-COOH accumulate in adipose tissue. Now, if you exercise intensely before the urine screening, you may end up burning fat, releasing the cannabis residues stored in fat into the bloodstream. This will unnecessarily increase your THC-COOH value.
While some research has attempted to determine if exercise might affect marijuana drug tests, the results have been conflicting. A 2013 study on the effects of exercise on THC levels found that trying to get rid of THC with cardio may not be the best idea.
Researchers required 14 chronic cannabis users to exercise for 35 minutes on a stationary bike at a level that caused fat burning. To avoid having high levels of THC in their bloodstream, which would have interfered with the results, the volunteers abstained from marijuana the night before the trial.
THC levels in the subjects’ blood jumped after the workout even though they were low prior to it. A clue indicating the exercise burned fat was the presence of high THC concentrations and increased free fatty acids in the blood. The researchers concluded that the THC rise was high enough to still register on a drug test.
According to the study, exercise-activated THC had been stored in fat due to long-term cannabis use. Exercise actually filled the participant’s systems with THC rather than allowing them to “sweat it out,” which could make it more difficult to pass a drug screening.
During this study, the THC rise subsided after two hours, showing that people should only refrain from exercising just before a drug test if they’re worried about THC being detected.
Another team of researchers investigated the exercise and THC connection in 2014 by analyzing weed users’ blood and urine.
Six regular cannabis users underwent a moderately intense 45-minute workout and a 24-hour fast. The team found no significant variations in THC levels in the blood or urine before or after exercise and fasting. They determined that there is little chance that fasting or exercise will significantly alter THC concentrations and affect the outcome of a drug test.
Additionally, this work has certain shortcomings. Participants in the study had low body fat percentages. As a result, individuals with greater fat storage may have seen more notable THC increases because of fasting or exercise. These modest studies indicate that exercising probably isn’t the best way to pass a drug test the next day.
Nobody likes taking tests, so if you’re especially concerned about detoxing from THC, you can check in with your family doctor. Most healthcare providers can provide quick urinalysis results so that you know exactly how high your current THC-COOH value is and can therefore estimate whether you will be clean for your drug screening or detoxification journey.
