Cannabis Detox: How to Eliminate THC From Your System
If cannabis is neither addictive nor dangerous, why would you want or need to eliminate THC from your system? Why would you need to detox?
THC is not without its risks, especially with the increasing access to even more potent strains of cannabis.
Some people, including “newbies,” will have a significant adverse reaction to high levels of THC. Its psychoactive impact may push the envelope toward paranoia or schizophrenic experiences. It is rare, but some users are predisposed to such reactions.
Regular cannabis consumers may find their THC tolerance has reached a level where they no longer experience the high they were after. It may be time for a cannabis break, including flushing the THC from your system.
Some chronic users are psychologically inclined toward dependency. This Cannabis Use Dependency (CUD) is not an addiction; however, it can affect the user’s social, school, and work behaviors negatively. For some, the dependency requires some rehabilitation, including a cannabis detox.
When you get right down to it, THC in your system can skew your employer’s (or parole officer’s) drug test.
Luckily, there are safe and simple ways to detox your brain and body by eliminating the THC. For starters, you should understand that the chemical compounds in cannabis are fat-soluble. That means they are likely to remain in your blood, fat (lipid) deposits, and hair for a long time – up to 90 days.
How to eliminate the THC:
Stay off it: The most thorough way of cleansing your systems is to abstain. You should go “cold turkey” and hang on for the duration. You could ease off, but detox takes full commitment. If you take this road, it will take you some time, so you may want to add some other habits.
Water it: It helps to drink water, lots of water (2 – 3 liters) every day. Adequate hydration should be part of a healthy regimen anyhow, but water will help flush the system. Again, it will not reach those fat deposits, but it will clean the blood, improve metabolism, and rinse the vascular and muscle systems.
Feed it: You can detox more quickly if you have a nutritious diet. Eating healthy foods, fresh fruit, colorful vegetables, and leafy greens will absorb other chemicals and toxins in your system, eliminating them through the gastrointestinal and urinary systems. You should include the following in your diet:
Citrus fruits, including lemons, oranges, grapefruits, and tomatoes, carry phytochemicals that burn fat and reduce appetite. If you do not eat the citrus, you can squeeze the juice into the water you should be drinking.
Greens like spinach, broccoli, and brussels sprouts contain vital antioxidants. They trigger the deployment of digestive enzymes to help eliminate cannabis chemical compounds.
Beans of every sort are high in fiber that soaks up toxins and cleanses the intestines and bowels.
Apple cider vinegar, cinnamon, garlic, and ginger aid the digestion that breaks down the cannabis chemistry for eventual natural elimination.
Supplements like activated charcoal, fish oil, psyllium husk, magnesium, niacin, and vitamins enrich the blood and support metabolism and elimination.
- Work it out: Good air and aerobic exercise help lubricate and clean your systems. Sweating is a reliable way to eliminate waste. But if you can do that exercise outdoors, you will also help refresh your lungs. The exercise will burn calories and fat cells where THC accumulates. You are on the right track to eliminate your THC if you can combine exercise, diet, and hydration into a daily regimen.
Other options
There are other ways to detox if you lack the time or discipline to follow a natural pattern. Coffee, lemon juice, and cranberry juice will trigger urination, and the more you pee, the more waste will pass out of your system
Rescue Detox ICE Drinks come in flavors like cranberry, blueberry, and pomegranate. An all-natural product, the drink contains no artificial flavors, dyes, or sweeteners. They claim to work within 90 minutes and last for five hours. They recommend the 17oz. bottles for those under 200 pounds, and the 32oz. dose for those who are heavier.
If you follow the directions, you shake the bottle well, drink it completely on an empty stomach, and then drink two bottles full of water. You should be toxin-free after urinating three times.
Detoxify’s XXTRA Clean Herbal Cleanse encourages bowel movements to excrete the THC. The drink includes Burdock Root Extract, American Ginseng Root Extract, Milk Thistle Seed Extract, Stinging Nettle Leaf Extract, and Uva Ursi Leaf Extract. They recommend drinking the contents followed by a bottle of water as part of a diet high in fiber.
Buzz 5x Extra Strength is a concentrated cleanser. It is a proprietary blend of L-taurine, Methylsulfonylmethane, D-Ribose, L-Lysine, Niacin, and Vitamin B3), and artificial color and flavors. The manufacturer recommends remaining toxin-free for 48 hours before drinking the cleanser, followed by four bottles of water while avoiding milk and dairy products.
- Green Gone markets a cannabis detox kit. Their website includes a Detox Calculator using your weight, gender, height, and cannabis habits to determine the appropriate product for your likely THC content. It includes:
St. John’s Wort to deploy liver enzymes,
Sodium Bicarbonate to increase your urine’s pH factor,
White Willow extract to break THC’s bond with albumin,
Horsetail extract to reduce urinary tract inflammation and
Psyllium Husk to help fecal excretion.
Green Gone also comes with test strips so you can follow your progress.
These detox products are readily accessible online and at major retailers. They can be a little pricey, and they generally lack FDA certification as being effective.
The best advice
If you have an upcoming drug test, if you want or need a cannabis break, or if you want to get rid of toxins in general, the best advice is to pursue an alternative lifestyle. You should reduce or stop your cannabis use, shift to strains with only traces of THC, and focus on diet and exercise. A healthy lifestyle will still have room for occasional use.
