Picking the right detox method can keep you employed or help you avoid a probation violation.

You may have heard of using Certo or Sure Jell, fruit pectin brands, to flush THC and their metabolites from the body. Anecdotal evidence suggests that this method can be effective.

However, there is no clinical evidence demonstrating or explaining its efficacy as a detox. The most likely reason that Certo detoxes work is because they incorporate the consumption of copious amounts of water and a daily dose of vitamins.

Anecdotal Evidence Says Fruit Pectin Might Work as a Detox Method

There is no peer-reviewed evidence exploring the use of fruit pectin as a detox method. However, there is an abundance of documented anecdotal evidence: forum posts written by cannabis users with first-hand experience using fruit pectin to pass drug tests.

A 2010 Rollitup survey by 31 forum users answered the question, does Certo pass a drug test? This is what those responders had to say:

• 19.4% said they’d heard it did not work.
• 38% said they’d heard it did work.
• 19.4% said it had not worked for them.
• 22.6% said that it had worked for them.

This 2012 Reddit post explaining in detail how to use Certo to pass a drug test has over 243 comments, many of which come from users who followed the instructions and passed a test. There are many other forum posts describing successful uses of Certo to pass a drug test.

However, without clear scientific evidence explaining why these users were successful, there is no way to conclusively prove it was the fruit pectin. In each case, the authors of each post and those who responded positively had one thing in common: they drank enormous quantities of water in a very short time.

Many of them drank 1-2 entire gallons of water in a 2-hour window or less.

Most of them also consumed a multivitamin and B12 to keep their urine from appearing diluted. There is a very high probability that the reason they passed their drug tests is because they diluted their pee with water and masked the dilution with supplemental vitamins.

If you know that you are going to have to take a drug test, the best things you can do to increase the likelihood of a clean screen are to stop consuming pot immediately and drink lots of water in the days leading up to your test.

What are Sure Jell and Certo?

Sure Jell and Certo are brands of fruit pectin, an indigestible fiber. You can easily find Sure Jell or Certo in grocery stores or online. Fruit pectin used for cooking is usually kept in the baking aisle or wherever the store sells Jell-O.

When heated, fruit pectin converts into a gel. This is why it is most commonly used as a thickener for jams and jellies. However, it can also be used medicinally to relieve constipation, improve blood sugars, lower cholesterol, and assist in weight management.

Fruit pectin can cause bloating. Additionally, it is most commonly made from citrus and apples. People with allergies to these fruits should talk to their healthcare practitioners before consuming fruit pectin.

Certo Sure Jell Drug Test Ingredients

This drug test method involves drinking a cocktail of these ingredients:

• Fruit pectin – this insoluble fiber is believed to enhance the body’s fiber elimination system, increasing the elimination of THC through poop. While some argue that the pectin creates a coating that blocks THC from entering urine, there is no evidence confirming this.
• Sports drink – sports drinks like Gatorade contain electrolytes, the presence of which make a urine test seem credible. Too much fluid can wash urine of electrolytes and other minerals, alerting lab technicians to potential urine tampering.
• Creatine monohydrate – this is a mineral that is present in normal urine. Taking it along with your detox will keep normal amounts in your flushed urine.
• Multivitamin – This multivitamin will keep mineral levels normal in your urine.
• Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) – this vitamin assists the liver in the detoxification process.
• Vitamin B12 – a side effect of taking this vitamin is brightly yellow urine. While normally this may cause the urine to look abnormal, it can help to restore the color of urine that has been highly diluted by the copious amounts of water required by the detox.

For best results, cannabis consumers should abstain from weed as soon as they find out a drug test is imminent. It is also important to drink lots of water in the immediate days preceding the urine test.

How THC is Eliminated from the Body

Drug tests identify THC, the cannabinoid responsible for cannabis’ psychoactive effects. However, the tests also identify THC-COOH, a metabolite the body produces to break down THC.

THC-COOH can remain in the body for weeks, hence the reason why cannabis use can be detected in a user 30 days after the last time they consumed weed.

So why does it take so long for THC to be removed from the body? When THC is consumed, it enters the bloodstream either through the pulmonary or digestive system.

THC is lipophilic, which means that it is drawn to fat. Some of the THC will be processed by the body’s excretory and digestive system and eliminated through pee and poop. However, some THC will travel from the bloodstream to fatty tissue where it can remain stored for weeks.

As fat is broken down, THC is released back into the bloodstream and the process of elimination continues. The more body fat a person has, the more storage space for THC.

Also, the more THC consumed, the longer it will take for THC to be completely eliminated from the body. Most detox methods will not work as well for long-term, high-frequency cannabis consumers as they will for occasional cannabis users.

There is no safe and perfectly effective way to dramatically expedite the body’s detoxification process, but there are ways to use the body’s natural waste elimination systems to create THC-free windows lasting a few hours.

Detox methods claim to amplify the body’s natural processes to create these windows, during which urine tests can be conducted. However, once those windows have expired, it is very likely that the drug tests will screen positive for THC.