Can You Pass a Drug Test with Cranberry Juice?

There are claims that certain home remedies like using cranberry juice is effective and gets the job done without a trace of drug residue in your system.

But can cranberry juice absolutely flush out everything and help you ace any drug test?

What is Cranberry Juice

Cranberry juice is made from a dark-red shaped fruit (cranberry) which is native to America and Canada. It contains a higher amount of sugar compared to most soft drinks. And it’s known to be a common home remedy for passing a urine test.

cranberry juice drug test

The juice has been used for decades as an effective home remedy for detoxifying the body. But can the same be said of it when it comes to passing a drug test?

Does Cranberry Detox Contribute to Passing a Drug Test

Cranberry juice can naturally help you get rid of radicals and certain toxins from your body. And this is what has led quite a number of people to believe that during cranberry’s detoxification process, THC metabolites are expelled from the body along with the other toxins.

The harsh reality is, there isn’t a piece of single scientific evidence to back this claim.

A certain group of people also propagate the idea of cranberry juice helping an individual pass a drug test because it’s a diuretic. They think that the fact that it makes you pass urine frequently helps expel THC metabolites from your system. But this is a total hoax.

Drugs like marijuana can stay in the body longer, up to 3 months, than other drugs. So the body’s natural way of discharging toxins via urine can’t simply get rid of all the THC metabolites in order to make you pass a drug test.

Cranberry Juice Ingredients

Perhaps the ingredients of cranberry juice are what give rise to the wild claims that the dark red juice clears you for any drug test including a urine test. But is this really true?

The active components in cranberry juice include salicylic acid, niacin, pectin, and zinc. Some of these ingredients ON THEIR OWN may cause false-negative results in a drug test due to their peculiar properties.

Salicylic acid

Research has shown that aspirin interferes with drug tests to give false-negative results. And salicylic acid is one of the ingredients used in making aspirin. Since cranberry juice also contains salicylic acid, is it potent enough to cause a positive difference in a drug test?

aspirin drug test

“Negative biases observed for other Emit d.a.u. assays after salicylate ingestion lead us to conclude that ingestion of therapeutic doses of aspirin may cause false-negative results for drug screens in urines by this technology.”

Consuming more of a substance that has higher salicylic content may only contribute positively to a drug test if only the test is the Enzyme Multiplied Immunoassay Technique (EMIT) drug test. And this is the most common and cheapest drug test that is often done.

But even with the EMIT method, cranberry juice can’t guarantee you to pass the drug test even if you drink gallons of it, because the salicylic acid content in it is extremely negligible.

Niacin

This is an important ingredient that makes cranberry juice beneficial as a detoxifying agent. However, does it have any positive impact on clearing you to pass a drug test?

There’s quite a pool of research that claims that there’s no scientific evidence of niacin helping an individual pass a drug test.

One of such Reseach was published in April 2018

niacin drug test

The amount of niacin in cranberry juice isn’t really relevant for drug test purposes since it can’t help flush out drugs from your system.

Zinc

Based on a study that was published in July 2011 in the Journal of Analytical Toxicology, there’s no conclusive evidence of the effectiveness of ingested zinc in passing drug tests.

“Zinc can be an effective adulterant in urine for some illicit drugs that are commonly screened under routine drug testing.”

Based on this study, zinc is only effective in causing someone to pass a urine test if it is added directly to the urine.

However, later in 2013, another study was published in the American Journal of Clinical Pathology which introduced a new test method that renders zinc ineffective of not being detected when added directly to the drug test sample (urine).

“Zinc sulfate can invalidate urine drug and alcohol testing but can be detected using the novel spot tests developed”

So the amount of zinc in cranberry juice doesn’t matter because it can’t change the outcome of a drug test.

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Pectin

Pectin is a highly soluble fiber found in fruits.

It is believed (not scientifically proven though) that fruit pectin neutralizes THC metabolites and flushes it out of the body to help an individual beat a drug test.

And even for that to be possible, according to those who make such claims, a large quantity of fruit pectin and water need to be consumed.

Drinking excess water than the body needs results in hyponatremia which can cause a lot of problems (like muscle spasms, and seizures) for your body.

The belief stems from the fact that pectin increases the body’s natural ability to excrete heavy metals. But honestly, this doesn’t translate to THC metabolites.

Conclusion

Cranberry juice has its own amazing benefits but using it to pass a drug test isn’t one of them. And that believe that it can give false-negative results is only a myth just like the idea of the earth being flat.

Rick Ritzman
 

I gained an interest in the medical aspects of Cannabis at a young age. This led me to pursue undergraduate studies in neuroscience, agriculture and a Ph.D. in pharmacology. I have performed research in several therapeutic areas, including cancer, immunology, and pain.

INSPIRE – 2020 Medical Marijuana Expo – Minnesota