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Does Niacin Flush Detox Help Pass A Drug Test?

It is a risk to put all your trust in niacin to detox your system before a drug test. The method is controversial with mixed opinions about how effective it actually is. This article lets you consider the niacin detox method by giving you the facts and the myths that exist, and science behind the supposed niacin detox properties.

  1. What is niacin?
  2. Niacin overdose side effects
  3. What is niacin flush detox?
  4. How to use niacin flush method to pass a drug test?
  5. What does this method do?
  6. Possible problems
  7. Will flush-free niacin work?
  8. Does niacin really help pass a drug test?
  9. Will niacin be detected in your system?
  10. Why this method is not recommended
  11. Verdict

niacin flush for drug test

What is niacin?

The common name for niacin also known as nicotinic acid is Vitamin B3, and you can find it in pills at almost any pharmacy. Vitamin B3 occurs naturally in the human body, and it mainly helps us metabolize carbohydrates. Niacin pills are a popular supplement to decrease cholesterol, improve eye, hair, and skin health. But also they are considered a means for flushing remnants of marijuana out of the body in order to pass a urine drug test.

One niacin pill typically holds 500mg of niacin but be careful not to overdo it. The human liver struggles to metabolize niacin, so more than 500mg in one dose or more than 2000mg a day can cause serious health issues.

Niacin overdose side effects

Mild side effects from taking niacin include increased blood pressure with a severe facial flush, intense stomach pain, itching, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and dizziness. In more serious cases side effects may include peptic ulcers, gout, severe hypotension, tachycardia (rapid heartbeat), and breathing difficulties.

What is niacin flush detox?

Some people believe that a niacin flush detox can flush traces of THC metabolites from the system faster than the body can remove them on its own.

How does this work? Two proofs are given in defense of this method.

First, niacin is supposed to break down the fat cells and THC, as we know, is stored in them. In a niacin flushing process, marijuana metabolites are released when fat breaks down and removed from the system naturally.

Second, those who use the niacin detox claim that niacin dilates blood vessels and increases blood pressure, what speeds up blood flow. This, in turn, is supposed to push THC metabolites out of the system much faster.

How to use niacin flush method to pass a drug test?

Niacin flush supports say that you need to give this method enough time, preferably from 2 to 5 days, if you want to gain the maximum effect but avoid side effects and damage from taking more than the recommended dose.

Here is the recommended method:

  • Take 500 mg of niacin every 6 hours with two glasses of water
  • Drink plenty of fluids during the day, including water, sports drinks, and juices. Do not overhydrate yourself, but be sure to drink more than usual
  • Urinate often
  • Avoid fatty foods because they limit niacin's effectiveness

On the day of your drug test you should do the following:

  • Drink four glasses of water with double dose (1000 mg) of niacin
  • Urinate as often as possible
  • If your urine looks diluted, take B vitamins 1 hour before the test. They give urine a yellow color.
  • Keep the creatinine level normal in your urine by taking a small dose of creatine before the test.

What does this method do?

A more in-depth look shows us that the niacin method is just another dilution technique. It increases your volume of urine, which dilutes the concentration of metabolites in your system.

Dilution might seem like a good choice, but it can change the color and the overall composition of your urine, which looks suspicious in drug tests. You will need to take extra precautions to help you cheat the test. You should take B vitamins to give your urine a natural yellow color to pass the visual control. You should also take creatine before the test to pass the sample adulteration check.

Dilution method works, but your sample may be rejected if you do not take the necessary precautions to restore natural appearance and composition of your urine.

Possible problems

The niacin method is not foolproof, and here's why. Niacin pills have different levels of effectiveness, depending on a person's weight, height, and metabolism rate. Generally, the more body fat you have, the less effective niacin will be. There is also the risk that you will not have enough time for the niacin to be effective. Advocates of this method say that only by giving it the required amount of time you will achieve the desired result without overdoing it and causing side effects.

Will flush-free niacin work?

No, it won’t. Flush-free niacin (also called no-flush niacin) is inositol hexniacinate, which is another form of nicotinic acid. It is called so because it has much milder skin flushing effect as compared to normal niacin. The available information tells us that the active form of flush-free niacin may not even enter the bloodstream to have a chance of being useful. Therefore, it is unlikely that it will help you get rid of THC and pass a drug test. In any case, no-flush niacin is definitely less effective than normal one, so does not worth trying.

Does niacin really help pass a drug test?

No. There are mixed opinions about whether or not niacin will help you pass a drug test, but this method wasn’t backed by any scientific research.

For niacin to stand a chance, it will need to break down the body fat that stores drug metabolites and then flush them out of your system. Despite claims, niacin cannot do this. The only fat it can break down is the fat in the foods you eat, which does not contain drug metabolites.

Another claim is that niacin works because of its vasodilation affect–the ability to dilate blood vessels, thereby increasing blood flow and blood pressure. They claim is that the body can push out THC metabolites faster and easier when the blood vessels are fully open.

The catch in this theory is that healthy people generally do not experience elevated blood pressure when they take niacin. Flushing only happens in isolated cases but, even so, there is no scientific evidence that vasodilation flushes fat cells the way it flushes the skin.

Evidence does show is that the only part of the niacin method that actually helps is the significant amount of water that you drink.  It's the water, not the niacin, that increases urination and dilutes the drug metabolites in your urine sample.

Will niacin be detected in your system?

It's quite common for people who use the niacin flush method to be worried that niacin will be detected in their urine and that a suspicious sample might be rejected, trigger further tests or reported as adulterated.

The answer to this question is no. The reality is that labs do not test for traces of niacin and they will never know if you have used it.

We don't know if authorities or test producers are planning to include niacin detection in the future, but, for now, we know you won't have to worry about the compound being detected. Even if drug test could detect niacin, testers could not decisively accuse you of drug masking. After all, niacin is a common form of medication, nutrient, and supplement widely used for medical reasons.

Having said this, just because test can't detect niacin, doesn't mean that you don't need to worry about its results. The method's lack of detox efficiency means that the test might still detect traces of THC metabolites in your urine.

Why this method is not recommended

There simply is no acceptable evidence to trust niacin or no-flush niacin to help you pass a drug test. People who try the process might take very high doses hoping to maximize the effects of the supplement. Overdoses are toxic and can lead to life-threatening side effects. There are reports of serious health issues experienced by people who have tried niacin based only on advice from the internet.

Moreover, niacin is not even a diuretic. In other words, it does not increase your urination. Increased urination is just its rare side effect, most users will not experience this. All available evidence tells us that drinking the amounts of water recommended in the niacin method will give you the same result even if you do not take the niacin! And definitely, usual diuretic pills and especially remedies like drinks and pills specially designed to remove THC from your system have more effect and are more safe to use as compared to niacin.

Verdict

It is best to consider an alternative to niacin for passing a drug test. There is not enough evidence to prove that niacin will help to flush out traces of THC. On the other hand, there is more than enough proof that a niacin overdose causes significant damage. Instead of trusting a mythical method, use popular detox products, such as THC detox drinks and kits, that are safe and have been proved to be effective.