Does CBD Affect Blood Work?

This question usually has two different meanings.

The first deals with drug panels and the second deals with routine blood work.

We'll look at both of them.

The last thing we want is to have our cholesterol spike or white blood cell count drop.

We have good news on that front and we'll also look at key questions around CBD's duration in the body.

These are the areas we'll cover:

• Does CBD show up in a 10-panel drug test
• Does CBD show up in routine blood work
• Does CBD affect blood panel results
• Does CBD affect kidney numbers
• Does CBD affect liver panel
• How long is CBD detectable in urine

Let's get started.

Does CBD show up in a 10-panel drug test

The first question centers around failing a drug test.

We covered this in detail at our Can CBD make you fail a drug test but the quick answer is…

NO. With a very big caveat.

It has to be CBD isolate with ZERO THC. Lots of full spectrum products can cause you to fail a test since they may legally have .3% THC which can trigger the tests.

THC builds tolerance over time so we focus on isolate anyway for health purposes. See CBD versus THC to learn more.

CBD is not tested in drug panels. Its cousin, THC is. CBD and THC are almost opposite to each other in terms of how they work in the body.

CBD is not psychoactive in that it doesn't produce a high.

It's also not addictive (see CBD and addiction), doesn't build tolerance (see CBD and tolerance), and doesn't cause withdrawals (see CBD and withdrawals).

We have a more in-depth look at how they oppose each other at our why you must use CBD if you smoke cannabis.

Very different.

Again, CBD is legal in all 50 states and is not tested on drug panels including the 10-panel drug test.

One note of caution...full spectrum CBD can have up to .03% THC.

This can build up and may make you fail a drug test!

That's why we focus on CBD isolate...zero THC!

Also, we don't like the baggage that THC brings with it.

What about routine blood work?

Does CBD show up in routine blood work

No. CBD should not show up in any blood panel work you may have.

First, it's not tested specifically nor are any metabolites.

None of the tests have a breakout specifically for CBD since it's not illegal and doesn't impact other blood panel results.

The one condition is with other medications.

Let's look at whether CBD affects the results of blood panels next.

Does CBD affect blood panel results

At standard doses (300 mg is the max for neurogenesis in research), the effects of CBD on blood panel results should be negligible.

Research has even looked at higher doses from 600-800 mg for more serious issues like schizophrenia or acute anxiety.

First, what does research show on the safety side where things might be measured?

We'll start at the physiological level first and work our way down to blood:

The comprehensive review of 132 original studies by Bergamaschi et al. describes the safety profile of CBD, mentioning several properties: catalepsy is not induced and physiological parameters are not altered (heart rate, blood pressure, and body temperature).

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5569602/

As for mental, physical, and gut effects:

Moreover, psychological and psychomotor functions are not adversely affected. The same holds true for gastrointestinal transit, food intake, and the absence of toxicity for nontransformed cells.

Check out CBD and the gut to understand how it can help there.

Let's drill down into the bloodwork now:

CBD treatment of up to 14 days (3–30 mg/kg b.w. i.p.) did not affect blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature, glucose levels, pH, pCO2, pO2, hematocrit, K+ or Na+ levels, gastrointestinal transit, emesis, or rectal temperature in a study with rodents

We have some key players of our blood panel work there:

• Glucose
• PH
• CO2 and Oxygen
• Hematocrit (red blood cell ratio)
• Potassium and sodium
• Gut function

One of the first tests looked at blood and urine tests specifically:

A first pilot study in healthy volunteers in 1973 by Mincis et al. administering 10 mg oral CBD for 21 days did not find any neurological and clinical changes (EEG; EKG).64 The same holds true for psychiatry and blood and urine examinations.

Another study followed up with 30 days of CBD use and found the same results.

Epilepsy patients were monitored for 135 days at 200-300 mg of CBD and the results were the same for blood panels:

Moreover, neurological and physiological examinations were performed, which neither showed signs of CBD toxicity nor severe side effects.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5569602/

Let's shift our focus to hormones.

Does CBD affect hormone levels

The endocannabinoid system (which CBD works within) is tasked with balancing three key systems including the endocrine system (hormones).

This is everything from metabolism, sleep, stress response, etc right to the steroidal hormones like estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone.

We did a big review of CBD and estrogen since it's such a critical supporter of serotonin function (see CBD and serotonin).

CBD has been shown to affect these pathways but not in an abnormal way.

For example, CBD was shown to reduce resetin which is a hormone tied to obesity. (see CBD and weight during perimenopause or CBD and appetite).

We cannot find human studies of CBD affecting hormone profiles at doses common in research (300-600 mg).

THC has been shown to suppress the entire suite of steroidal hormones which has important ramifications.

Since CBD has shown opposing effects to THC in almost every pathway, we wouldn't be surprised if it constrains THC's effect there as well. We need more research.

Let's look at the two workhorses for our urine and blood panels respectively.

Does CBD affect kidney numbers

It's hard to separate out CBD from cannabis or THC in the studies.

There are studies where CBD is used to protect the kidney when under assault such as:

The cannabidiol treatment had a protective effect against inflammation and oxidative damage in the kidney ischemia/reperfusion model.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4738825/

If standard kidney function as normal CBD doses (300-600 mg) was impaired, we would expect to see it in the urine panels above and we didn't.

We look forward to more specific kidney testing. Always work with your doctor or naturopath for any supplement especially if you have kidney issues.

Does CBD affect liver panel

First, understand that the liver is the primary site of CBD metabolism.

In fact, it uses a very common thoroughfare called P450 that up to 60% of common medications also use.

For this reason, it can interact with other medications and this is why you should work with your doctor or naturopath if you're on other medications with any supplement.

It can slow down or increase the absorption of the other medication.

There was a study on mice that showed potential liver issues from CBD but the doses given were so high (approximately 3200 mg for a 160 pound human) that it's nonsensical.

You can die from too much water and Tylenol is the leading cause liver failure in the US. (see CBD versus tylenol or how CBD protects the gut from aspirin or NSAID use).

If standard doses had issues on the liver, we would see it in the blood panels referenced above in studies.

In fact, there's evidence of CBD's benefits for liver function when under duress.

Mice were given a poison essentially which would severely impact the liver and brain.

The effects of CBD:

Increased plasma levels of ammonia, bilirubin, and liver enzymes, as well as enhanced 5-HT levels in thioacetamide-treated mice, were normalized following cannabidiol administration.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3057300/

The keyword there is "normalized". Not boosted or reduced. We see this throughout other key pathways such as serotonin, GABA, and even cancer!

Some practical questions.

How long is CBD detectable in urine and blood

So...we already addressed that CBD will not cause you to fail a drug test or even show up on a drug test (if it's CBD isolate).

How long does it show?

• The peak level for CBD in the blood in about 4-6 hours.
• The half-life is about 31 hours.
• The elimination period was generally 3-5 days

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5576600/

As for the urine, CBD is generally expelled after about 3 days:

In the urine, unchanged CBD and, to a lesser extent, conjugated CBD were the main excretion products, and about 16% of the total radioactivity was eliminated in 72 h by this route of excretion.

Again, CBD is not part of the standard drug panel as long as it's CBD isolate only (not full-spectrum which can have THC).

One caveat...this is all based on CBD isolate and quality product...which is NOT everything on the market.

For this reason, we follow these rules...

• Organically grown hemp in the US at an FDA registered farm
• CO2 processed
• 3rd party tested (top of every page)
• No THC!!
• No solvents
• No heavy metals
• No pesticides
• No bacteria
• No mold

We actually test twice since our whole family uses it. Be well!

Use can test the code FIRST50 code for 50% off the first order here.

Related Research:

Can you fail a drug test with CBD

CBD and blood pressure

CBD and safety

Always work with a doctor or naturopath with any supplement!

The information provided here is not intended to treat an illness or substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment from a qualified healthcare provider.