How to Calculate Detox Timeline
What is Detox Timeline?
Detox timeline calculators estimate how long a substance takes to clear from the body based on its biological half-life — the time for plasma concentration to halve. Full clearance is approximately 5 half-lives.
Step-by-Step Guide
- 1Full clearance ≈ 5 × half-life
- 2Caffeine: half-life 5–6 hours; fully cleared in ~30 hours
- 3Nicotine: half-life ~2 hours (cotinine 16–20 hours)
- 4Alcohol: metabolised at ~0.015% BAC/hr (15mg/100mL/hr) linearly — not exponential
Worked Examples
Input
Last caffeine at 2pm · half-life 5.5 hours
Result
50% cleared by 7:30pm · 97% cleared by 1am
Explains why evening coffee disrupts sleep
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