“Skinny shots (lipotropic injections) help you lose weight.”
Lipotropic "skinny shots" have not been shown to help people lose weight.
Skinny shots are not a proven way to lose weight. Weight lost while using them comes from the diet and activity changes that usually come with the program, not from the shot.
If you are paying for lipotropic shots, you can stop and put that money toward an approach shown to work.
Talk to a healthcare professional if: you want help losing weight and would like to know which proven options, including prescription medicines, fit your health.
No trial has tested the shots themselves; this verdict rests on what is known about their ingredients, and none has been shown to cause weight loss at the amounts in a shot. Confidence is limited because the evidence is indirect.
Lipotropic "skinny shots" have not been shown to help people lose weight. No study has tested them, and their ingredients have not caused weight loss at the amounts the shots contain.
Lipotropic shots usually mix vitamin B12 with methionine, inositol and choline, and each clinic may use its own blend. A drug company's consumer health page says their effect on weight has not been confirmed by researchers and that most support comes from personal reports. One compounding pharmacy lists the strength of its shot as 25 mg of methionine, 50 mg of inositol and 50 mg of choline. For inositol, a review of 15 trials found that inositol pills of 600 to 4,450 mg every day led to a small drop in body mass index (about 0.4 points), mostly in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Those daily doses are at least 12 times the 50 mg listed for a shot. Extra B12 has not been shown to help thinking, mood or energy in people who are not low. Compounded shots are not FDA approved and have not been checked by the FDA for safety or effectiveness.
- Pfizer. Lipo Injections for Weight Loss. Pfizer Health Answers. Published 2024-11-14
- Olympia Pharmacy. MICC (methionine, inositol, choline, cyanocobalamin) injection product page
- Zarezadeh M, Dehghani A, Faghfouri AH, et al. Inositol supplementation and body mass index: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials. Obesity Science & Practice. 2022;8(3):387-397. DOI: 10.1002/osp4.569. PMID: 35664247. PMCID: PMC9159559
- Empower Pharmacy. Lipo Injection (methionine, choline chloride)
- Markun S, Gravestock I, Jäger L, Rosemann T, Pichierri G, Burgstaller JM. Effects of vitamin B12 supplementation on cognitive function, depressive symptoms, and fatigue: a systematic review, meta-analysis, and meta-regression. Nutrients. 2021;13(3):923. DOI: 10.3390/nu13030923. PMID: 33809274. PMCID: PMC8000524