What Is the Skinny Shot?

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The Skinny Shot at Mia Aesthetics

At Mia Aesthetics, we believe in transparency when it comes to your treatments. Our Skinny Shots contain a powerful medication paired with pyridoxine—commonly known as vitamin B6. B-vitamins act as lipotropes, helping your liver reduce fat production and storage. Additionally, vitamin B can provide an energy boost. Keep in mind that while the Skinny Shot is a helpful tool for weight loss, it works best when combined with a balanced diet and regular exercise routine.

Common Skinny Shot Components

Different doctors refer to different injections as “skinny shots,” and there is no industry standard for the term. A skinny shot could be anything from a vitamin injection to a prescription drug injection. Some doctors even claim to have their own special skinny shot cocktail.

The Proprietary Mix

Weight loss is big business, which makes some doctors pretend they’re hesitant to openly share their weight loss secrets and discoveries. The skinny on these skinny shots? Avoid them. You have a right to know exactly what is being injected into your body. Any practitioner who doesn’t want to say too much is one you shouldn’t be seeing. They could be injecting you with something as benign as saline solution or something potentially dangerous. If they feel the need to keep their trade secret, run – don’t walk – out of their office.

Vitamin B12

Vitamin B12 is an important vitamin, and doctors sometimes inject it to help those with a vitamin deficiency avoid pernicious anemia. As such, a B12 boost can help you quite a bit if you’ve been feeling fatigued, but only if a B12 deficiency is the reason.

According to the Mayo Clinic, if your vitamin deficiency is severe enough to make you feel lethargic, you could gain weight as a result of reducing your exercise and movement. A lack of vitamin B12 doesn’t directly lead to weight gain, however, so getting a B12 injection alone won’t cause you to lose weight — no matter how many times your doctor calls the injection a skinny shot.

Lipotropic Injections (Lipo-C)

Found in plant-based foods, lipotropes are chemicals that encourage the liver to get rid of fat. There are several different lipotropes, including B vitamins, methionine, inositol, magnesium, niacin, and choline. Lipotropic injections, also frequently called Lipo-C injections, supposedly give the body a boost of these fat-burning lipotropes, the result of which is an increase in fat-burning and a decrease in weight. Providers often indicate that you’ll need several shots each week although you may be able to slowly reduce shot frequency.

Unfortunately, there are a few problems with this particular skinny shot as well. One is that research has yet to prove Lipo-C injections safe or effective. As is true of the proprietary mixes discussed earlier, every clinic uses a different cocktail. Not every mix is suitable for every patient, and some clinics admit to adding phentermine to the mix, which is a prescription drug most known for its use many years ago as part of the controversial weight loss drug fen phen.

Know What You’re Getting

If you’ve decided a skinny shot might be for you, the most important thing you can do is to know what you’re getting. Is that syringe full of B vitamins, lipotropes, phentermine, or something else? If you don’t know, don’t take it. And make sure you know before you go. Asking what’s in a skinny shot five minutes before you get it doesn’t give you any time to do the research you should. You should understand each ingredient in the shot and talk to your doctor about all of them to make sure they’re safe for you given your unique medical history and current medications.

Know Who Is Giving It to You

As important as understanding what is in your skinny shot is knowing who is giving it to you. More specifically, it’s important to understand the letters behind the name responsible for your skinny shot cocktail. Are you seeing a medical doctor or are you in a medical spa where your practitioner may not be a doctor at all? Are you in the hands of a licensed dietician, a registered nurse, or a nurse injector?