Four nutrients.
One quick injection.
Vitamin B12 plus methionine, inositol, and choline, delivered intramuscularly so they skip the digestive tract entirely. $20 per injection, reviewed by your provider first, no membership and no package to buy.
The reasons patients bring these up
Almost nobody walks in asking for methionine by name. They walk in with one of these.
You're already on a weight loss plan
The protocol is working and you want to know what else supports it without adding another prescription.
Your B12 came back low
Somebody flagged it on a panel, or you have symptoms that fit, and oral supplements have not moved it.
You don't absorb well
Bariatric surgery, Crohn's, celiac, chronic reflux medication, or long-term metformin all interfere with B12 absorption.
Your diet is restricted
B12 occurs naturally only in animal foods. Vegetarian and vegan diets need another source, and choline intake usually runs low too.
You want a weekly touchpoint
A standing appointment keeps some people connected to a plan far better than a reminder on a phone.
You saw them advertised
Fair enough. Come in and we will tell you what the evidence actually supports and whether that fits you.
Two of these nutrients are commonly under-consumed
of U.S. adults age 19 and older have vitamin B12 deficiency, with 12.5% insufficient.
NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. Sourceaverage daily choline intake in U.S. men, against an Adequate Intake of 550 mg.
NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. Sourceaverage daily choline intake in U.S. women, against an Adequate Intake of 425 mg.
NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. Sourceper injection at Summit Health, with no membership or package required.
Summit Health Clinic, Springfield, MO.The average American man gets about 73% of the recommended choline intake and the average woman about 65%. B12 deficiency and insufficiency are quiet enough that plenty of people carry one without knowing. That is the gap these injections are actually aimed at.
What lipotropic injections are for
A lipotropic injection is a small intramuscular shot combining vitamin B12 with MIC, the standard trio of methionine, inositol, and choline.
They are designed as nutritional support alongside a supervised plan, not as a weight loss program on their own. Where they earn their place is in correcting a shortfall you actually have, and in giving you a simple weekly touchpoint that keeps you connected to the protocol doing the heavy lifting.
Why we review you first
B12 status varies enormously from person to person, and it changes what you should expect. Your provider looks at your history, your medications, and whether your levels have ever been measured before recommending a schedule. That is a two-minute conversation that makes the next three months more useful.
The four ingredients, and what each one actually does
Two are essential nutrients your body cannot manufacture. One is an essential amino acid. One your body makes but also takes in from food.
Vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin)
A water-soluble vitamin your body cannot make and must get from outside. It occurs naturally almost only in animal foods.
- Required for red blood cell formation
- Required for normal neurological function and myelin maintenance
- Required for DNA synthesis
- Deficiency causes megaloblastic anemia, fatigue, weakness, and nerve symptoms
Why injected: oral B12 needs stomach acid and intrinsic factor to be absorbed in the small intestine. Bariatric surgery, atrophic gastritis, Crohn's, celiac, long-term metformin, and acid-reducing medication all interfere with that pathway. An injection bypasses it.
Choline
An essential nutrient with the clearest liver role of the group. The average American does not hit the recommended intake.
- Adequate Intake is 550 mg/day for men, 425 mg/day for women
- Average U.S. intake is 402 mg in men and 278 mg in women
- As phosphatidylcholine, it is essential for transporting lipids out of the liver
- Precursor to acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter tied to memory, mood and muscle control
Why it's in a "lipotropic" shot: this is the actual basis for the name. Lipotropic means fat-moving, and choline's established role is helping the liver export fat rather than store it.
Methionine
A sulfur-containing essential amino acid. Your body cannot synthesize it, so it has to come from protein in your diet.
- Precursor to SAMe, the body's main methyl donor
- Feeds one-carbon metabolism, the same pathway B12 and folate work in
- Precursor to cysteine, which the body uses to make glutathione
- Participates in hepatic lipid handling alongside choline
Worth knowing: methionine and B12 are linked. B12 is a required cofactor in the reaction that regenerates methionine from homocysteine, which is part of why they are combined.
Inositol
A carbohydrate, sometimes loosely called vitamin B8. Unlike the others, your body does produce it, and you also get it from food.
- A structural component of cell membrane phospholipids
- Involved in insulin signal transduction inside the cell
- Found in particularly high concentration in brain tissue
- Part of the second-messenger systems cells use to relay signals
Straight answer: inositol is the least established of the four in this context. It is included because MIC is a long-standing combination, not because injected inositol has strong standalone weight loss evidence.
Put together
Three of the four sit in overlapping metabolic pathways: methylation, liver lipid transport, and the one-carbon cycle. That is the rationale behind the combination. It is nutritional support for pathways that already exist, delivered in a form that does not depend on your gut.
Injection versus a pill
The delivery route is the main practical difference, and it matters more for some people than others.
Intramuscular
A small injection into the upper arm or hip. Takes about two minutes. Some soreness at the site is the usual complaint.
Bypasses digestion
Nothing has to survive stomach acid, bind intrinsic factor, or cross the intestinal wall. That is the entire argument for the injection over a tablet.
Matters most if
You have had bariatric surgery, an inflammatory bowel condition, celiac disease, or you take metformin or acid reducers long term.
If your gut works fine and your levels are normal, an oral supplement may do the same job for less. We would rather tell you that than sell you a weekly appointment you do not need.
The shot bar, a bottle from the shelf, and us
All three deliver something. The difference is whether anyone checked that you needed it.
| Walk-in shot bar | Over-the-counter supplement | Summit Health | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Provider review first | Rarely | None | Every patient, before the first injection |
| Absorption | Intramuscular | Depends on your gut | Intramuscular |
| Is your B12 measured? | Usually not | No | We ask, and can order it |
| Medication interactions checked | No | No | Yes, against your full list |
| Tied to a real plan | Sold standalone | Sold standalone | Coordinated with your protocol and your InBody results |
| Commitment | Packages and memberships | Whatever you bought | $20 a shot, no package, no minimum |
| If it isn't helping | You keep buying | You keep buying | We adjust or stop it |
Who gets the most out of them
This may be worth it if
- Your B12 came back low or borderline
- You are already in a supervised weight loss program and want an adjunct
- You have absorption issues, a restrictive diet, or take metformin long term
- You want a low-cost weekly touchpoint that keeps you accountable
Start somewhere else first if
- You want a complete weight loss program rather than an add-on
- You have not had your B12 measured yet
- You have not had labs or a body composition scan yet
- What you actually need is a GLP-1 evaluation or a hormone workup
If the second column sounds like you, say so when you call. Starting with medical weight loss or a body composition scan gives us a foundation to build on, and injections can be added from there.
How it works
Provider review first
Your provider reviews your history, your medications, and whether this makes sense for you before the first dose. If your B12 has never been measured, we will talk about measuring it.
Quick in-office visit
The injection itself takes a couple of minutes, intramuscular, usually in the upper arm or hip. Most people are in and out.
A weekly rhythm, if it suits you
Frequency is set by your provider based on your labs and your program. Weekly is common. There is no package to buy and no minimum to commit to.
We check whether it is doing anything
If you are in a weight loss program, your InBody scans and labs show whether the overall plan is working, and we adjust from there. Nothing stays in your protocol just because it started there.
Twenty dollars. That's the whole price.
- No membership fee
- No package or minimum commitment
- Provider review included
- Walk-in friendly once you are established
- Discussed as part of your protocol
- Tracked against your InBody results
- Adjusted or stopped based on what your numbers show
HSA and FSA friendly. Ask for an itemized receipt and submit it.
Risks are low, but they are not zero
Lipotropic injections are generally well tolerated. The most common issues are local: soreness, redness, or bruising at the injection site.
Less commonly, people report nausea, stomach upset, or headache. Allergic reactions are rare but possible. Injections are not appropriate if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, have significant kidney or liver disease, or have a known sensitivity to any component. Tell your provider everything you take, including supplements, before you start.
Individual results vary and are not guaranteed. Lipotropic injections are administered only after evaluation by a licensed provider and only when clinically appropriate. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration, and lipotropic injections are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Scott Adler, PA-C
Scott reviews every patient before an injection is given and builds the program it sits inside. Patients in 54 five-star Google reviews describe him as thorough, quick to answer, and genuinely invested in how they do.
★ 5.0 out of 5
Across 54 Google reviews, with owner responses on nearly all of them.
Locally owned
One clinic, at 2833 E Battlefield Rd in Springfield, serving southwest Missouri.
No packages
Twenty dollars a shot, no membership and no minimum. Come in when it fits your schedule.
Common questions about lipotropic injections
What are lipotropic injections?
Lipotropic injections are intramuscular shots that combine vitamin B12 with MIC, a mix of methionine, inositol, and choline. At Summit Health Clinic in Springfield, Missouri they cost $20 per injection with no membership or package required, and are used as support alongside a supervised weight loss plan. Each patient is reviewed by a provider before the first injection.
What exactly is MIC?
MIC stands for methionine, inositol, and choline. Methionine is a sulfur-containing essential amino acid your body cannot make. Choline is an essential nutrient required for transporting lipids out of the liver and for producing acetylcholine. Inositol is a carbohydrate your body does produce, involved in cell membrane structure and insulin signalling. At Summit Health these three are combined with vitamin B12 in a single intramuscular injection.
Why is choline the one that matters most here?
Because it is the reason these are called lipotropic, which means fat-moving. As phosphatidylcholine, choline is essential for transporting lipids out of the liver. It is also the ingredient most Americans fall short on: the Adequate Intake is 550 mg per day for men and 425 mg for women, while average intake is 402 mg and 278 mg respectively, according to the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements.
Why not just take a pill?
For many people a pill is fine, and we will say so. The injection matters when absorption is the problem. Oral B12 requires stomach acid and intrinsic factor to be absorbed in the small intestine, and bariatric surgery, Crohn's, celiac disease, atrophic gastritis, long-term metformin and acid-reducing medication all interfere with that. An intramuscular injection skips the entire pathway.
Will lipotropic injections make me lose weight on their own?
They are not designed to. Each nutrient in the injection has a defined role in normal metabolism, and choline in particular is involved in how the liver handles fat. But these are an adjunct, not a weight loss program. Patients who see the most from them are using them alongside a supervised protocol, where the plan drives the results and the injections support it.
Will they give me more energy?
If your B12 is low, correcting it can make a real difference in fatigue, and that is the situation where people notice the most. Roughly 3.6% of U.S. adults are B12 deficient and another 12.5% are insufficient, often without knowing it. If your levels are already in a good range, the effect is generally more modest, which is why measuring beats guessing.
How much do lipotropic injections cost in Springfield, MO?
$20 per injection at Summit Health Clinic. There is no membership fee, no package to buy, and no minimum commitment. For patients already in our medical weight loss program, injections may be included as part of the protocol when clinically indicated.
How often would I get one?
Weekly is the most common schedule, but frequency is set by your provider based on your labs and your program rather than a fixed package. Some patients do them for a stretch and then stop.
Does it hurt?
It is a quick intramuscular injection, usually in the upper arm or hip, and takes a couple of minutes. Some soreness or a small bruise at the site is the most common complaint.
Do I need labs first?
Not strictly, but we will ask whether your B12 has ever been measured. Knowing where your levels actually sit changes what you should expect, and it makes the whole thing more useful.
Can I get these without being in a weight loss program?
Yes, after a provider review. If weight loss is your main goal, a body composition scan or a medical weight loss evaluation is the stronger place to start, and injections work well added on top of that.
Are there side effects?
Most commonly soreness, redness, or bruising at the injection site. Less commonly nausea, stomach upset, or headache. Allergic reactions are rare. They are not appropriate during pregnancy or breastfeeding, or with significant kidney or liver disease. Tell your provider what else you take, including supplements.
Where our patients come from
In-office care in Springfield, telemedicine across Missouri for the rest of your program. Injections are given in the clinic.
2833 E Battlefield Rd, Bldg B, Ste 100, Springfield, MO 65804. Call or text (417) 232-3000.
Twenty dollars, no membership, no minimum
Call and we will tell you whether these make sense for where you are.
Related: medical weight loss, InBody 270 body composition, IV hydration.
This page is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Lipotropic injections at Summit Health Clinic are administered only after evaluation by a licensed provider and only when clinically appropriate. Individual results vary and are not guaranteed. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration, and lipotropic injections are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Consult your healthcare provider about whether this treatment is right for you.