Weight Loss With B12 Shots? (Part 1)
April 16, 2023 Ashley 0 Comments
Now that Ozempic is being roasted… another vintage shot is making the rounds again:
Vitamin B12.
What it is is a shot of the same vitamin you buy at the store, except in an injectable form. Depending on who you go to, it gets administrated intra-muscularly about once a week – for those deficient in the stuff. (And perhaps even less if your levels aren’t too low.) While this practice is far from new, it’s cycled all the way back around now and regained popularity in many an aesthetic clinic. Why? Because of the promise of weight loss and endless energy, of course. You’ll get slim. You’ll sleep better. Your hair will improve. Just tack it onto your tab along with your next Restalyne and Botox treatment, the friendly front desk ladies will say. Super easy. Well, that is, at least it’s easy money for your provider. However, just how helpful is it for you?
Does it actually do what it claims to do?
The answer, as per usual, is an unsatisfying:
“It depends.”
As with most clinicians, I’ll give you the same answer I give my patients more often than I’d like to admit: you have to look at all the factors and variables involved. If we’re talking about weight loss, yes: B12 can help you lose weight – if you already have a deficiency. If you’re running on fumes for this micronutrient, you’ll feel chronically lethargic and your motivation to work out will be low. When you do, performance will be mediocre. Effort will be minimal. That alone could damage weight loss attempts. However, another malevolent aspect of being minus enough of a micronutrient is our eating habits. Our bodies know we’re missing something. So, as a result, we get hunger signals. The hunger signals don’t necessarily whisper into your mind to stuff your face full of fish or eggs to get that B12. Instead, you just keep eating. This often happens when we’re missing something – we just don’t know what.
Hence, the weight gain.
That said, if we’re having those symptoms and have put on some weight, that doesn’t mean we should self diagnose. That means we need to make an appointment and find out what’s going on. Too many of us tend to self prescribe one condition or the next. The reality is, if we just went into the doctor and ran some labs, we could know for sure. It may not even be a B12 deficiency. Then, before you know it, you’re overdosing on B12 and the only weight you’ll lose is from the side effects of too much B12 (vomiting and diarrhea).
Fun times, am I right?
But what if you actually are low on B12? Does the shot help then?