What is inside
“Lipo-C Fat Blaster” is a sales name. It is the standard Lipo-C injection, methionine, inositol and choline (the “MIC” trio) with L-carnitine, plus a handful of B-vitamins. Sellers vary in which B-vitamins they add. The usual ones are B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacinamide), B5 (pantothenic acid or dexpanthenol) and sometimes B9 (folic acid) or B6. None of these is a peptide. All are nutrients found in food and made or stored by the body.
There is no official recipe. Each pharmacy or seller decides which B-vitamins go in and how much of everything. Nothing is standardised. “Fat Blaster” is a claim, not an ingredient. The FDA’s inspection letters list products of this type as “LIPO (MIC) + B”. The label is the only description of what is inside. L-carnitine has its own page on this site; the Lipo-C page covers the core four ingredients in more detail.
The product is an aqueous mixture of the MIC lipotrope triad, L-methionine, myo-inositol (C6H12O6, 180.16 g/mol, NF monograph) and choline (usually as the chloride), with levocarnitine (C7H15NO3, 161.20 g/mol) and a seller-chosen subset of water-soluble B-vitamins. The B-vitamin selection is not fixed; products described in FDA warning letters are named only as “LIPO (MIC) + B”. The approved parenteral multivitamin Infuvite Adult, the only regulated reference for injectable B-vitamin content, contains per 10 mL dose thiamine 6 mg, riboflavin 3.6 mg, niacinamide 40 mg, dexpanthenol 15 mg, folic acid 600 mcg, biotin 60 mcg and cyanocobalamin 5 mcg alongside fat-soluble vitamins, and is indicated only for preventing vitamin deficiency in parenteral nutrition; it is not this blend.
No reference standard exists for the mixture, and no compatibility or stability data for the components together were found. Riboflavin is rapidly inactivated by ultraviolet and visible light. Pharmacokinetically, absorption of the B-vitamins is saturable (thiamine absorption declines sharply above 5 mg orally; little riboflavin is absorbed from single doses beyond 27 mg), and excess is excreted in urine; whether intramuscular bolus dosing changes tissue exposure meaningfully has not been studied for this product.
Who made it and when
No one invented this blend. It has no inventor or date. It is the MIC lipotropic injection, an idea from twentieth-century animal nutrition research, with B-vitamins added. The B-vitamin addition follows the same old literature, which listed niacin, pantothenate and folate as indirect helpers of the liver’s fat handling. It also borrows the reputation of B-vitamins as “energy” nutrients: they help enzymes release energy from food, though they do not supply energy themselves.
The regulated ancestors are separate. Levocarnitine was approved as Carnitor for carnitine deficiency. Methionine is part of amino acid drips. Injectable B-vitamin mixtures were approved for people fed through a vein; Infuvite Adult, the current one, was approved in 2003. No company has developed the “fat blaster” combination as a medicine, and no regulator has reviewed it.
No originator, patent or investigational programme exists for the combination. Its scientific lineage is the lipotrope literature reviewed by Fardet and Chardigny (2013), which identified choline, betaine, myo-inositol, methionine and carnitine as the main lipotropes in animal studies and named magnesium, niacin, pantothenate and folate as indirect supporters of the lipotropic effect, while noting that human intervention studies are practically non-existent. The B-vitamin addition therefore has a nominal basis in that literature and a marketing basis in the vitamins’ coenzyme roles in energy metabolism.
Component regulatory histories: levocarnitine is the active ingredient of Carnitor (injection indicated for secondary carnitine deficiency from inborn errors of metabolism and for dialysis-associated deficiency); L-methionine is a component of parenteral amino acid products such as Travasol 10% (initial approval 1984); thiamine, riboflavin, niacinamide, dexpanthenol and folic acid are components of Infuvite Adult (initial approval 2003); myo-inositol has an NF monograph; choline chloride was nominated for the 503A bulks list and sits in Category 1. The injectable combination is a compounding-market product without a development history in the regulatory sense.
What the data say
No study has tested this mixture. The Lipo-C page sets out the evidence for the core four ingredients. In short: the one good L-carnitine weight trial was negative (36 overweight women, 2 g twice a day for 8 weeks, no change in weight or fat), inositol by mouth lowered body mass index by about 0.4 units across 15 trials, choline corrects fatty liver caused by choline shortage, and methionine has no human weight trial.
The added B-vitamins do not change this picture. They are essential for the enzymes that release energy from carbohydrate, fat and protein. But that is a description of how metabolism works, not evidence that extra vitamins speed it up. The NIH fact sheets for thiamine, riboflavin, niacin and pantothenic acid do not list weight loss among the conditions studied. Deficiency of these vitamins is uncommon in the United States: only about 1% of adults get less niacin than they need. In a well-fed person, the extra is excreted in urine.
No trial of the combination, and no trial of any B-vitamin-supplemented lipotropic injection, was identified. The core-ingredient evidence is detailed on the Lipo-C page: Villani et al. (2000) found no effect of L-carnitine 2 g twice daily for 8 weeks with aerobic training on body mass or fat mass in overweight women; Zarezadeh et al. (2022) pooled 15 oral inositol trials for a weighted mean BMI reduction of 0.41 kg/m2 with high heterogeneity; NIH ODS summarises choline’s evidence as correction of deficiency-induced steatosis with only limited data for treating NAFLD; and no human methionine trial for adiposity exists.
For the B-vitamins, NIH ODS fact sheets describe coenzyme functions in energy metabolism (thiamine pyrophosphate, FAD/FMN, NAD/NADP, coenzyme A) and deficiency syndromes (beriberi, ariboflavinosis, pellagra, the rare pantothenic acid deficiency of prisoners of war and antagonist studies), and none identifies weight loss as a studied outcome. Population status is adequate: NHANES 2009-2012 found 1% of adults with niacin intakes below the estimated average requirement, and pantothenic acid deficiency is described as rare except in severe malnutrition. Absorption is saturable and excess is excreted, so a mechanism by which supraphysiological parenteral B-vitamins would increase fat oxidation in replete individuals has not been proposed in these sources, let alone demonstrated.
Ingredient: Methionine, inositol and choline (MIC)
These three are the “lipotropic” core, described in full on the Lipo-C page. Methionine is an essential amino acid that supplies “methyl groups”, chemical tags the liver uses to build phosphatidylcholine, the fat that packages other fats for export. Choline is a direct building block of the same molecule. Inositol sits in the same membrane chemistry and is studied for insulin signalling. In animals, a diet short of methionine and choline causes fatty liver, and adding them back clears it.
That is deficiency science. No human trial shows that extra methionine or choline burns body fat. Inositol by mouth has a small effect on body mass index, mostly in women with polycystic ovary syndrome. Too much choline causes a fishy body odour and low blood pressure. Methionine’s approved injectable use is as one of 15 amino acids in nutrition drips; choline and inositol have no approved injection.
L-methionine is the precursor of S-adenosylmethionine, the methyl donor for phosphatidylethanolamine N-methyltransferase-mediated phosphatidylcholine synthesis; choline is the direct precursor of phosphatidylcholine via the CDP-choline pathway and, via betaine, an alternative methyl donor; myo-inositol is a phosphoinositide constituent. Phosphatidylcholine is required for hepatic VLDL assembly, which is the mechanistic basis of the lipotrope concept and of the methionine- and choline-deficient rodent steatohepatitis model (Fardet and Chardigny 2013).
Human data are confined to deficiency correction and oral inositol: NIH ODS reports liver dysfunction in 37 of 57 adults on a near-choline-free diet and resolution of NAFLD in a 15-patient TPN pilot with 2 g supplemental choline, while noting limited data for treatment; Zarezadeh et al. (2022) report a 0.41 kg/m2 BMI reduction with oral inositol. Choline’s tolerable upper intake levels were set on hypotension and fishy body odour, and choline raises TMAO dose-dependently. Regulatory: L-methionine is a component of approved parenteral amino acid products (Travasol 10%, 400 mg per 100 mL); myo-inositol has an NF monograph; choline chloride is in 503A Category 1 and choline bitartrate in Category 3 on FDA’s list updated 2026-05-14.
Ingredient: L-carnitine
L-carnitine carries long fat chains into mitochondria, the parts of the cell that burn fat for energy. The body makes it, and red meat supplies more. As the drug levocarnitine (Carnitor) it is FDA-approved for people who cannot make or keep carnitine and for people on dialysis. It is also sold as a supplement, often for fat loss.
The fat-loss evidence is negative. In the 2000 trial, 36 overweight women took 2 g twice a day or placebo for 8 weeks while walking four days a week. Weight and fat did not change, and five women on carnitine dropped out with nausea or diarrhoea. The Carnitor injection label warns of severe allergic reactions, mostly in dialysis patients, of seizures, and of a possible rise in INR (a clotting test) in people on warfarin. Pharmacies may use levocarnitine in compounding but may not copy Carnitor while it is on the market.
Levocarnitine mediates the carnitine palmitoyltransferase shuttle for mitochondrial long-chain fatty-acid beta-oxidation. Carnitor injection is indicated for secondary carnitine deficiency from inborn errors of metabolism and for prevention and treatment of carnitine deficiency in dialysis patients; the label gives a 17.4-hour terminal half-life after intravenous dosing. Villani et al. (2000): no significant change in total body mass, fat mass or resting lipid utilisation with 2 g twice daily for 8 weeks plus supervised walking, versus lactose placebo, in 36 overweight premenopausal women, with 5 gastrointestinal withdrawals in the carnitine group.
Label safety: no known contraindications; warnings for serious hypersensitivity reactions including anaphylaxis, laryngeal edema and bronchospasm (mostly dialysis patients), post-marketing seizures, and TMA/TMAO accumulation with high oral doses in severely compromised renal function; adverse reactions include injection-site reactions, headache, pain, gastrointestinal symptoms and transient nausea and vomiting; INR monitoring with warfarin. Regulatory: an approved drug substance, eligible for compounding subject to the essentially-copies prohibition, and absent from FDA’s category lists.
Ingredient: B-vitamins
The B-vitamins added here are helpers (cofactors) for the enzymes that release energy from food. Thiamine (B1) helps burn carbohydrate. Riboflavin (B2) and niacin (B3) carry electrons in energy reactions. Pantothenic acid (B5) forms coenzyme A, which handles fats. Folic acid (B9) is used to make DNA. They do not contain energy and do not burn fat; they let enzymes do their normal work.
Most Americans get enough of them from food, and the body excretes the extra. Deficiency causes distinct diseases: beriberi (thiamine), pellagra (niacin), and burning feet and fatigue (pantothenic acid, seen in prisoners of war). Nicotinic acid, one form of niacin, causes flushing, burning and itching at 30 to 50 mg or more; most injectables use niacinamide, which does not flush. Thiamine into a vein has caused hives, wheezing and swelling, so the approved B-vitamin injection carries an anaphylaxis warning. For compounding, four of these are parts of the approved drug Infuvite Adult; pantothenic acid itself was nominated without enough support (Category 3), while its alcohol form, dexpanthenol, is in Infuvite.
Thiamine is the precursor of thiamine pyrophosphate (pyruvate and alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase, transketolase); riboflavin of FAD and FMN; niacin of NAD and NADP; pantothenic acid of coenzyme A; folate of tetrahydrofolate coenzymes for one-carbon metabolism including homocysteine remethylation to methionine. These are cofactor roles in replete tissue, not rate-limiting inputs: NIH ODS records saturable absorption (thiamine declining sharply above 5 mg; little riboflavin absorbed beyond 27 mg), urinary excretion of excess, and no tolerable upper intake level for thiamine (no adverse effects at 50 mg/day or more), riboflavin (none at 400 mg/day) or pantothenic acid, while nicotinic acid causes vasodilatory flushing at 30-50 mg and hypotension, impaired glucose tolerance, gastrointestinal and ocular effects and hepatotoxicity at 1,000-3,000 mg/day.
Deficiency epidemiology: NHANES 2009-2012 found 1% of adults below the niacin EAR; pantothenic acid deficiency has been documented only in prisoners of war and antagonist studies; thiamine deficiency clusters in alcohol use disorder, HIV, bariatric surgery and older adults; no ODS fact sheet lists weight loss as a studied outcome. Parenteral safety comes from the Infuvite Adult label: allergic reactions (urticaria, shortness of breath, wheezing, angioedema) after intravenous thiamine, anaphylaxis and anaphylactoid reactions, rash, headache and dizziness, aluminium content, and masking of folate and B12 deficiency in megaloblastic anemia. Regulatory: thiamine, riboflavin, niacinamide, dexpanthenol and folic acid are components of Infuvite Adult; pantothenic acid is in 503A Category 3 on FDA’s list updated 2026-05-14; FDA’s 2026 warning letter to GenoGenix found an injectable B-complex at 43.1% of labelled dexpanthenol.
Why researchers might study these together
The idea is to add “energy” vitamins to a “fat-moving” injection. The MIC trio and carnitine are meant to help the liver package fat and carry it into cells to be burned. The B-vitamins are the helpers those burning reactions need. On paper, one shot covers the whole chain. In practice, it is a hypothesis built from animal liver studies and textbook biochemistry, and no one has tested it in people.
Two gaps stand out. First, helper vitamins only limit a reaction when they are missing, and most people are not missing them. Adding more does not make the enzymes work faster. Second, the parts with human trials point the wrong way: carnitine did not cause weight loss, and a choline-containing mixture did nothing for fatty liver. No study has compared this injection with the same nutrients by mouth, or with placebo, or with nothing.
The rationale combines the lipotrope hypothesis (methyl-donor and phosphatidylcholine supply for hepatic VLDL export, plus carnitine-dependent beta-oxidation) with cofactor support for the dehydrogenase and acyl-CoA-dependent steps of fatty-acid oxidation. Fardet and Chardigny (2013) list niacin, pantothenate and folate as indirect supporters of the lipotropic effect in animal studies and note the near absence of human intervention data.
The cofactor premise fails on saturation: in replete individuals the B-vitamin-dependent enzymes are not cofactor-limited, absorption and tissue uptake are saturable, and excess is excreted. No preclinical or clinical study of the combination, or of B-vitamin supplementation as an adjunct to any lipotropic regimen, was identified. Available component data are negative for adiposity (Villani et al. 2000), modest and oral-only (Zarezadeh et al. 2022) or limited to deficiency correction (choline, NIH ODS), and the NIH fact sheets for thiamine, riboflavin, niacin and pantothenic acid do not record weight loss as a studied outcome. Whether intramuscular administration alters exposure relative to dietary intake for any component of this product is unstudied.
Regulatory picture
Approval: no regulator has approved this mixture. Several parts are in approved medicines for other uses: levocarnitine (Carnitor) for carnitine deficiency, methionine in nutrition drips, and thiamine, riboflavin, niacinamide, dexpanthenol and folic acid in the multivitamin injection Infuvite Adult for people fed through a vein. Choline and inositol have no approved injection.
Compounding (pharmacies mixing their own drugs): the FDA judges each ingredient on its own. Most of these qualify because they are parts of approved drugs, and inositol has an official monograph. Choline chloride is “under evaluation” (Category 1). Pantothenic acid was nominated without enough support (Category 3), though its alcohol form, dexpanthenol, is in an approved drug. The mixture itself has no status. Products of this kind are widely compounded: FDA letters in 2020, 2025 and 2026 mention lipotropic and “LIPO (MIC) + B” injections, citing missing prescriptions, contamination-control failures and incomplete labels, and one facility’s B-complex held less than half the labelled pantothenol. Those letters are about how the products were made and sold, not about whether the formula works.
Approval: none for the combination. Levocarnitine (Carnitor), L-methionine (Travasol 10% and other amino acid injections) and thiamine, riboflavin, niacinamide, dexpanthenol, folic acid, biotin and cyanocobalamin (Infuvite Adult) are components of approved products for unrelated indications; no approved parenteral choline or inositol product was identified.
Compounding: under section 503A(b)(1)(A)(i), each bulk substance must have an applicable USP or NF monograph, be a component of an approved drug, or appear on the 503A bulks list (21 CFR 216.23). Levocarnitine, L-methionine and the five B-vitamins listed qualify as components of approved drugs (levocarnitine subject to the essentially-copies prohibition); myo-inositol qualifies through its NF monograph; choline chloride is in 503A Category 1 (under evaluation, with interim-policy enforcement discretion) and choline bitartrate and pantothenic acid are in Category 3 on FDA’s list updated 2026-05-14. A blend has no status of its own and rests on the least-established component; this article records compounding as unknown.
Enforcement: FDA’s 2026-01-20 warning letter to GenoGenix LLC listed a “LIPO (MIC) + B” product with a deficient label and found an “Injectable B Complex” at 43.1% of labelled dexpanthenol; its 2025-04-02 letter to Empower Pharma cited a methionine, choline chloride and cyanocobalamin injection in a contamination-investigation finding; and its 2020-09-17 letter to Randol Mill Pharmacy cited a lipotropic injection made without valid prescriptions. None evaluates the formula’s safety or efficacy.
