Jillian Michaels Seeks to ‘Get the Poison out of Our Food’ to Address Obesity, Chronic Disease

Jillian Michaels at Build Studio in New York City on Dec. 18, 2018. Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images

Fitness expert and certified nutritionist Jillian Michaels is speaking out against the harmful chemicals found in food and the detrimental impact it has on the overall health of Americans.

On Wednesday, Michaels stressed the importance of “trying to get the poison out of our food” during an appearance on CNBC’s “Power Lunch.”

“It is very difficult to try to spend all of your time avoiding heavy metals, microplastics, food colorings, glyphosate. I mean it’s absurd,” she said. “We can take all the agency in the world, but until there is a systemic change, it’s going to be virtually impossible for Americans to get healthier. We need help.”

The popularity of weight-loss drugs as a remedy for obesity and other chronic illnesses has soared in recent years, with Ozempic, Rybelsus, and Wegovy amassing combined sales of about $21.1 billion in 2023, according to Pew Research. Instead of depending on such medications, Michaels seeks to tackle the root of America’s health crisis.

“The hope is that we would have a change with regard to our food system, and people’s habits around food, and empower them to start making some simple changes,” she said, noting the elimination of soda as an example.

Michaels followed with the financial and physical effects of weight-loss drugs: “They cost hundreds if not thousands a month, they plateau, they come with a host of other very serious side effects.”

“So unless you’re very ill and very advanced with things like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, chronic kidney disease, I don’t think you really want to be looking at stomach paralysis, pancreatitis, the potential for thyroid cancer–albeit rare–nausea, vomiting, intestinal blockage,” she said.

The same day, Michaels sat down with “Fox and Friends,” where she said that addressing the over-ingestion of chemicals and ultra-processed foods is a nonpartisan issue, amid the rise of chronic illnesses among millions of Americans.

“The statistics are horrifying,” she said. “It’s not a question anymore. It is not nuanced. It’s simply right or wrong, good against evil. And the reality is, I can sit here, and I can tell everybody, ‘Hey, guys … eat less and move more and use common sense with your food choices, but the reality is that you can be thin and still get cancer and still get type 2 diabetes.’”

Research from the CDC revealed that about 6 in 10 Americans live with at least one chronic illness, such as heart disease, cancer, stroke, or diabetes. Such diseases and others are the leading cause of death, disability, and the country’s $4.3 trillion in annual health care expenses.

Senate Testimony

On Monday, Jillian Michaels joined several health experts, doctors, and leaders at a roundtable for a Senate testimony hosted by Sen. Ron Johnson to address the nation’s chronic disease crisis.

“I don’t know about you, but I’ve watched my friends jabbing themselves every day with fertility drugs, praying for a pregnancy,” she said. “My friends getting up at the crack of dawn to get radiated where the lump was found in their breast. My friends swallowing fistfuls of pills to manage their debilitating anxiety and depression.”

During the testimony, Michaels revealed her struggles with facing clinical obesity as a child. Despite suggestions to go on medication, “The Biggest Loser” star joined a martial arts studio, where she was “educated, insulated, and nourished” before dedicating her life to “waking up the others” throughout her fitness career.

“While I have been fortunate enough to pull many back from the edge, over the course of my 30-year career, I have lost just as many, if not more, than I have saved,” she said. “I have watched them slip through my fingers.”

“Most Americans are simply too financially strained, psychologically drained, and physically addicted to break free without a systemic intervention,” she added. “If this current trend is allowed to persist, the stakes will be untenable. We are in the middle of an extinction-level event. The American people need help. They need heroes.”

Fitness Expert

Born in Los Angeles on February 18, 1974, Jillian Michaels was clinically obese by the age of 13. After her mother enrolled her in martial arts classes, where she gained control of her weight, Michaels dedicated her life to health, wellness, and fitness. In 2002, she opened the gym “Sky Sport & Spa” in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Michaels got her big break when she was cast as a fitness trainer on the NBC reality television show, “The Biggest Loser.” In the series, Michaels coaches overweight and obese contestants who compete to lose the highest weight percentage relative to their starting weight. She appeared for multiple seasons throughout the show’s airing, her final being season 15, which concluded in February 2014.

Among her many accolades, Michaels is a certified nutrition and wellness consultant under the American Fitness Professionals and Associates, author of eight New York Times bestselling books, and host of the podcast “Keeping it Real: Conversations with Jillian Michaels.”