In this short NewsNation segment, host Ross Coulthart interviews fitness personality and “Keeping It Real” podcast host Jillian Michaels about nicotine use, focusing on non-combustible products rather than smoking or vaping. Michaels says she is a nicotine user, not an “enthusiast”, and argues nicotine has “cognitive benefits” and can be used strategically. She adds that she would not call nicotine “healthy”, but suggests that when it is “not abused” there is “no reason not to utilise it”, while also advising that it should be done with a doctor’s permission.
Coulthart discloses that Michaels introduced him to nicotine gum and frames the discussion around nicotine delivery via gum or pouches. He adds a market observation, claiming nicotine sales have “exploded” and citing Philip Morris’s share performance in connection with products like Zyn pouches. He says he has not heard a convincing case for why adults over 21 — whom he describes as having developed brains — should not use nicotine on an occasional basis.
The exchange is largely conversational and opinion-driven; no studies, clinical guidance, or specific evidence are cited on air to substantiate claims about cognitive benefits or population-level risk/benefit trade-offs.
Jillian Michaels tells NewsNation’s Ross Coulthart she uses nicotine and says it has cognitive benefits when not abused. She argues adults can use non-combustible nicotine (such as gum or pouches) strategically, with a doctor’s permission.
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