Mikayla Nogueira denies using Ozempic after losing 30 pounds battling a binge-eating disorder: 'I don't want to cheat my recovery'
- Beauty guru Mikayla Nogueira revealed she's lost 30 pounds without Ozempic.
- Nogueira also told fans she's been in recovery for a binge-eating disorder for the past six months.
TikTok beauty guru Mikayla Nogueira shared on Wednesday that she's lost 30 pounds over the past six months while in recovery from an eating disorder.
But she's lost the weight "completely naturally and normally," she said in a TikTok video to her 15.3 million followers, without the help of Ozempic, a drug used to treat diabetes that's been popularly used for weight loss.
Nogueira said she doesn't judge anyone who takes Ozempic but made the video in response to a commenter who accused her of using it.
"In recovery, I happen to have lost 30 pounds because I was struggling with binge-eating disorder," she said. Nogueira added that enduring all of the "extreme mental strain to get healthy," only to be labeled with the accusations, "sucks."
She continued that while she knows others have taken Ozempic to combat their own eating disorders, she decided it wouldn't be a healthy path for her.
"I will never personally do Ozempic because I don't want to cheat my recovery. That's just my personal, personal opinion," she said. "I need to develop a healthy relationship with food and exercise and my body image."
Many commenters rushed to Nogueira's defense, while also noting that taking Ozempic shouldn't be stigmatized.
"You're damned if you do and damned if you don't," one viewer wrote. "You are on your own journey and you don't need owe [sic] anyone an explanation on how you got through it."
"These drugs are an amazing tool!" another offered. "Why is there such a stigma about them????"
Nogueira did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.