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Paula Deen’s announcement Tuesday on TODAY that she has type-2 diabetes generated tons of buzz. Celeb chefs were expressing their support or ire (we’re looking at you, Tony B.) for the butter maven. The New York Times crowd-sourced a gallery of Deen’s most outrageous dishes and Eater.com made a slideshow of some of the snarkiest tweets.
TODAY.com readers had an emotional reaction to Deen’s admission as well, and most fell into three camps. Some agreed with Deen's statement that moderation is key, and that home cooks need to take responsibility for what they eat:
It's called personal accountability. So what if she promotes high fat/high sugar recipes on her show? Every person out there has a choice every single time they choose to eat or drink something, regardless of what they've seen on TV or heard from Paula Deen. Make a healthy choice, take some responsibility for whatever choice you make, and deal with the consequences. If you think she's the devil for promoting these fattening dishes, then YOU don't watch her show, don't buy her cookbooks, don't cook those dishes and don't eat those foods. Simple. –Ristian 77, Bites
Others felt that she missed the opportunity to encourage people to eat healthier and make better choices:
Boy, does this sadden me that a person who is so well liked and respected by so many is missing the opportunity of a lifetime: to help people. Not just entertaining people but really contributing to the health and welfare of other human beings. As a physician, I see diabetics every day and try to educate my patients till I am blue in the face and behind by an hour and all I am trying to do is help one person at a time. She could help MILLIONS by teaching diabetic cooking on her show and all she has got to say is that “I am a cook, not a doctor.” –Al-750574, Bites
Still others were left incensed by the fact that Deen, who says she doesn’t plan to change how she cooks on her show, will appear in ads for Nova Novartis, the pharmaceutical company that supplies her diabetes medication:
What she is doing is TOTALLY irresponsible! Now she is going to make money from a drug company. The only reason she came forward with this today was that she wanted to start getting paid by big pharma! –Maureen Barry, TODAY Food Facebook
But Deen’s biggest supporters hail from her hometown of Savannah, Ga., where 11.8 percent of residents are afflicted with type-2 diabetes (the national average is 8.3 percent) and where her restaurant, The Lady & Sons, is located. This is the restaurant that serves her infamous brunch burger (a burger and fixings with doughnuts for buns). The Savannah Morning News asked patrons if they were affected by Deen's news. Most expressed their support and sadness for Deen, but there was one reaction that just left us wondering whether to laugh or cry.
Chef Anthony Bourdain is speaking out against Paula Deen in light of her announcement that she has diabetes, saying that it's in "bad taste" that she continued to promote her signature fat-filled foods knowing that she had the disease.
Bud Apple, a customer who also has type-2 diabetes, told the paper that Deen’s announcement actually had him worried that The Lady & Sons would change its menu to offer healthier, low-fat fare.
When he was called in for his reservation, he joked to the reporter, “I’m gonna go in and get me some more diabetes.”
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OMG! I'm a born and raised southerner and I gotta say, just looking at that burger with doughnuts for bread makes me want to spew! How on earth could anyone look at that and think "that looks tasty!" It's stomach churning just to look at the picture!
Paula Deen is an entrepreneurial American who is out to make some good ol' fashioned money. Why do people expect her to be some kind of role model?
Because we look to celebrities to help us fill the emotional voids in our lives that our families can't or won't fill for us. We latch on to people we see on TV who conduct themselves they way we wish our real families and friends would.
No, we should all throw out our personal ethics in the name of the almighty dollar. Sigh.
Exactly. Also, why do they want her to be a nutritionist. What WOULD she know about cooking healthier?
I was just diagnosed with high blood glucose/sugar, not diabetic yet, and I'm getting treatment for it to delay diabetes.
To agree and disagree with Paula Deen, moderation is partially the key. There is no way to prevent eating high calorie, high sugar, and high carb foods. In these cases, why not eat the real thing instead of a tasteless pared back version. For the majority of my meals, I eat mainly greens and meat as those are the only foods that are good for you.
Thus, Paula should continue to cook as she does for the times where you can indulge. If you're diabetic, eat a small bite, but enjoy it. Then go for the salads and meat dishes.
Can't wait to hear how the over emphasized accent from the mouth-of-the-south drags out the names of the drug company, the drug she'll make a million dollars for promoting (her health?), and the disease itself. After all, how many "E's" can there be in "Diabeeteees"?
Woo pig sooie!!!
It's just like McDonald's all over again. If YOU, WE cannot take responsibility for what we eat it is a sad affair. If Paula ate everything she made on tv, she wouldn't be with us. For pete's sake people use your head (that is, unless it's where things are dark and stinky.) I have never heard of Paula Deen sitting on anyone's chest pouring her "evil" concoctions down anyone's throat!!! I love the make her dishes but I assure you that I don't do it every day, week or month. I'm responsible for what I eat and how I take care of my health, I will never blame anyone for my choices and neither should any of you. Paula, I so sorry to hear of your diagnosis. Take care of yourself and god bless.
I agree with you, and as a diabetic, we all have to modify some of our favorite recipes so that we
can eat them with out making ourselves sick. I have aproblem with people telling adults they are responsible for what their children do but adult diabetic's are not! If Paula does cook what she cooks she is no longer Paula Deen, I know better then to be able to eat what sh emakes, but I also know that there is a way around it as well. I wish her all the best and it does take a while to get over the fact that you have been told you have an illness but it can be taken care of as long as you take responsibility for it yourself!
You want to talk about "egregious", let's talk about the Today Show basically setting Paula Deen up. I've watched her for years and never once felt that she was suggesting we eat her recipes every day. I feel this is exactly the "McDonald's" theory all over again. No one other than yourself is to blame for what you eat. As for having Anthony Bourdain on after her is another "egregious act on the Today Show part. If you've ever watched his shows, and I have many times, if we all ate and drank like he does on those shows, we'd be in rehab.
$$$Show Me The Money$$$
It's America. It's all about the money. No one should expect integrity in business. She would wrestle an orangutan in mashed potatoes and gravy on her show if she would make more money. And truthfully, probably anyone we watch would do the same thing. They only care about the money.
Not everyone gets diabetes from food. I'm not overweight, I don't eat Southern fried foods, and I usually don't eat sugary snacks. Yet, my family has a history of diabetes.
Lay off the Paula Deen hate. This is worse especially coming from the hypocritical Anthony Bourdain who is shown drinking lots of alcohol, eating all sorts of wierd fare and never turns anything down, and smoking a ton. His lifestyle is not an example of heathy living.
To Paula - Love you, hon - all the time - no matter WHAT you do!!!!
To The Rest of the Sane World - I don't think I've YET to make one of Paula's recipes. Nothing against them - just haven't done it yet. Of COURSE I would use moderation, but to be frank about it, so far only WATCHING her cook these goodies have satified my appetite. Funny, but I don't need to actually eat them!! LOL
To the Insane Part of the World (Anthony B. and those "negative Nellies" on here who HAVE to say nasty things - yes, you - Bobby, Pete and Kelly) - go get a life. There are better things to do than just be nasty online in order to see your name posted, isn't there??
I'd LOVE to see A. Bourdain drink himself drunk on TV (as usual) and then do commercials for AA!!!!!!!! ROFLMAO
Actually, Deen is promoting a product that she supports and can be helpful for a medical condition what she shares. The income is likely to be a pittance compared to the rest of her empire. And as far as the assertion that she's creating people with type 2 diabetes? Nonsense. she has a cooking show that showcases traditional american classic food and Southern favorites. Some are quiet healthy and some things are extravagances. It's up to the viewer to choose what they eat and in what quantity. And frankly, most people that watch never make one of her dishes. Like most unhealthy people, they warm up chemical laden preprepared foods from the grocery store by the truckload and poinson themselves to death with nary a compaint from these buffoons.
if she only makes a pittance from the drug company why isnt the GREAT Lady you people think she is, do her ads for free......
Doctor Nancey is totally right, Paula Dean should have admitted three years ago.
I have the right not to mention my personal health conditions! So does all of americans unless this is becoming still a less free country as I see it. She's getting hit harder than the wallstreet thieves that "didnt mention" and sold off and got out leaving everyone who werent 1% up the creek. WOW....I am totally freaking out that public view slams a COOK and leaves the real criminals on wallstreet quite alone.....This makes me sick!!!!!!!!
Seriously, is Paula Deen not allowed to enjoy the protection from HIPPA? It is HER choice how and when her personal health information is divulged. Though many seem to choose to crucify this lady, I am quite sure that she will tailor her style and her recipies with healthy versions because she has CLASS. Her recipies are excellent, and all are appropriate in moderation. Dr. Nancy appears to be a "weight snob." I don't think the simple virtue that an individual is a public figure should negate their right to privacy. Watch and see, once the dust settles, Paula will make this right! Good luck Paula!
I am appalled at the doctors response to both Paula Deen and to Chris Christie! Paula has no responsibility to divulge her medical history to any of us and as for her recipes she is an amazing chef with awesome recipes, my husband is a diabetic and Paula is correct he can have 1 piece of cake just not the whole cake and when he DOES decide to eat that piece i want it to be the best cake that i can make for him to enjoy and sometimes that means a wonderful decadent Paula Deen piece of cake! As for Chris Christie, I have a president in office that is fit as a fiddle (although he smokes does that mean he is an advocate for smoking for the american people?) and I dont feel he is the man for the job. Chris Christie may be overweight (as am I) and Dr. Nancy made me feel as though overweight people are not capable, have no willpower, and are not strong - really Dr., just because of our weight issues. I am HAPPY at my weight, I have NO health issues, and am an intelligent, active part of my community - shame on you. I am sick and tired of being judged because i am overweight and am quite tired of watching every other commercial on TV or TV show being dedicated to losing weight.
I am disgusted with this weight obsession, but didnt expect it from Dr. Nancy.
To those of you saying she is "selling" the unhealthy diet, that is simply untrue. Paula Deen is an entertainer who cooks southern food. Her show isn't an advertisement for everyone to go out and eat the items she makes every day. There are many out there who will watch the show whether Paula actually eats that sort of food every day or not. She is a famous cook because if her personality and decedant dishes. Why should she change her show just because her personal life has changed? Her son now has a show that does healthier versions of Paula's dishes. I think that is a smart way to handle this. We all are faced with personal choices every day. We shouldn't count on a TV show to tell us how to make those choices.
i could not si thru a show of her boring ass sons
I would never try one of her recipes. I know they're unhealthy. I never could stand Paula with her over dramatized southern accent. That said, I believe she has done nothing wrong. She is a television personality, putting on a cooking show. I do wish they would put more healthy cooking shows on or incorporate some into their shows, but there are other sources available for healthy cooking. As for Paula Deen, she can do what she wants, I think it is pretty sad when America has to be informed that the food she makes is unhealthy, anyone should be able to pick that up in the first 10 minutes if her show. But... if that is the mentality of America, then perhaps a Surgeon General warning before each show would be more appropriate.
Wake up working people. The billionaire capitalists profit from making food that makes you and your children sick. Then they profit from treating you with drugs that don't work. Paula is just a "working class friendly" image they sell you. The corporate media and the advertisers job is to fool you. Do you think the epedemic of diabetes is just a coincidence? You need to start understanding what capitalism is. They destroy the health of your children to make a quick buck.
You are absolutely right. 100% right too!
In fact, I think you should set the shinning example for the rest of us and kick your dirty habit (addiction). Please stop consuming food...just go cold turkey and show those capitalist food manufacturers who's BOSS!! Also, NEVER take any more medicine for the rest of what will be your short life either. You owe it to yourself and everyone else to make your stand right here and NOW!!
Or, you could admit that everyone alive needs to consume food of some sort and that a little bit of personal resposibility might be the more practical approach.
Hey DuckRunner...you're my new conspiracy theorist HERO. You've got it all figured out! Just between you & me...who really killed Kennedy?
The name of the company is Novo Nordisk
I would like to know who Anthony Bourdain thinks he is ditching Paula all the time, He is mad because of her making money for doing a diabetes ad. I don't know who he thinks he is. Sounds like a bit of jealousy to me. She has more personality than he will ever have and is way more professional than he is!! I love Paula Dean and think she should keep on trucking to the bank. And as far as Anthony, Get A Life and stay out of Paula's !!
Yeah, Lindsay, I'd take your own advice and open your own eyes before you spout another post of idiotic jibberish. Bourdain is a nasty _ss, a multiple addcit, and an all around unhealthy, arrogant, awful person who has no real foundation for (incorrectly) accusing anyone of being unhealthy or promoting unhealthy choices (how many more times do we need to see him smoking or drunk on TV?). Deen has a food show, which is being unfairly knocked by the nitwit police, and then knocked again for supporting a product that she supports. Deen has never caused a single case of type 2 diabetes (other than, perhaps, her own). Not one. Get real a nd drop the ignorant judgment routine. It's not working.
I totally agree w/Tarc! I watch Paula and my daughter cooks her dishes occasionally. We don't eat like that every night. It is up to each individual to determine how much we eat of whatever we eat, not Paula Deen. Bourdain does drink and smoke in front of us and as for making money off of her illness, Bourdain made a ton of money from the book he wrote telling us of his drug addictions. He is just an unpleasant person and if he would really admit it he is envious of Paula.
As for Dr.Nancy, who the hell is she to sit up there and tell anyone that they are WRONG! She is voicing her own misguided opinion, that doesn't make Donnie or Star Jones wrong. Nancy Snyderman is out of touch and frankly her arrogance this morning was insulting and annoying!
Has anybody asked themselves WHY Paula Deen is required to make public every major and minor detail of her private life? Why are there people upset she did not acknowledge her ailment when she was diagnosed? She is a cooking show host & author who has endeared and suffered a lot before her "stardom". If and when she makes her private information public - it should be her choice - and not because of the demands of the public. Does she demand you make and eat her recipes? Watch her show or buy her cookbooks? Common sense & civility is lacking in many areas of society today!
Paula Deen defied the first rule of being diagnosed... Being in Denial or maybe she saw a way to to capitalize
My wife is an advocate for the Diabetes Movement for over 30 years. I have watched her change her lifestyle as her family members lost their lives to the ravages of Diabetes complications, change how we cook, eat, exercise and live. How dare this women come in three years after being diagnosed and say well... do it in moderation. She has NO idea what this disease does to our bodies. My wife is Mother Love a talk radio host, author and not in denial of her Diabetes. What Paula is attempting to do is setting us back from many years of research, new meds and treaments to make a buck. People Please wake up! This is killing people at an alarming rate. I watched Paula Deen on The Today Show stumble, mumble and look like she had NO clue about Diabetes and its complications. I am a behind the scenes person and would not ever have thought I would write anything on the Net but this is wrong for you to promote her like this. There are 27 million people who deal with this and another 79 million on the the verge of developing Diabetes,
Get thet truth about it first!
You know, it HAS been 3 years. That's a long time to not acknowledge your medical condition, one that is directly predicated on food, most probably food you prepare and sell in your restaurant and display on TV. At the very very least she should have informed viewers from the get-go that folks preparing her recipes should eat it in moderation. Now it seems like she's only bringing it up because she's a shill for Big Pharma.
My co-worker just said "I'm not surprised the way she cooks and eats."
How many of you people believe she really eats a cheeseburger with bacon and glazed donuts as a bun EVERY time she eats a cheeseburger? How many of you people have seen her sit and eat the WHOLE dish of what she has made on ANY given show she has taped?
She is required to taste what she has made on her shows, but that certainly does not make her a glutton!
How many of you people just want to deny this woman the right she has worked so hard for in her life as a self made professional? I give this woman every credit for raising two children with the only knowledge she had - cooking! She has come a long, long way since the "Bag Lady" days and has done a very good job while doing so.
Now, how many of you people out there have never heard of 'diabetes onset with age'? My own mother had that.
So, to those of you that can't accept Paula Deen for Paula Deen, GET A LIFE!!!! Don't watch her show, don't eat what she cooks and MOST IMPORTANT - KEEP YOUR NOSE OUT OF HER LIFE and SHUT YOUR MOUTH!!!! You are obviously PERFECT, but let's see you walk on water!!!!!
She didn't get fat from eating dry toast and grilled, skinless chicken breasts. I've admired her for years, because she struggled and worked her butt of to get where she is today. However, taking money from a drug company has, in my opinion, crossed the line of having integrity.
I agree. To people who say that it's obvious that she does not eat all this food. No, it is not obvious. Why is she cooking it then? Who's going to eat. She makes it look ok to cook stuff like that for a family. If nobody in their right mind can eat all this fatty sweet food, what is it for? kitchen decorations?
I can't believe the attack on Paula Deen and Chris Christie. As for Deen it is a show she doesn't make you eat. You can bet she is not the only chef with health issues which is her business not yours! On the subject of Chris Christie being President I would rather be around someone eating than someone making me breath smoke! In my life I have seen some pretty bad thin presidents. I think we have seen the true colors of some of your staff shame on you!
Really, as far as I can see, let her eat whatever she wants. I might actually encourage her to eat more. If she doesn't care about the quality of her life, why do so many others? Yes, she could be a good influence on others with a similar health issue, but she was not on that bandwagon to begin with, so why expect a change? Same idea/thought goes towards smokers; smoke more, keep that chain of cigarettes going so you get sick and die sooner. Stop using my oxygen. They have the opportunity and knowledge to change and even cure their illness and choose not to. We shouldn't expect them to change just because they are finally faced with the consequences of their actions.
Dear Mattbev - You must be the perfect human being!
But you judge and condemn. You are not God (but you are using up my oxygen).
OK, folks. here's the bottom line - from Paula herself. What she does is entertainment. She's right - she's not a doctor. And anyone looking to her for advice, whether on nutritious meals or diabetes treatment, is misguided. Go to a doctor. Watch Paula - enjoy her show, her southern charm, and the gluttony of what she cooks. Then put on your big girl pants and do what you know you should have been doing all along - eat right, exercise, quit smoking. This isn't Paula's fight world - she's in showbiz - not medicine.
I'm really disappointed in her, because she hid it for 3 years, but even worse that now she's getting paid by a drug company. She is on my you-know-what list henceforth. She's become a greedhead.
i wonder if her condition has anything to do with her "put on" southern drawl? I know hundreds of people from the south and not a one of them talk like Paula. Why do people have to fake who they really are? Just be yourself and be glad you are above the ground (at least for now). I don't envy Paula, the money she earns or the people who pay her to speak for them. I just would like her a whole lot more if she would just talk "normal". Ya'll know what I'm taaalkking about?
Yes, I'm sure her diabetes was caused by faking a southern accent. That must be it!
In another website talking about PD most of the people posting were bashing her because of the high fat, high sugar recipes she prepares. They exclaimed - no wonder she has diabetes. The majority of food prepared on the Food Nerwork is high fat, high sugar. Everyone has the responsibility to eat in a healthy manner. Don't bash Paula Deen without bashing the majority of Food Network. You are what you eat and you have no one to blame for an unhealthy diet but yourself.
Funny thing is I always thought she was a manipulaltive money grubber behind all that southern "ya'll" and "come on over to my house" BS. Always looking for a new gig to make money on..she decides to hawk crap kitchen stuff from China that was defective. Now she wants to make money off a disease that of course she would end up with, look at all that crap she called cooking. Then she has the unmitigated gall to say she always told people to eat sparingly....no one in the general public remembers her saying that. Just like Anthony Bourdain said, she is dangerous for anyones health and what she is doing now for drug companies, is profiteering on the damaging results of her trash food. Like breaking people's legs and then selling overpriced crutches to em. I never liked her and always saw through that phony caricature of some southern lady(LOL) and always shoving those cluster diamond rings into any dough .....pretty unsanitary! Even Martha Stewart commented about it one time never mentioning names of course but everyone knew who she was talking about. Damn what people wont do for money...amazing.
Paula who? Who is this person? I am a Chef by trade, never heard of her....and now it sounds as if that is a "good thing".
You do realize those 'billionare capitalists' that you are referring to are large corporate conglomerates like Kraft Foods? And they shovel chemical and toxin laden foods to the general public by the ton and they foolishing lap it up? I'd suggest looking at the real problem - commercial advertizing and food companies that produce INCREDIBLY unhealthy foods that make the most decadent Deen recipe look like brown rice.
What you fans dont get is this: No would have cared about her stupid gross cooking shows, except now she even wants to cash in on ads for the drug companies...for her its nothing but money and she is a phony. We all know that southern charm stuff is crap but doing ads for drugs and being their spokesperson....gimme a freaking break.
Here's the thing. Julia Child promoted cooking with butter, and she also ate red meat and potatoes. To the best of anyone's knowledge, Julia Child never got diabetes.
Is it the butter's fault that someone who ate butter got diabetes? No.
Come on people...She's not your mother. She a t.v. cook. Jeez
You would have to be pretty behind the times to realize that all the food she cooks is pretty heavy on fat and calories. I don't really care, when she cooks it is food you can actually imagine you could cook yourself. Yum. Reminds me of some of things my mom would make on occasion. No, I am not over weight.I also exersize 40 minutes a day. I read cookbooks all the time. It makes you a better cook. Watching cooking shows can teach techniques etc.
I still have not make the "gooey butter cake" but some day I'm going to try it. Gosh that stuff looks good!!
Paula Deen is now nothing more than the "Ambulance Chasing Chef". Watch her start putting out a hospital food cook book next so she can make money from Obamacare. They might have grants available already so she can really pad that bank account.