In May of last year*, the National Enquirer reported that down home celebrity chef Paula Deen had Type 2 diabetes for “years” and that she’d kept it a secret. Paula is renowned for cooking outrageously unhealthy food seeped in butter, fat and grease. Some of her recipes are worse than the fattiest burger you can get at a fast food restaurant and include a bacon, egg and glazed donut burger (with an actual burger patty in there), deep fried butter balls and bacon-wrapped fried macaroni and cheese, the recipe for which calls for a pound of bacon and five eggs. Type 2 diabetes is of course adult onset diabetes, one of the risk factors for which is excess weight. So Paula has been cooking and sampling food that is incredibly unhealthy and has been contributing to, and probably caused, her disorder. She may have known about it for years, if the Enquirer is to be believed, and has just been popularizing food which is just as bad for the rest of the world as it has been for her. A lot of you will point out that Paula reminds her audience that her food is a treat that’s not to be eaten everyday at least. Anyway here’s her announcement:
Even as she reveals that she is living with Type 2 Diabetes, [Paula Deen] says it won’t stop her from eating the way she wants.
“I was determined to share my positive approach and not let diabetes stand in the way of enjoying my life,” Deen said Tuesday in a release announcing her launch of Diabetes in a New Light™, geared toward finding “simple ways” to manage challenges of the disease.
“I’m excited to team up with Novo Nordisk on this initiative to show others that managing diabetes does not have to stop you from enjoying the things you love.”
The National Enquirer first reported Deen’s diabetes in April 2010*, but she never confirmed or denied the diagnosis until now. She turns 65 Thursday.
The Food Network chef with the folksy Southern drawl – and a tendency to address her fans as “Hey, y’all” – has been famously criticized for her cooking techniques. Just last summer, fellow celeb chef Anthony Bourdain called her the “most dangerous person to America” who’s “proud of the fact that her food is f—— bad for you.”
And as news leaked she was making the announcement regarding her health, Bourdain was inundated with people “looking for quotes.” And he says he “takes no pleasure” in her news, telling Eater.com, he suspects she’s known for a long time and been looking for a way “to position herself.”
“When your signature dish is hamburger in between a doughnut, and you’ve been cheerfully selling this stuff knowing all along that you’ve got Type 2 Diabetes … It’s in bad taste if nothing else,” he said. “How long has she known? I suspect a very long time.”
Deen, it was also revealed in the release, takes Victoza – a once-daily, non-insulin injection – and continues to “make lifestyle adjustments, including lightened-up versions of her favorite recipes.”
[From People.com]
I watch the Food Network often as they have shows my seven year-old and I can see together, and we mostly watch the food competition shows like Chopped and Cupcake Wars. I’ve been seeing commercials for a new show with Paula’s son, Bobby, called “Not My Mama’s Meals” in which he creates healthier versions of her southern style comfort food. (That show is on the Cooking Channel, though, and I don’t get that channel on my cable.) I have mixed feelings about this. At least Paula is coming clean, and at least she’s making healthier food. It seems like a very calculated business decision to make this announcement through a new show, a book and a publicity tour. She didn’t become the queen of “southern” cooking by not promoting herself, though. Plus she sounds like she’s been in denial for a long time. She just put out The Southern Cooking Bible in October, and that included decadent recipes she’s famous for like peanut butter and chocolate balls. Maybe she was contractually obligated to finish that book and promote it before she announced that she has diabetes. Plus she surely had a lot of endorsement and book deals to line up first.
Update: I forgot to check her new website where she’s shilling for products that manage diabetes, which are put out by the pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk. The Enquirer says Deen’s endorsement deal is in the millions.
*Note: People Magazine claims that The Enquirer announced Paula’s diabetes in April of 2010. I don’t think that’s accurate. I went through my Enquirer archives (don’t judge, it’s my job) and couldn’t find anything on Paula in that time frame except for a March, 2010 article that focused on her husband’s memoir – and mentioned nothing about her having diabetes. I’m pretty sure they made that announcement in May, 2011 when we reported on it.
Update: The Enquirer is claiming they reported it two years ago too, but in another article they state they first reported it in May, 2011.
Paula Deen is shown with her husband on 10-24-11. She’s also shown on 10-25-11. Credit: Barbara Henderson / PR Photos, WENN.com
Ugh, this whole thing makes me queasy. To profit off of the promotion of horrifically unhealthy food, and then to find a way to market both diabetes-inducing foods, as well as a brand of insulin for your condition, just seems highly immoral (and, unfortunately, very American).
Bourdain may be keeping quiet, but I’m sure he’s thinking to himself, “thank you for that report, and in other news, scientists have established that water is wet.”
I concur with you on the contradiction of shilling for unhealthy food, then shilling for the opposite bc you develop diabetes (will stay neutral on the morality issue being er, american..?). It’s absolutely tacky to say the least. But she’s laughing all the way to the bank…
@ only1shmoo – I agree. She’s making money from both ends. Are there now going to be diabetes med plugs in all her future cookbooks?
Immoral and American?? Thanks a lot. Other countries have issues too.
This Bourdain guy sounds like someone out for his own publicity. Who in America today does NOT know that fried chicken, sausage gravy, coconut cream pie etc. is UNHEALTHY eating? Seriously, since the 80s saturated fat and cholesterol have been household words. Obviously if you keep to a un-nutritious diet your health suffers. But for PD, not your pocketbook, apparently.
As a home cook and foodie who makes a sweet potato pie that is almost all eggs and heavy cream, I have defended Paula’s recipes in the past. Rich food absolutely has its place. However, I have also thought that she hasn’t gone far enough in making it very clear that her food is not for everyday; the fact that she makes almost nothing low fat or healthy gives a skewed version of “southern food” (baked chicken, greens, black eyed peas, hoppin john, all these are healthy southern food staples that don’t get talked about because everyone thinks that all southern recipes begin with butter and/or fatback) and cuts out what can be eaten on the daily. I do believe that she has known for a while, and I find it indefensible that she is now shilling drugs for a preventable problem that she has helped exacerbate. So, first she reduces all southern food to fat troughs, and now she reduces diabetes maintenance to a pill so that she can pretty much maintain unhealthy eating? Sorry Paula. I just got off your bus.
I can’t watch her shows without cringing… and this is coming from someone who would eat ice cream and cookies all day if it didn’t kill me… she’s just so gross, and yeah it’s definitely a calculated business decision. but what isn’t these days in Hollywood?
I work in an office full of women who LOVE Paula. I have to fight to keep from saying “She’s gross, creepy, cooks like crap and looks like she’s auditioning for clown college. Why on earth do you love her???”
But I’m outnumbered so I just put my headphones on and tune them out.
Ugh…I know exactly what you’re going through! I used to work with a bunch of women like that. They would often bring pounds of food to work, like moonpie cupcakes with two pounds of sugar – and bacon wrapped anything. Whenever I didn’t want to eat that crap they would look at me as though I’d just declared myself a heretic. On top of that they would practically discriminate against thin people at the office.
Stay strong!
I like Paula. Her recipies may not be that healthy, but if there wasn’t a market for them she wouldn’t be such a big seller
well of coures there is a market for her fatty recipes – have you looked around the US lately? The obesity rates are disgustingly high. There’s a big difference between treating yourself once in a great while, but I can’t imagine ever stuffing myself with butter all the time.
Sing it sister.
Paula Deen has morphed into a money making machine; she’s no longer the down home lady we all fell in love with back in her early days on the Food Network.
She’s happy about signing on with Novo Nordisk because she just INKED a mulimillion deal with them to promote their medicine! It’s all about making money with her..I fell out with her when I saw her and her hubby attempting to sell his coffee on QVC, The Captain’s Choice…UGH
Agree completely, and have thought so for years.
It’s all about making money…she’s a nasty cook, self-serving and self-promoting, fake as hell, crude and bawdy as hell, and nauseating as hell with her sickening over-the-top y’alls and dripping Southern accent. She’s also dumber than a stick. Once she said on Oprah that she couldn’t “phantom” something…uh, it’s fathom, dumba$$.
As much as a dislike Anthony Bourdain for being a rude jerk, he must be loving this. He was right of course when he accused Paula of being dangerous by promoting this over the top unhealthy eating. It was only a matter of time before she gave herself Type 2 diabetes. I think it is shameful that she has known she has it for some time now and has continued promoting her butter filled fatty foods. She should really be ashamed. She reminds me of a Kardashian. Kim profits from her disgusting wedding and then her divorce. Paula profits from her disgusting cooking, and then her medication. It’s pretty similar.
could not agree more. she has glorified the worst possible diet an american could have and now must suffer the consequences of years of bad decisions.
for the sake of setting a good example and living up to her new drug contract – i hope she loses weight and eats better….she has worn a wig for years, which I assume was because of poor nutritional status.
I am born and raised in the South and grew up with a bunch of women who can circles around Paula Deen. My mother still drinks whole milk, still serves pound cake with cream cheese icing for desert, and usually has 3 different kinds of breads for Sunday dinner; bisquits, cornbread, pillsbury cresents. Anyway, my mom eats like this but she watches her portions and walks and really has very few health problems. I think Paula’s diabetes likely stem more from overindulgence, little to no exercise, and cigarettes more than it does from her diet alone. Plus, I bet Paula likes a few toddys in the evening (my mom doesn’t drink). I doubt Paula is too sorry she has diabetes because she lives her life the way she wants to live it and she doesn’t give a damn what other people think.
its a business move, she has been in discussions with a pharmaceutical company to promote the medicine shes taking or has been prescribed.
Color me not surprised.
She’s an embarrassment to all Southern women.
Signed,
A Southern Woman
You should not say ALL Southern women when you make the statement about Paula being an embarrasment to ALL. She is not an embarrassment to me and I was born, raised and still live in Georgia. Paula’s health and finances are her business and hers alone. She isn’t forcing her food on anyone. You chose to watch her on TV apparently but did you then go and cook everything she cooked? Your health is in your hands, not Paula’s. Diabetes is also an inherited disease. Her way of cooking more than likely is not solely the reason she has diabetes. Also, when she cooks on TV, do you see her sit and eat all of what she has cooked? NO! She takes a bite or two. Remember—moderation!
Losing weight and creating healthy alternatives would send a much better message. It all just feels awkward.
I can’t watch her show. She is someone who seems to have zero passion for cooking but tons of passion for eating. Compared to other chefs on the Food Network who seem to take so much joy in the process of cooking, she seems to rush through everything, forgetting ingredients etc just so she can pig out on the finished product. Not a real chef…
OMG THANK YOU!!!
I’ve been trying to pinpoint what it is about her shows/presentation/etc., that has always put me off, and that is exactly it.
That’s so true.
Wow. That is such a good point. Man, is this thread reducing my opinion of her even further! I totally conflated her passion for eating with cooking, probably because I DO love the craft so much.
I used to watch the Food NEtwork when on bedrest while pregnant, and the last shot of each show-close-up of her taking huge bites and chewing was too much for me. I always had to turn the channel for that.
I had some really great Southern cooking in Atlanta a few months ago, the kind of food you can’t eat more than once a year without feeling awful. But it was like a salad compared to the descriptions of her recipes! Good Lord. Makes me glad I had my little bowl of organic oatmeal this morning!
Maybe it’s just me, but pretty much ALL of the food network stars are quick to wear out their welcome. If someone is even remotely popular, they give them four shows! So many of them set my southern teeth on edge. *Michael Simon* I like the other cooking channel stuff much better.
I’m a Southerner (born and bred) and Paula cooks just like my grandmother used to. It’s okay to eat that way occasionally, but no one should be eating that way all the time.
For instance, one of my grandmother’s recipes was for tomato gravy (made from bacon grease and served over homemade biscuits). I still have it once a year on Christmas morning, but that is the only time I indulge.
This is what is wrong with our country. It is possible to REVERSE onset diabetes with your diet – but instead Paula opts for the “band-aid” in the form of powerful drugs. This is what her fans have to look up to!
Even if you think the animal rights movement is BS, it has been PROVEN that a diet low in animal products can reverse diabetes and heart disease.
I would have SO much more respect for Paula if she ate some goddamn vegetables.
oh, and I’m a southern gal too…
sick of seeing people I love slowly eating their way to death.
Low carbohydrate diets do the same for some people, even ones that rely on meat and fish.
THANK YOU! It just grinds me up that many people think all Southerners act/eat like Paula Deen. I don’t know anyone down here who doesn’t eat lots of veggies but if you watch her show, you’d think we can’t get fruits and veggies down here.
I’m a meat and potatoes kind of girl. I love my fried chicken once in a while. Luckily I don’t have a sweet tooth so I never drink soda and only have ice cream once every season. People who are picky eaters and anal about not indulging once in a while annoy me. But there is a limit to indulgence and so many people tend to forget that which is why we have a diabetes and obesity epidemic. My aunt has type 2 diabetes. She is overweight and has already lost sight in one eye. She isn’t even 60 but she refuses to take charge of her life and change her habits. She still munches on junk food, fried food, and sweets while taking insulin and drugs like Novartis. These drugs are band-aids for people addicted to eating unhealthy food everyday. I almost wish these drugs weren’t invented. It would scare more people into eating better and exercising to reverse their problems rather than constantly searching for the next drug cure.
Dont ferget that Diabetes runs in families too, my sister was diagnosed 15 years ago. She has been taking Victoza for several months now, has lost 20 pounds and is back to her high school size, she said she does not feel hungry and has to remind herself to eat.
So, I’m actually a native of Savannah, GA. I know PD personally–have met her an interacted with her on numerous occasions, used to eat her bag lunches when I was a kid downtown, and am a close family friend of her cookbook ghost-writer (another Savannah cook who for years wrote for the food section of the newspaper).
I also am related to the family whose company (Braswell) supplies most of her codiments, marinades, salad dressing, etc. (Not much that she serves in her L & S restaurant is house-made–most of it is stuff she purchases in bulk and gets her own label stuck on). All of which is to say, I know what I’m talking about.
Yes, she has had Type 2 diabetes for several years, and has been well aware of the diagnosis. Yes, the announcement was timed to avoid stepping on her Southern Cooking Bible release, and to capitalize on these new endorsements. She may not be the best cook in the world–and seriously, the food she serves in her Lady and Sons restaurant is NOT good–but she is a super sharp businesswoman who knows how to sell herself and her brand.
I’m kind of on the fence about her myself. I do have a ton of respect for what she has made out of herself, but I really don’t like that she’s somehow become the representative of all things Southern and food related.
Also, if anyone ever comes to visit Savannah and wants a taste of REAL southern cooking, AVOID Lady and Sons and head to Mrs. Wilkes’ Boarding House on Jones St. It’s owned by a guy I grew up with–Mrs. Wilkes was his grandmother and he’s the third generation running it. The food is amazing, and it’s the real deal. 100 times better–and cheaper–than what Paula Deen is selling!
Yes on the Mrs. Wilkes’ Boarding House food! It is wonderful!
Thank you for that background story on Paula and her empire. I also admire what she has made for herself despite that there are much better cooks. I have heard from many people that if you want a taste of a region’s real cuisine, you should avoid celebrity restaurants at all costs. The food is overpriced and are made from ingredients that aren’t house-made as you pointed out. I have heard similar stories about other celebrity chef restaurants throughout the world. If you want the real deal you go to the hole in the wall or the restaurant all the locals recommend.
I am from the south. Fattening southern food every once in a while is like caviar to me, a wonderful indulgence on holidays or family reunions.
Those chompers are scary.
Traditional Chinese Medicine has been dealing with Diabetes for thousands of years. It is called Xiao Ke, or Thirsting & Wasting disorder. Depending on the particular etiology of any given persons diabetes, it can be treated with herbs & acupuncture to help control symptoms. Diabetes & Hypertensionare 2 diseases that MUST be aggressively controlled, especially since they run hand in hand so often and both have seperate but devastating consequences to the human body. Diet & lifestyle changes are how you prevent it, and how you help manage it.
I’m not from the south or even in the South, but I fell in love with the food on several visits there, and do my best to recreate it several times a year, with the help of Prudhomme and some others who predate Paula’s popularity by more than a few years. It strikes me that the food that Paula promotes is to Southern cuisine as Chef Boy-ar-dee is to Italian food.
I’ve never seen this woman before, so excuse me if this is played out, but
WHAT THE FUCK IS UP WITH HER TEETH??
You know, when she smiles it’s like she’s got twice as many teeth as a normal person. Just this massive amount of identical white teeth crammed in her jaw… too white, too even, and too damn many of them. It’s not human!
People like Paula are making me sick. I really hope there’ll be a huge backlash now that she’s trying to shill her books and the insulin, both at the same time.
Shortly before I came across this post, I had read Paula Deen and Diabetes Prevention: A Recipe for Disaster!
2 things.
I loved Natalie Dupree’s New Southern Cooking and I wish they still aired them,
and,
I would totally eat deep fried butter balls.
Call me flawed.
It’s disturbing that she (alleg) continued to cook her heart attacks on a plate when she knew she had diabetes. Very cynical. To only come clean in order to become a spokesperson for a drug for your condition is even worse.
As much of an ass Bourdain is (and I don’t take pleasure in her diagnosis either) he was right in his earlier controversial comments about her. Rude, but right.
She’s disgusting and the whole situation is disgusting (see what only1shmoo said in their 1st paragraph).
I love Anthony Bourdain and I agree with him about this story.
Side note: I have seen Deen’s show a couple of times and my hubby and I have both been horrified at her recipes. Also my hubbys new favourite saying is ‘y’all’ and he says it over and over, drives us crazy lol and our Birman cat gets really worked up when he does it too, guess it sounds like another cat or something lol.
Hahaha, that’s hilarious!! I also don’t like the fact she says “y’all” so much. She just says it because she is trying to sound as southern as possible. People in the South don’t say it that often, IMO.
Paula Deen scares the ever loving shite out of me! She looks like a crazed octogenarian. If this woman ever rolled up on me in a dark ally I would run for my life. Or…throw sticks of butter in the opposite direction to distract her. Now who’s winning folks?
I don’t have anything against her personally. However, I am not fooled by the totally generic/commercial/bland/caricature of Southern cooking that she represents. She is making a living and obviously has become very successful. But the people who buy into this crap are just as much to blame as she is.
Oh, and pharmaceutical endorsement deal? I knew she was a sell-out, but this really takes the cake (you know, the one with 8 pounds of butter, one bag of sugar, and 20 cups of cream-cheese icing.)
love Anthony Bourdain’s reaction to her…couldn’t agree more.
Paula is the poster child for our health care paradigm: eat lots of crappy food and take a pill when you get high blood pressure or diabetes, and then take another to counteract the side effects of the first. The problem with Paula’s cooking is not the butter – our ancestors were nourished by butter for centuries – but the sugar and flour, which are empty carbs that drive up blood sugar and wear out the pancreas. Dietary cholesterol has little impact on serum cholesterol for most people. Eat REAL food like meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, nuts, lots of vegetables and fruit as a seasonal treat, and you will live long and prosper.
Agree 100%
Paula Deen has known she has had diabetes for years while selling her cookbooks that fuel diabetes. She is just a phony as other celebrities that shill their miracle face creams after they’ve had plastic surgery.
“Even as she reveals that she is living with Type 2 Diabetes, [Paula Deen] says it won’t stop her from eating the way she wants.”
I hope she gets sued for giving people the impression she has a magic pill you take after eating her fried, sugary, fat-laden meals.
Diabetes can be managed and even cured with the correct diet and/or natural treatments, but Paula won’t ever cure her diabetes because she would lose out on a high paying contract with a drug cartel/company.
Paula is selling her diabetic induced cook book with her right hand and collecting on the results by selling her diabetic drugs with the left hand. What a sad piece of work she is.
the biggest problem for people with type 2 diabetes is DENIAL. my mom had it and she didn’t change her habits enough. she died at 65. i wish she was still here, it’s a terrible disease! do everything to avoid it!
Here in Asia, we dont get american food channel so what I know about her is from magazines or youtube. Once my hubby and I watched one of her shows on making some deep fried ingredients that involves tons of lard/butter/bacon or some sort..HOLY CR*P!! we both groaned and dry heaved at the same time. I think I gained 20 pounds by just watching it. I cant believe there are people who FOLLOW her recipes because that woman really needs intervention.
lol the “i think i gained 20 pounds by just watching it” comment… lmao… in addition to diabetes those recipes could give one a heart attack
I agree that Paula’s decision to shill for Novartis while promoting extremely unhealthy food that helped cause her diabetes is both hypocritical and immoral. At the same time, the woman is 64. I know many people who eat healthier and due to age and genetics eventually get type 2 diabetes around this age. I’m not saying this can’t be preventable, but I also think that blaming her for having diabetes because she likes her Southern cuisine ignores the other factors into why she has it. Everyone makes bad choices in life. It can be drinking, smoking, drug use, overeating, extreme dieting, sitting on your ass all day….all of these things will eventually kill us once we reach a certain age. I hope that for her sake and the sake of her fans, she owns up to her bad choices and makes some changes in her cooking that can help other diabetics who love their sweet and fattening home-cooked cuisine.
I have eaten at her restaurant in Savannah. I was overweight at the time (still am and working on it) and had a lapse in my healthier eating habits. I am the type of person who does enjoy comfort food, but what was presented at her restaurant was disgusting. Pork was added to dishes that did not require it, everything dripped in butter and oil, the “ho cakes” were decent but super greasy. Several members of the party I went with had some gastrointestinal problems after eating there (I declined to eat this “food” after a couple bites). As someone who was just visiting the South for the first time, I can see why obesity and diabetes thrive there if people like this are representative of the food culture. Paula Deen’s quest for cash over concerns for both her own as well as public health is reprehensible.
cray cray eyes. anyway i am sorry she has diabetes. and this should be a warning to us all to keep eating healthy.
This is such a bunch of crap! Firstly, any one of you high moralizing phonies would jump at the opportunity to trade places with Deen and would jump at the opportunity to “shill” for any company for which loads of money would come your way. Secondly, Deen’s high fat cooking with loads of sweets, etc., is no different than typical professional restaurant cooking, nearly all of which contains tons of fat and sugars. So the truth is this is typical American hypocrisy and phoniness. That makes me infinitely more nauseated than anything Paula cooks, most of which I think is awesome. I think she is an inspiration and a prime example of inner strength and courage…and a model to anyone who thinks it’s too late to be successful. Those are far more salubrious characteristics than any of this toxic garbage people are so want of slinging.