Paula Deen's Unfortunately-Timed 6-Word Memoir

Paula Deen's admission, Tuesday morning, that she had been diagnosed with diabetes in 2008 and is teaming with drugmaker Novo Nordisk led many commentators to criticize the TV chef's long-running evangelism of heavy foods. In light of the uproar, it's probably not a good time for Deen to be advertising her nonchalance about the consequences of her diet. The fact that Deen chose to contribute a six-word memoir to a collection of such bon mots in the February 2012 issue of O: The Oprah Magazine isn't necessarily unfortunate... but the six words she chose really are.

How did Deen choose to describe her life?

"Might as well eat that cookie."

Not when you have diabetes, Paula!

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Comments

[angelarbitrary]

01:33 PM on 02/15/2012

If Paula Deen's idea of a "diabetes-friendly" lasagna recipe is one that calls for seven kinds of cheese in addition to ground beef, she still has A LOT to learn about her disease.

[starson1]

05:25 PM on 01/19/2012

I'm sad for Paula, but not all that surprised. Maybe she should look into a healthier diet to treat her diabetes instead of drugs? There's lots of interesting information available at this noncommercial, science based site (nutritionfacts.org). To quote the good doctor: "It is too bad Paula Deen missed this opportunity" to tell her fans "that type 2 diabetes can be prevented, managed, treated, and even cured". Read more at http://nutritionfacts.org/blog/2012/01/18/paula-deen-diabetes-drug-spokesperson/

[Lisa Hutchison]

02:21 PM on 01/19/2012

What we are seeing here is people who know nothing about the scientific specifics of diabetes moralising with raised hackles. I think one of the main reasons people do this is because of fear. They think that if they can say 'Someone got sick but It was probably..yes definitely because of this' then somehow a wall comes between then an illness/death. Sorry, It's just not the way it works. I have a thin and athletic friend who eats what most would consider a very healthy diet yet still has diabetes. Most of us will get sick and all of us will die.. I would hope that If I developed an illness the 1st thing to happen would be for people to say 'I'm sorry' not for them to pontificate and make judgements about the way they assumed I lived my life. Shame on those who have jumped on this moralising and medically inaccurate bandwagon!

[TaurusRose]

07:00 PM on 01/20/2012

And pharmacologically corrupt bandwagon. Be honest in YOUR moralizing.

[ChoppyBob]

07:21 PM on 01/20/2012

Type 1 diabetes is not the same as Type 2.

Type 2 is usually fixable with behavior modification.

[luluruguay]

12:14 PM on 01/19/2012

OMG this is so silly! Don't be ignorant, people, you just don't know her! First off, most people with diabetes can afford to ear sugar in very small quantities every now and then, Second, some get sugar lows and eat sugar to get it normal. Then, and last, she hasn't been diabetic forever, she still makes cookies, you don't even know if she eats them. Get over it, don't be so silly.

[TaurusRose]

07:02 PM on 01/20/2012

The fact that she has not always been diabetic doesn't excuse her,
it makes her toxic food promotions much worse!

[PrunellaC]

06:20 PM on 02/25/2012

Look at her body. She eats them a lot more than just "every now and then."

[WarriorLemming]

07:24 AM on 01/19/2012

She's what teabaggers are all about. Denial. Denial of the greenhouse effect, denial that they are racist bigots, denial that the state of our economy is the work of deregulation of Repugs. Eating that cookie was denial of her own diabetes.....

[PrunellaC]

06:21 PM on 02/25/2012

ITA, but must we bring politics into everything?

[Paola Pena]

02:55 AM on 01/19/2012

It should be titled with six letters: B-U-T-T-E-R.

[DAEdison]

01:35 AM on 01/19/2012

What's with Deen-defenders calling people stupid for not knowing Paula Deen's recipes were unhealthy? Nobody's saying they're surprised: the situation is awkward and potentially unethical. Stop telling us to "use our brains" - we are. We are using them to express dismay at a woman who promotes an unhealthy lifestyle while deliberately obfuscating the consequences to her very own body, and then gets paid to promote a drug that counteracts those consequences. It's the ethics that are in question, not the fundamentals of avoiding Crisco.

[ChoppyBob]

07:22 PM on 01/20/2012

esPECially when a healthy diet and exercise could fix said consequences.

[mlaiuppa]

10:50 PM on 01/18/2012

Butter didn't give Deen diabetes. Neither did being overweight by itself.

Too much refined white sugar, refined white flour and refined white rice. I don't know how much soda she drinks but that too as it was probably loaded with HFCS.

Too much red meat and not enough whole grains and legumes.

Too much of all of that and not enough green, leafy vegetables.

Too much canned and processed and not enough fresh.

Her cooking is fine every once and a while for a treat. But if you're a "chef" like she is you have to cook like that pretty often to develop and refine your recipes and produce the shows she does.

I think the most unfortunate thing is that she kept it secret until she had an endorsement deal and now that she does, suddenly she's come out.

I have to wonder if she's been on statin meds for cholestrol. I read lately that if you're a female over 50 and on statins, your risk of getting diabetes is almost 50%.

[WarriorLemming]

07:26 AM on 01/19/2012

Amazing information--thanks for sharing.

[Nonyabizz]

11:42 AM on 01/19/2012

Duh. If you are on statins it's likely because you were eating unhealthy to begin with. If you are not overweight, it is unlikely you will develop diabetes.

[mlaiuppa]

03:37 PM on 01/19/2012

Both of my parents have high cholesterol and diet does not control it. My brother and I both have high cholesterol. My sister does not.

The study says women in menopause taking statins have a 48% higher chance of developing diabetes. There's another study that says 33%.

You do not need to be overweight to have high cholesterol.

[Sealabian]

10:49 PM on 01/18/2012

I got yer six words over here.

[WellFedHeart]

07:35 PM on 01/18/2012

I don't necessarily think that it is Paula Deen's fault that she got diabetes, but I find it disappointing that she is not using her celebrity status to positively promote a healthy lifestyle. You can eat fantastically well in a healthful way! Below are my thoughts on the issue.

http://www.wellfedheart.com/2012/01/paula-deen-sarah-palin-and-oprah/

[vksa]

07:52 AM on 01/19/2012

"I don't necessaril­y think that it is Paula Deen's fault that she got diabetes"

I'm sorry, but explain to me what part of her stuffing her face regularly with unhealthy food to a rate whereby her pancreas ceases to properly function is not "necessarily" her fault?? She picks up the bad food, put the bad food in her own mouth...chews and swallows...and repeats to a rate far beyond moderate. And it is someone ELSE's fault according to your implication??

Is it not MY fault then that my healthy eating habits, occasional treats, and regular vigorous exercise have resulted in my great long-term health? Because if not, who is it I should be thanking?

Ludicrous comment. Exemplary of what's wrong with America, and Western society, at large - a reluctance to just accept (or acknowledge the necessity for another to accept) personal responsibility for one's choices.

[TaurusRose]

07:15 PM on 01/20/2012

First to fan you, and fave your brain!

[vksa]

07:56 AM on 01/19/2012

And btw, I held of commenting on the article link until I read it.

The thrust of that piece completely contradicts your stated opinion regarding Deen's culpability in this unethical situation of hers.

[Dyane Day McSpadden]

07:11 PM on 01/18/2012

Cookies have nothing to do with diabetes, it's all about the carbs & you can find a "healthy" piece of bread with just as many carbs as a cookie. You can eat what you want as a diabetic, as long as you stay within your prescribed carbs/meal.

[DAEdison]

01:41 AM on 01/19/2012

This is dangerously false information. The rapid change in blood sugar causes most of the damage from diabetes - your blood sugar doesn't have to get astronomically high to cause blindness, for instance, it just has to fluctuate quickly enough to burst the wrong blood vessel. What kind of carb you eat ABSOLUTELY influences both blood sugar and the speed with which blood sugar changes. 20g of carbs from spinach will never, ever, ever cause the kind of insulin spike that a cookie would. If you are a diabetic like me, PLEASE do not take this person's advice - it may well cause you irreversible harm. Please be more careful when dispensing medical advice (and for that matter, don't take mine on faith either - it's not a very intelligent principle).

[missusbp]

06:31 PM on 01/18/2012

Evidently, Paula never read the credo "Let food by thy medicine" ~ Hippocrates. USA is run by big agra and big pharm so what do you expect? Your "celebrity" chefs are mostly backed by media corporations who sleep with these two big boys so of course these chefs will be made to jump on the bandwagon to save their bottom line.

So why not eat for health and then save yourself some money on the drugs - given that most of y'all don't have healthcare down there in US land!? And before anyone tells me that it's not cheaper to go veggie, I will call BS. My hubbie and I went vegan a year ago and our grocery bills have been cut by half. HALF!

[Michael Overboe]

05:14 PM on 01/18/2012

Sell your stock in her now, she is on the way out and/or will be dead soon due to health reasons.

[Dyane Day McSpadden]

07:13 PM on 01/18/2012

Really? My husband has had diabetes for 14 years, he isn't unhealthy or dead. Just because she's had diabetes since 2008 doesn't mean anything, she seems to be taking care of it just fine. Maybe try educating yourself about diabetes.

[DAEdison]

01:46 AM on 01/19/2012

Agreed - diabetes is not a death sentence. I've had it for a decade myself. That said, Michael Overboe's point is dead-on (no pun intended): justified or not, it's hard to imagine Paula Deen ever being successful selling food again, unless she decides to promote a healthy lifestyle, in which case she might rehab her image. The only real take-away from this discussion is never to look for medical advice on internet forums, but to educate yourself. And to eat more kale.

[ChoppyBob]

07:25 PM on 01/20/2012

She is very obviously not taking care of it. She looks sickly and has that inflation around the sternum area that indicates insulin levels are out of control.

[Sealabian]

10:41 PM on 01/18/2012

Get a grip.

[UpbyProxy]

05:07 PM on 01/18/2012

.

some one admits to a disease and the 'compassionate' liberals attack her.

liberal SOP.
.

[c0rinne]

07:37 PM on 01/18/2012

I guess you missed the part where she didn't admit to having the disease until after she signed a drug endorsement deal. She's had it since 2008, word broke early in 2011, but she waits until after she signs on the dotted line to say anything.

[indy girl]

09:14 PM on 01/18/2012

after she's spent years of pushing unhealthy recipes which CAUSE that disease, and waited THREE years to make her diabetes diagnosis public?

She deserves whatever attacks she gets. it's all about the $$$, obviously.

[TitaniumAvatar]

04:55 PM on 01/18/2012

Oh, I thought the six word memoir was: Make them fat, sell them Drugs.