Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Dear Paula Deen

Dear Paula Deen:
We don't know one another, but it turns out we have something in common. Something we both kept quiet about--but for different reasons, apparently. I waited about 10 months before coming out with my diabetes, mostly because I wanted to wait until I had spent enough time working on changing my diet, making exercise a (mostly) daily part of my life, and losing a big enough chunk of weight that I felt I could offer something to others going through the same thing.

Apparently you waited until you got a juicy financial deal with a big pharmaceutical company.

Okay, I realize that I'm sounding pretty sanctimonious. In fact, I started writing something this morning about the circus you've created in the last couple of days. Then I erased it all because I didn't want to pile on. This diabetes stuff is scary and everyone handles it differently. Who am I to judge? Plus, I truly don't want to become "diabetes girl."

But all through the day, the more I thought about it, the angrier I got. And late this afternoon when I saw that clip of you with your sons on The Chew I'd had enough.

Your diagnosis came three years ago. Yet, for the past three years--knowing (I assume) the impact of diet on diabetes--you continued your very public fat fest, promoting a caricature of Southern food. Hey, not even just Southern food. You have an upcoming episode on Feb. 2, "Cravin' Italian," that features "Cheesy Pizza Dip with Pizza Crust Dippers." What are the ingredients? Cream cheese, Canadian bacon, regular bacon, Italian sausage, pepperoni, and pizza crust dough. Oh, how about that "Smashed Potato Cake" on the Jan. 17 show, "Lovey Dovey Dinner?" We've got potatoes, of course, butter, Cheddar cheese, sour cream, and bacon. Yum. And kiss of death. I heard you recently on the NPR show, "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me," as you described the food in your kitchen and fridge--cakes, roasts, who knows what else... If it was for comic effect, congrats, you got your laugh. But if it was real, God help you.

Look, Paula, adult-onset Type 2 diabetes is associated with all sorts of health issues, not the least of which are heart disease and stroke. I would guess that you're not only taking your diabetes medication but probably cholesterol meds and baby aspirin as well. This is serious stuff.

You've said that you believe that these high-fat, high-carb foods are fine in moderation. Okay. I get that we all need to indulge periodically. I do it. I did it a bit today, having a few French fries and a couple of bites of a bratwurst at lunch. Then I pushed it aside and gave it to my friend to take home to her kids. I enjoy a small piece of chocolate. Last week I ate a tiny piece of my mom's lemon cake. Butter? Sure, a small bit periodically. Cheese? Yep, an ounce on toast (yes, I weigh it). Pizza? Uh, no. We have to count our carbs, remember? Fried chicken? Biscuits? Cheesecake? No, no, and no. No! Not anymore.

Paula, get real. You have diabetes. I have diabetes. Some 25 million people in this country have diabetes. We're talking total lifestyle change. You can't seriously have thought it was cool to keep pushing butter and cheese, bacon and sausage, plush desserts and deep fried foods on viewers knowing that these contribute to a frightening epidemic of obesity which, yes, leads to diabetes.

I have written that I think of diabetes as my disease of self-indulgence. I can't say that it's also yours. Maybe your family has a history of diabetes. Maybe it was just bad luck. But you've built an empire on promoting over-the-top fatty food. When people think of you, that's the association--fair or not. Karma? Perhaps. But, I think you might have come clean long before your big-time financial deal and taken the opportunity to turn your many fans onto healthy eating and exercise. It could have been your Oprah moment (not that she's much of a role model in this area these days...).

You might take your new pharma windfall and not just donate to the American Diabetes Association, but also spread that largesse on organizations that educate children and families on nutrition, healthy cooking, and exercise.

In fact, let's talk about this new source of income. Basically, the way my doctor explained it to me, my goal should be to lose enough weight that I can get off the medications and manage my diabetes through diet and exercise. I'm grateful to have medication for now, but I am working so hard to put it in my rearview mirror. I'd love to get some pharma money, too. In fact, I reached out to one company to inquire about writing about lifestyle and diet issues on their website to help people with diabetes make changes in their lives so that they can get off the meds. You can imagine that heaping big serving of silence I got. I congratulate you on figuring out how to become their spokesperson. But, after three years, I would have thought that you would have worked hard to get off those meds already. Looking at you today in that big lavender tent blouse, though, it doesn't look like you've been making a big effort to work in that direction. I truly hope you're not one of those people who believes that the meds alone will keep you healthy.

Okay, I'll get off my soapbox now. Who knows where I'll be three years after my diagnosis. Maybe I won't be able to keep this up. Maybe despite my best efforts my body will still degenerate. I have said that I keep the image of an anvil swinging over my head to motivate and focus me. Perhaps, instead, I'll replace it with that image of you--still overweight, hawking diabetes meds--to keep me going.

Dear Paula, I know you have to maintain the Deen machine, but if you really want to get some credibility (and improve your health), you'll do more than promote your "Diabetes in a New Light" program. You'll do more than push pills. You'll show us by example.

And, now, back to our regularly scheduled programming next week.


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55 comments:

  1. Thank you for articulating my stew of emotions. Fabulous post. Of course it's not easy. Everyone understands this wasn't easy for her. Or you, for that matter. It is not easy for anyone with a readership/viewership with narrowly defined expectations. But when one is in a privileged position to be able to make a real difference, to help others, to inspire and encourage healthy choices and change- it's time to step up. And be a mensch. It's called character. I'm proud to know you. xox

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  2. This is great Caron. I completely agree with you. You have every right to be proud of the hard work you have done over the past year to improve your health. On top of that you look fantastic! Bravo my dear, you are a true inspiration!

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  3. Karina and Alice, thanks very much. I hope, though, that this isn't coming off as patting my own back. That's not at all what I intended. I just find her approach so upsetting and full of such chutzpah!

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  4. I am very dissapointed in Paula Deen. For these 3 years she has known, she could have taken teaching time for her adoring public. She can cook however she wants, but then she could have expained that she has diabetes and we should eat everything in moderation and with control. JLI, Wa. state

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  5. Well said !! and good luck with your own personal journey :))

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  6. It's not self-aggrandizing in the least. Thank you for writing it so well. There's nothing but truth and really, humility there.

    I'm a lucky break away from diabetes myself; thanks to genetics and self-indulgence. My sister is diabetic and I know it could be me as well. I was saddened, and lost a great deal of respect for Paula Deen after her Today show appearance. She lost the opportunity to say the right things, to speak the truth. I hope she'll reconsider.

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    1. Also remember to include the fact that type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes are still diabetes but type 1 is not curable with diet and exercise. And some type 2 diabetics are transplant recipients and the pancreas just gives out after the surgery for some reason and it is beyond their control. And most important just because paula deen makes something on her show does not mean we have to eat it. I am happy to hear that you have changed your lifestyle and are trying to overcome type 2 diabetes. I have a friend that has type 1 and doesn't have the choice that most type 2 diabetics have. God bless and keep up the good work.

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    2. How many normaL weight people do you know that has type 2 diabetes? Every aspect of our health depends on diet and exercise. Now type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that doesn't matter what you do if you have type 1then you will always have type 1 it never goes away.

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    3. I'm strictly talking about Type 2. And, while diet and obesity can certainly contribute to Type 2 onset, there are certainly people who have done everything "right" and still gotten it and others who don't exercise, eat terribly, and are overweight and don't get it. To some extent it's arbitrary. But there are enough connections between Type 2 diabetes and diet, weight, and exercise to make the effort to be healthy.

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  7. Too bad everything you are talking about is a bunch of myths. The American Diabetes Association even states (in it's Myth about Diabetes page), that diet does not CAUSE diabetes. And while diet and exercise might help control diabetes, diet, not sugar, not fat, not anything else that the media has brainwashed us all to believing, what a person eats does NOT cause diabetes.

    Here, have some links so you can be better informed:
    http://www.chow.com/food-news/103217/stop-bashing-paula-deen/
    http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/diabetes-myths/ (This is the proof that diet does not cause diabetes, not even in Ms. Deen.)
    http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/01/the-health-hazards-of-shift-work/251499/#.Txc0kEf3V3g.facebook

    Things that DO have impact on if a person gets diabetes (of either type) are genetics, sleep patterns, age, stress. Weight is, if anything, a symptom of having diabetes.

    Hope this helps you with your judgement there!

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    1. I think these links are useful, particularly the one from the ADA. And, I don't think I'm reading it wrong. Good luck to you if your takeaway is that diet doesn't contribute to diabetes.

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    2. She didn't disclose her disease for at least two years and continued to promote her usual ridiculously fat and calorie-laden food - but now that she has a contract with a drug company to advertise for them she discloses this information purely for personal gain? Not sure what it is you think is missing - a lot of people find that offensive.

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    3. Repeat -- good luck if your takeaway on that ADA link is that diet doesn't contribute to diabetes. What you put in your mouth contributes to ALL disease -- diabetes more than most. For three years, Paula Deen has been shoving unhealthy foods into her mouth ON TV or IN BOOKS and getting paid to do it -- all the while, hiding the fact that it had already contributed to her diabetes and would do the same to the bodies of her great following. :-(

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    4. How could you read that ADA link and think that diet has nothing to do with Type 2 diabetes? I think you're scrapping for a way to defend Mrs. Deen in an indefensible situation.

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  8. What a fantastic article! My father was diagnosed about 5 years ago now and is very effectively controlling it with diet and exercise. Due to the genetic factor, I'm very aware that it may well be a part of my future too. I have 2 little girls, 6 and 9 who both love their food, and the younger loves to cook. I've always been passionate about what they eat, ensuring they get as much fresh food cooked from scratch as possible. I have had so many people comment to me over the years on how healthy they look.
    Here in Australia, we too have obesity and diabetes epidemics running rampant. I am thrilled to hear of your life changing ways and that you are taking responsibility for your own health instead of relying on medication. If only more people were so proactive I think it would be a vastly different world. Congratulations!

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    1. It begins with the kids, so congratulations on helping them learn how to take good care of themselves. I hope that neither they nor you develop the disease and that your dad can continue to control it with diet and exercise!

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    2. Yet you sent your fries and Brat to someone's children? Don't you have a responsibility, like Paula, to the public?

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  9. Wow. I followed this from Karina's link to it on Twitter. And I agree wholeheartedly. This is everything I wanted to say on the topic, and more. Thanks for putting this out there!

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  10. While I find it very saddening that Paula did not take the opportunity to use her celebrity status as a way to further advance research and studies on diabetes it is ultimately her life and her medial history. No one says she has to tell us anything and no one says we have to eat her food. I love to watch her shows but have never cooked a single dish from it because I know better. We all have to take responsibility for our own actions.

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    1. I agree. It's the chutzpah I object to most of all.

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  11. Well said Caron! I agree with you completely!
    Keep up the hard work you've been doing!

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  12. We've stayed out of this fracas, but will post a link tomorrow when more will see it. Really well said Caron, and from the heart, obviously. Thank you very much for posting it.

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    1. You make a very good point and I so agree with the influence someone with an audience can have on people. But there ARE people who have never been overweight, have been eating healthy and exercising and STILL get type 2 diabetes due to heredity; I am a nurse and know quite a few. As with every other disease we try our best to prevent and control it, but it does happen.

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    2. I agree, and, in fact, said so in a comment above.

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    3. Get your rant completely. Type 2 is a food issue - how our body handles the carb load is has been given to process - sometimes it just can't handle the load anymore.... Why this happens in some people and not others isn't quite clear, what is true is that being overweight complicates things as does not caring whether you eat healthy or not. Even for thin people - type 2 can be a reality. I'm not a fan of trendy low-carb diets - but they are working for those with type 2. Paula has never been a fan of low-carb low-sugar anything. Her food looks wonderful but my poor digestive system aches thinking about eating it.

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  13. In a letter to Ms. Deen...Sadly, it seems you have simply become a shill for the pharmaceutical industry and how will you feel pushing a drug that perhaps, like Avandia, was shown a few years later to have large, sometimes life threatening,... negative side-effects? You are doing diabetics harm by giving them some false hope of dealing with their diabetes without drastically changing their lifestyle to healthier eating and daily exercise.

    You are not a physician or endocrinologist and have no ethical reason for promoting a drug you truly know so little about other than large sums of money from the pharmaceutical company. You should be very ashamed and may well leave yourself open to future lawsuits for promoting a drug without formal medical training.

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  14. Caron, brilliantly and passionately stated. And I'm so proud of you and your commitment to changing your diet and doing the hard work to lose the weight and to exercise.

    I grew up in the south and hardly knew anyone who ate Paula Deen's way except on the rare occasion. She's the poster child for the women in the south in the poor communities and inner cities who statistically now have a shorter life span thanks to life-style illnesses caused by obesity and smoking. Paula Deen really is just a Big Pharma shill and a hypocrite to boot.

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  15. I find it very ridiculous that people are mad at Paula Deen, Its her life, her pocketbook, and her choice to come clean as she sees fit. We do not know how long the talks have been in progress with the drug cos. She was on Dr Oz a while back and talked about her diet and her trying to eat a little better. Her son has a new show called Not my MAMA's cookin, which she is a regular guest and it promotes healthier eating and redoing her recipes. You sound like a bitter old lady for not having them accept your offer. Want to get upset- what about the ball player I just glimpsed on that a team paid him thousands or millions of dollars just to talk to him.....utterly ridiculous. Paula Deen is an icon and her choices she will have to answer to, but not to you.

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  16. Wow! Happy for you that you have such a handle on your diabetes and are doing well with your lifestyle and health program, but you seem to me to be venting the resentment you have over your misfortune to have type 2 diabetes on a woman who isn't stepping in line with the status quo philosophy. I agree with you that she could be making some better choices, but she is not responsible for what her many fans put into their mouths. I am not a fan of Ms. Deen's but I love watching her cook now and then, and all the while I think, "I wish I could eat like that." But I know I can't if I want to be healthy. Neither does she encourage anybody to eat like that every day. Perhaps I want to make a fabulously rich meal or dessert for a special occasion with friends - moderate servings for everybody, we all get a treat and while we might feel we've over indulged, it's not our lifestyle.

    Also, you are not walking in Ms. Deen's shoes. This is a woman who, when faced with financial adversity, turned to what she knew best and, yes, made an empire out of it. After numerous years of working that plan, perhaps she is stuck in one gear - or perhaps she doesn't have any desire to be "health girl." Again, you're tirade against her seems a bit petty. Did you really think you would have any shot at convincing a pharm company to include a lifestyle and nutrition column in their marketing efforts? They make their money selling drugs - good or bad, they aren't going to shoot themselves in the foot like that.

    And your pummeling of Ms. Deen isn't enough for you, you have to stop long enough to give Oprah a good kick too.

    The diet and lifestyle changes you are promoting are indeed a good thing and you are helping many people, but is it necessary to push others down in your attempt to make your efforts worthy? I think you need to look inside yourself with an eye to a bit more than feeding your body - and see to your undernourished soul. Negativity will kill you just as fast as fat and sugar.

    As for me, you've lost a reader. I do not have diabetes but my husband does - its just not as easy for everybody to totally change their habits, and your harsh judgement is quite mean spirited. Perhaps you can channel all of that aggressive energy into helping people, as you say you want to do, instead of judging those who don't toe-the-line.

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    1. Judith-Ann, I wish your husband well with managing his T2D. You say that "its just not as easy for everybody to totally change their habits." But that is the very thing we all must do because our lives depend on our habits. I have seen too many loved ones suffer and die by T2D because they did NOT change their habits. I think that having heart attacks, strokes and kidney dialysis is MUCH HARDER than changing eating habits and other lifestyle changes. It does not have to happen over night but it does have to happen to avoid the serious damage T2D will do to your health if it is not stopped. And it can be reversed. I have seen other loved ones reverse their T2D with diet and exercise. No more pills, no more insulin. More life and health. Easy? No, but much better than the inevitable consequences. Thanks for listening and all the best.

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    2. Word.

      Caron, kudos to you and all your success creating a healthier life. But this is a huge effort to bash Paula Deen. She was a single mother who used her knowledge and skills to create a business to provide for her family. It's her JOB. She is a celebrity known for her fatty cooking because it's her job! This is not the only thing that makes her who she is. Paula Deen never forced anyone to eat a stick of butter or eat food like hers for every meal until they develop diabetes too.

      You can not know a celebrity from what you read about or see on TV. They are real people. Real people with real fears and challenges of their own.

      I'm not trying to say that all her decisions were the best. And I don't think what is right for me is right for everyone else. I am a nurse practitioner, try to eat healthy, see myself as quite healthy compared to others in their 30s, compete in triathlons and help others when I can. But I don't think everyone needs to be like me. Every person has a different situation.

      All I can do is try my best to be MY BEST. Congratulations on your success. You are inspiring. And I wish Ms. Deen health and happiness too.

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    3. You're right. I don't know her. And people have to take responsibility for their own actions. But let's not pretend that she doesn't have influence. Why else would the drug company be paying her. And, I'm sorry but I find it the height of bad taste to continue to push her extreme food knowing that she had a disease which in all likelihood that extreme approach was a contributor. And she only came forward, apparently, once she got the drug gig. I'm sure she doesn't mean anyone any harm, but she's carefully cultivated her image and this is the sad cost she's now paying. I wish her well. I wish her the best of health. But as someone who is fighting this disease, which I know my behavior contributed to, I'm angry.

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  17. Wonderful post Caron! Thank you for so eloquently saying what many of us are thinking. Kudos to you.

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  18. ..."You can't seriously have thought it was cool to keep pushing butter and cheese, bacon and sausage, plush desserts and deep fried foods on viewers knowing that these contribute to a frightening epidemic of obesity which, yes, leads to diabetes..."

    So true. Yet so profoundly difficult to get this message through to the public! We don't WANT to hear it, believe it, or act on it.

    I'm a heart attack survivor who regularly meets other survivors who have started smoking again, stopped their meds, quit cardiac rehabilitation exercise programs. As in Type 2 diabetes, a heart disease diagnosis requires, as you say "a total lifestyle change". THAT'S what Ms. Deen could have chosen to do, using her considerable celebrity status to actually do good by helping convince us how to PREVENT a largely preventable diagnosis.

    A tragically wasted opportunity . . .

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  19. I totally agree with you Caron. I usually don't have such an adverse reaction to whatever celebs/public figures do, but this made me so mad. I was surprised with myself. It's so dishonest from someone that portrays herself as a wholesome, southern, family-woman. I agree with Carolyn about it being a wasted opportunity.

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  20. Five years ago I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. It immediately became apparent to me that I had some decisions to make regarding my health. Because I was so sick, my doctor wanted to immediately put me on meds. I asked her if there was another method I could try. She explained that it was possible to control the disease through diet and exercise. With some reluctance on her part, she agreed to give me 3 weeks to begin walking daily and to revamp my diet. The next three weeks were very challenging, but I pressed on. When I returned to see the doctor my test results were dramatically improved. Five years later I still continue to walk daily and closely modify my diet. I never had to go on medication. I share this to let you know that I have first hand experience with diabetes. Therefore, when I saw Paula Deen explain her reasons for taking the path she has chosen, I must admit that I was angry and disappointed. This was her opportunity to educate, inspire and motivate her audience. As a public figure I feel that she owes at least that much the people who follow her. I'm hoping that she will reconsider and use her public platform for the good.

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  21. I hate to rain on the anti-fat parade, but it's the SUGAR, baby, not the fat that is the real problem except when the fat is so excessive that it causes more weight gain. The sugar and carbs are so much worse. The ADA doesn't really get it either.

    Also, while she is probably rich enough to let it go, I have to believe that Paula Deen, after being a self-made woman, would be loathe to trash everything she created. I still admire her for what she did to support herself and her family, even if I don't eat her food. Yes, it seems crass to us that she waited until she got a good deal to reveal her illness, but can you really blame her? It's a survival instinct.

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    1. Karen, it is also the fat WITH the sugar. Check out some vids on youtube (and there are some very good informative ones there, not just cats flushing the toilet!) on the subject of dietary fat and its role in T2D.

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  22. Thank you for posting your thoughts on this issue because they are thoughts that many of us have had these past few days. It's wrong to take money from a drug company to tout a solution while still maintaining the lifestyle that created the problem that made the solution necessary in the first place. And she is leading inappropriately by her example. It's like the man at your diabetes information class who was stuffing his face with waffles all the while boasting that he manages his diabetes with medications. It's wrong, it's wrong, it's wrong! So, thank you for publishing your rebuttle to Paula Dean's public nosethumbing at the diabetic world. And thanks to YOU for leading by example!

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  23. Caron, I give you a lot of props for writing and posting this article. It's tough to put a personal medical diagnosis out there for public comment and critique. None of us like to be looked at as our "diseases" or "diagnosis." I think your article was very fair, heartfelt and hits the nail on the head. You are brave to start this dialogue and offer a POV that is thoughtful and educated.

    Total lifestyle changes are not simple and having been there, with an eye on my own health, I can empathize with the difficulty. But at the end of the day, it's about what you value. Do you value your life? Your energy? Your ability to enjoy another day? Than no change is too difficult. Ever.

    Judith-Ann misses the point. No one says it's easy. But you can be darn sure I love myself and those who love me to make my health (and subsequently how I feed myself) a number one priority.

    While my autoimmune diseases were not caused by diet or lifestyle (genetic or environment likely to blame), my treatment plan has been drug-free due to major dietary and lifestyle changes I have adopted proactively and with total commitment. Never has the loss of something I've given up been harder than the thought that without these changes, my prognosis would eventually lead to an agressively shorter lifespan.

    We are individually responsible for making smarter and better choices to deal best with the hands we are dealt. Total lifestyle changes aren't difficult when you think about the alternatives. To say you can't do it, or it's too hard... phew. You're selling yourself and those you love terribly short.

    Those who think pharma or other stop-gaps are the solution are fooling themselves. My doctors told me meds, I pursued a different holistic & dietary path with complete success. The medical community only has hammers and looks at everything as a nail. Cut it out, medicate it - there is no focus on prevention.

    People like Paula Deen are a scourge, but also a sad mirror of our unwillingness as a society to hold up a mirror and accurately judge how our own behaviors and lifestyle decisions are leading to an epidemic of illness and disease that is entirely preventable and treatable through productive & healthful means. Regardless of what causes your type 2 diabetes, there is more than enough medical research and scholarly literature that points to measurable success with diet & fitness. To not try this and resort only to drugs is taking the easy way out... but the quicker path to a costly and more expedient death.

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  24. Very eloquently stated! We are responsible for making the necessary lifestyle changes that will improve our health. I too am living proof of that. Thanks for your words of wisdom.

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  25. Thanks for posting this. To me, it means that much more that you are also dealing with diabetes. I developed gestational diabetes with my first pregnancy (which means I will with my other births) and diabetes runs in my family. It was so incredibly hard, especially as a food writer, to alter my diet for that short time, and I gained so much respect for people with full blown diabetes. My mom was diagnosed a few years ago. But she chose to take charge, like you are, and have a complete lifestyle change, which helped her avoid injections and testing her blood sugar daily.

    I happened to catch another comment on here from a woman saying you were just ranting about how you hate diabetes, and how Paula is not in charge of how people eat. I also saw you that lost her as a reader. Good riddance. Of course it is not Paula's job to teach people how to eat, but she is an aspirational figure, especially with her background and struggle towards success. Like it or not, people look up to her, and often wish they could live like her. I think she missed a HUGE opportunity to do what her son is now doing, taking her old recipes and making them healthier. It would have added credibility to her already shakey business plan. The fact that she's had this for 3 years and is just now releasing the info, coincidentally as her son's new show is premering? Just gross.

    Jeez, Paula. Even McDonald's has pretended to get on the healthy band wagon. And when you can't even match McDonald's, I think it is time to get out of the food game.

    Thanks for this.

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  26. I find it incredibly disheartening to see all the vitriol that is being heaped on Ms. Deen - from the sound of things, you would think that she alone is responsible for the rise of Type 2 Diabetes !! As a nutrition professional might I offer perhaps a bit of a different perspective?
    1. Ms. Deen's show is on the food network - which is an entertainment channel. From what I have read, Ms. Deen has never claimed to be a nutrition professional and has never suggested that the public look to her for nutrition advice.
    2. As for not going public with her disease, I really don't understand what business it is of anyone's whether she is diabetic or not. And as for the foods she features on her show, a steady diet of it of course is not advisable for the vast majority of Americans - but then that of course could be said for quite a number of very popular food blogs! Does your position mean we should demand that no one publicize these dishes? That all media only discuss foods that meet a certain nutritional standard?
    3. None of us can see into Ms. Deen's heart, but is it possible that Ms. Deen felt that since she is at a point where she is successful in managing her diabetes (while incorporating SOME of the foods that she features on her show and yes, it can be done), that that information might be helpful to her viewers? Many people are afraid to be tested for Diabetes since they are afraid of what such a diagnosis will mean for them. Perhaps from Ms. Deen's perspective she feels that by sharing her story and how it has impacted her life more people will get tested and perhaps more will be diagnosed and can begin to manage their diabetes. And if that happens, how can that possibly be a bad thing?

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  27. No one has forced anyone to make her recipes or eat them.
    I can't help but laugh at the fact that the author says she gave the french fries and bratwurst to her friend to bring home to her KIDS?! So let me get this straight: you actually gave some children FRENCH FRIES AND BRATWURST and are condemning Paula Deen for merely make the recipes available for people to buy, go out and get the groceries and prepare the food for themselves. It takes a lot more personal effort to make and eat her food than it will for those kids to eat the horrible food that you just sent their way. That's some serious hypocrisy there.

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  28. I am amazed at the judgemental views and hypocrisy of some people that posted above. I was taught that you should never judge people...only God could do that. You cannot see into Paula Deen's heart nor know the reasons why she chose to wait until now to reveal her medical condition.

    I have Type 2 Diabetes and love to watch Paula Deen. I am also intelligent enough to know what I should be eating and what I should restrict from my diet. As I have heard her say on her shows...everything should be eaten in moderation.

    Do you rant about and condemn restaurants and bakeries for making food that you shouldn't eat? What you are doing is as bad as the older woman that sued McDonald's for the hot coffee she spilled in her lap. When are people going to take responsibility for the CHOICES THEY MAKE in their life.

    Give Paula Deen a break...when you are without sin....then you may cast the first stone.

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  29. While checking several internet recipe websites yesterday I ran across several PAID advertisements thereon saying "click here for healthy diabetic recipes brought to you by Paula Deen"....Good Grief, Gordon Elliott Productions and the Food Network are surely scrambling to rehabilitate her credibility. Your honest and thoughtful blog threatens their investment but heartens those thoughtful folks who do not mindlessly fall into everything they see on TV. Thank you for speaking out.

    33 minutes ago · Like · 1

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  30. I waited 24 hours before responding to this to ensure I was committed to my view. That said
    1. Previous posters are correct. Diet does not "cause" diabetes. It can be a contributing factor to onset, as can obesity, stress, sleep patterns, certain drugs, infection ect. However, researchers believe a genetic predisposition is required for the disease to manifest, regardless of contributing factors.
    2. All things in moderation please. You claim no pizza, fried chicken, cheesecake....ever....is the way to go? That is a recipe for disaster. In very small quantities and with proper planning, a diabetic can indulge from time to time.
    3. Enough with the hypocrisy. You condemn her show, yet your own blog has recipes that include questionable ingredients. For instance, the cookie recipe? Last I checked flour and sugar were diabetic no no's.
    Ok, so where do I get off? I am a type 2 diabetic...a newly diagnosed type 2 at that. Because of that I commend you on your achievements. I get that they are hard won. In 6 weeks I have brought by levels down more than 150 points and am almost always in the green. Not always mind you. But I'm working on it and I'm learning. I've lost 6 and a half pounds. Not much but slow, steady and sustainable is better than fast and burned out. As you said, it really is a life change. But it is my change. Paula didn't get me here and she won't get me out. I'm an adult. I make my own choices. Please remember that the whenever you are tempted to proselytize again and leave Paula to handle her disease in her own way....and oh yeah....the comment about the lavender tent? That was a low blow and beneath you. The rest is your opinion and you are entitled to it, but you owe her an apology for that one.

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  31. Dear Anonymous:
    Clearly you (all) are passionate about your beliefs. That's fine. Want to criticize me? Also fine. But from now on if you want to post a comment to this blog (even in support of my views), you cannot do it anonymously. Anonymous comments will no longer be published.

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  32. Wow you hit the nail on the head Caron--why did she wait three years to share this information, MONEY. I have never been a fan of her show, I love Ina Garten and she uses a lot of butter and cream in her recipes. but she does it in a much more appealing way...I enjoy your blog and appreciate your honest view!

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