The Southern belle of heavy cream and butter, Paula Deen, has no remorse about not disclosing the fact that she has Type 2 Diabetes for nearly 3 years. Meanwhile, she continued to dish up her high-fat, high-calorie recipes on TV like her deep-fried cheesecake.
She has no plans on changing her recipes that made her a star to accommodate her illness. However, it remains unclear of how much eating of it she’ll be doing herself.
After revealing her disease on NBC’s “Today” show, Deen said, “I’ve always said, ‘Practice moderation, y’all.’ I’ll probably say that a little louder now. You can have diabetes and have a piece of cake. You cannot have diabetes and eat a whole cake.”
Both chefs and health activists are unhappy with Deen’s decision to keep her diagnosis quiet while continuing to promote unhealthy food to her views. Deen claimed that she decided to keep her diagnosis quiet while she made a game plan for the future. It was big news, and something that she and her family needed to learn about and plan for.
She explains her choice, “I really sat on this information for a few years because I said, ‘Oh my gosh, what am I going to do about this? Is my life fixing to change? Am I no longer going to like my life? I had to have time to adjust and soak it all in and get up all the information that I could.”
In order to manage her diagnosis, Deen has quit drinking sweet tea and has taken up treadmill walking. Beyond that, she plans to make few changes. However, many of other chefs and viewers around the nation feel differently about her decision. Her fame has been spread through many homes throughout the years. It would be possible for her to use this news as a change for her career.
Instead of idly continuing down an unhealthy path, promoting unhealthy foods, Deen could easily decide to shift her focus. Change from promoting unhealthy to learning how to cook good, southern dishes that are healthy. While surely heavy cream and butter may seem like a staple ingredient, educate viewers on the other options they have available.
Type 2 Diabetes has grown in the United States as the obesity rates continue to skyrocket. Approximately 23 million American are believed to suffer from Type 2 Diabetes. According to government doctors, living an sedentary lifestyle, being overweight and over the age of 45 all greatly increase the risk of diagnosis.