Report: Paula Deen to reveal she has diabetes
Paula Deen posed for this photo with Dantanna's Chef Tim Mastalski during her October visit to Atlanta.
Food Network personality and cookbook author Paula Deen has type II diabetes and will soon go public with her condition, according to a report on The Daily website.
The butter-loving Savannah chef is not responding to questions about the report. Her most recent tweets include a links to a ham and bean soup recipe and question asking followers about their favorite Super Bowl recipes, although one recent tweet mentions a workout and includes a link to a photo of her on the treadmill.
(The Food Network’s most recent tweet, by the way: “Get the best price of the season on @Paula_Deen’s Everything Pan http://ow.ly/8sQyl.”)
The Daily report quotes an anonymous source saying Deen is “going to have to start cooking healthier recipes,” and will soon become the celebrity endorser for a pharmaceutical company. (The company also did not respond to questions.) Sources also muse about whether Deen’s Savannah restaurant will axe Paula’s Brunch Burger – a fried egg and bacon on a burger served on donuts instead of a bun – from the menu.
Deen’s affinity for rich ingredients has drawn the ire of some foodies, notably celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, who once told TV Guide Deen was “the worst, most dangerous person to America.” His most recent comment regarding Deen came via Twitter on Thursday, in response to another tweeter who evidently asked about Bourdain’s criticism of Deen: “Making fun of Paula Deen has nothing to do with ‘macho’ and everything to do with common sense,” Bourdain tweeted. (It seemed like a par-for-the-course comment from him, not a joke about her illness).
Deen’s 2011 cookbook, “Paula Deen’s Southern Cooking Bible,” which she called her “proudest achievement so far,” made it to the list of Five Worst Cookbooks of 2011 by the nonprofit Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.
“Deen’s cookbook includes such nutrition bombs as Hot Buffalo Wings. A single serving of three wings contain 910 calories and 85 grams of fat,” the organization said in a statement.
A spokesperson for the PCRM noted that Deen “is the only chef who has made it into the list twice over the last three years with her high-fat recipes that raise the risk for obesity, heart disease, and diabetes.”
Deen’s supposed diabetes is burning up Twitter right now. “Paula Deen” is a top trending topic. We’ll keep an eye out for any response directly from her.
Deen comes to Atlanta pretty regularly for promotional events. She was here in October for a book signing at the BJ’s wholesale club in Woodstock, and showed up at the Dantanna’s in Buckhead during her visit. She ordered the “Buffalo Trace Bourbon BBQ Giant Beef Rib” menu item, along with potato salad and chicken wings. She apparently raved about the potato salad, saying only her own recipe is better, and had the Krispy Kreme bread pudding for dessert.
- Jennifer Brett/The Buzz/jbrett@ajc.com
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153 comments Add your comment
Prez Obozo
January 13th, 2012
4:33 pm
Since all you Paula criticizers are too stupid to figure out what to eat, why don’t we start more government to tell us what we can buy & eat?? Why don’t you criticizers who are probably overweight to begin with get off you lazy butts & exercise instead of hurring home to watch trash tv like ‘dancing with the stars’, ‘American Idiots’ & ‘desperate housewives’???
Prayers to ya Paula – God bless you!
Chief Knock a da homer
January 13th, 2012
4:34 pm
Too many haters on here. I guess they are jealous of Paula’s success. Quess what ? She will find a way to cook healthy now
Type 1 Mama
January 13th, 2012
4:38 pm
@Linda – yes, you should distinguish since the two types are only alike in name only. Why bring up the name of Mary Tyler Moore in a conversation clearly about Type 2? You are perpetuating the stigma against those with the autoimmune version and keeping ignorance alive and well. As a professional in the field, you should know better!
A friend
January 13th, 2012
4:43 pm
Paula may not always make the best dietary choices, but she does seem to be a very nice lady and I wish her well. Bye yall!!
Bedford
January 13th, 2012
4:43 pm
The people who are crapping on Paula right now must want to eat nothing but gravel. What good is living to 100 if you can’t enjoy life, which includes enjoyable food. She makes food people actually like, not food that ponces claim to like just so they can have a false sense of superiority about themselves.
CC
January 13th, 2012
4:47 pm
Not everyone who eats badly and is overweight gets type 2 diabetes. There are thin and healthy people that develop type 2 also. If that were true all the obese people would have diabetes. But being overweight and / or inactive can raise your risk if you are genetically inclined to have diabetes.
CC
January 13th, 2012
4:49 pm
Halle Berry and Dick Clark are certainly not obese and both have type 2 diabetes.
Ron Burgundy
January 13th, 2012
4:53 pm
Michelle was too late getting themmessage out to help Paula Dean. WHY GAWD WHY!!!!
Ella
January 13th, 2012
4:56 pm
This reminds me of when the guy who started the Atkins diet fad dropped dead of a heart attack. You are what you eat and it will catch up with you one day. Of course Paula eats the food she writes about and promotes – she says it all the time, that this is how she eats. I wouldn’t wish diabetes on anyone, including Ms. Dean, but each of us have to live with the consequences of our actions. She chose to eat a certain way and she’s paying the price. Sad, but true.
David Buffington
January 13th, 2012
5:03 pm
She’s FAT. The fatter she got, the more likely she would become a Type II diabetic. It was inevitable. Now what? Will she actually provide more healthful foods & recipes? Best way to get healthy recipes on the Food Channel? Avoid the FAT chefs.
KA
January 13th, 2012
5:31 pm
It will be interesting to see how Paula changes her cooking. Diabetics have to eat low fat, with a balance of good carbs and protein. I have managed my diabetes with diet and exercise, weight loss, and so I don’t need medication. Dump the butter, Paula, that’s your first step to better health.
Danube
January 13th, 2012
5:41 pm
If Paula was black, a lot of these comments wouldn’t be so supportive.
Katie
January 13th, 2012
5:54 pm
***facepalm***
Usually the South is a kindly place, though not often on AJC blogs.
Type II Diabetes is not an illness, it is a condition.
Fat, in moderation, is not bad and DOES NOT add significant weight – it is a cholesterol issue.
SUGAR, in anything other than a coffee here and there, is stored AS FAT in your body.
The improper metabolization of sugar by lack of insulin causes diabetes.
A leaner body condition is more able to metabolize sugars.
Carbs ARE SUGARS in the body.
Complex Carbs ARE NOT (these are vegetables, BTW)
Everything in moderation. Eating, criticizing, cooking with butter, and hiding behind internet pseudonyms to post hatred.
Y’all be nice. Paula is a lovely woman who battled extreme depression and pulled herself up by her bootstraps and became a successful enterprise. Anthony Bourdain did not.
Linda
January 13th, 2012
6:12 pm
Mama 1- but the only thing is Paula has not officially come out with her diagnosis yet- right? She has not said 1 or 2 – I would think 2 but I never assume as you are usually wrong when you do. Like I said, my hubby has diabetes and I do not eee him suffering any stigma because of his disease. Anyone who thinks you should be looked down on because of this seems a little paranoid to me. Enough said.
roggiep
January 13th, 2012
6:16 pm
I love Paula Deen, but I was never happy with her food choices, most of them are fried and unhealthy. I think you have to have a responsability to your fans to provide something as healthy as possible.The Angry Trainer writes a great article about the news of her diabetes, etc. some harsh words there but I must agree with him. http://www.angrytrainerfitness.com/2012/01/paula-deen-time-to-stop-cooking-crap/
Kurt
January 13th, 2012
6:39 pm
she need to lay off those fatty foods I know it’s hard but for health reasons she need to eat healthier.
T Knight
January 13th, 2012
6:57 pm
Good health wishes for Paula. Many folks love her and are inspired by her.
Does Paula Deen have diabetes? – Los Angeles Times | headlinenewsreport.org
January 13th, 2012
7:06 pm
[...] Atlanta Journal Constitution [...]
Does Paula Deen have diabetes? – Los Angeles Times | U.S.A News
January 13th, 2012
7:12 pm
[...] Atlanta Journal Constitution [...]
Type 1 Mama
January 13th, 2012
7:19 pm
Hmmm…I think you can hypothesize that due to her age and lifestyle it is Type 2. If you think there is no stigma then you have read none of these comments. As long as people group the two types together we (JDRF/ Type 1 community) may not get the funding we so desperately need for better technology and an eventual cure. Clue in – YOU are not the majority and I hope you never work with children. I hope I have made a difference in the minds of the people reading these comments. Advocacy matters. NOW enough has been said.
mr atkins
January 13th, 2012
7:36 pm
@Ella. Atkins did not die of a heart attack. Do your research idiot.
Donna Q
January 13th, 2012
7:38 pm
Donna P, are you kidding? “A healthy weight for her age?” You must be high, girlfriend….
Bob Evans
January 13th, 2012
7:54 pm
Paula Deen?
Yeah, I’d hit that.
Tom
January 13th, 2012
8:08 pm
I also read somewhere that she is a 1.5 pack/day smoker. Her voice also sounds like a smoker’s.
Atlanta Academic
January 13th, 2012
8:46 pm
The Holy Trinity of the South in order of rank is food, sex and Jesus. How do I know this? That which I always suspected, being an avid consumer of mystery novels, was revealed by Southern mystery writer, Patricia Houck Sprinkle.
My view may be different. At least part of me hails from breathtakingly beautiful Millflin County, Pennsylvania, Dutch, from the year 1642. As you know, that is pretty close to Gettysburg. There may be rumors that flamboyant Jeb Stuart enjoyed very different fare from his usual at my ancestors’ table.
Grandfather was a mountain doctor, trained at Pitt. Outside his office door was an etching of the stork delivering a baby hung by a cloth held by beak. He died when I was seven years old. He was asked by Congress just prior to WWI to comment on what we now call podiatry. I can only imagine his commentary on the horrific diabetes epidemic in this country.
My cousin’s husband from a family of doctors died on a road called Breakneck when doctors administered to the people in the mountains. It is a terrible thing that now those treacherous roads are traveled not to deliver babies, but to treat excess.
Hula
January 13th, 2012
9:27 pm
I met Paul Deen in August 2011 & she is a teeny tiny thing. She has a generous chest which I think is what makes her look heavier on tv and photos. I assure you she is very petite
Bob
January 13th, 2012
11:42 pm
You don’t have to be overweight to get Type 2 diabetes, although many overweight people contract the disease.
Bob
January 13th, 2012
11:48 pm
Some of you misunderstand the illness. Fat doesn’t have anything to do with type 2 diabetes, although it isn’t good for your heart, cholesterol, etc. simple carbohydrates like white rice, white flour, white potatoes, white sugar, etc. raise people’s blood sugar and is bad for diabetics.
Fun Size
January 14th, 2012
1:03 am
Geez some of y’all are just plain mean….
James
January 14th, 2012
1:27 am
@ Fun Size, Paula Deen was plain mean! I do not wish her ill but it is kind-of ironic is it it that she criticizes the FLOTUS’s Let’s Move initiative and then find herself in this situation. I do hope she gets well though, maybe take some lessons from Let’s Move instead of criticizing it!
Baltisraul
January 14th, 2012
10:38 am
Steve………..a negative comment about folks Southern accent, posted in the largest Southern newspaper is laugh out loud stupid. Get a life or move back to yankeeland. My guess, you ain’t from round here are you boy?
Bob Evans
January 14th, 2012
11:50 am
I notice Jennifer Brett doesn’t have any problem with all the mean, racist, bigoted comments, critiques on obesity & fat jokes about Paula Deen in this blog, but she refused to allow any comments whatsoever IN THIS SAME BLOG when Mrs. Obama had a public dispute with Paula.
Can we say “racist hypocrite,” Boys & Girls?
Randall
January 14th, 2012
12:20 pm
Amazing all the people here who don’t understand diabetes. I did not read one comment here that mentioned the role of stress and lack of sleep as the main cause of people developing diabetes. I have type 2 and take an unbelievable amount of anti-diabetic pills and insulin but my numbers are not controlled. It can be hereditary however this is mostly just a dodge for people whose doctors don’t want their patients to feel like it is PARTLY their own fault as well. My mother had it and she was a type A neurotic stressed out type as am I. My brother doesn’t have it. He is a calm person. Anyway there are many causes but I have to agree somewhat with the person who made the comment about karma. Americans in particular are now reaping the rewards for trashing their bodies and letting MonSatan (Monsanto) genetically modify almost everything we eat. The answer to most of the problems in our society is to stop consuming! Did you know that the government is at war with people who grow their own food? Do some research.
Randall
January 14th, 2012
12:30 pm
Hey Bob, yes you have nailed the diet aspect of it pretty well as a generalization. People would be well advised to cut out ALL bread from their diets and stop grazing like cattle. Bread is the number one offender and if people want to lose weight than this is the first thing they should do along with quitting ALL fried foods. Fat in itself does not cause diabetes but even the low carb diets suggest minimizing bad fats. Another thing that causes diabetes is Aspartame which is found in most “diet” drinks. Anyone out there who thinks a person can lose weight by drinking diet drinks is delusional. Have people given up thinking for themselves but instead sit in front of the TV and soak up all the corporate commercial propaganda? Attention, everyone…..turn this woman’s show off and instead get up and go out for a walk for the hour shes on. Watch the result.
patricia
January 15th, 2012
2:53 pm
I’m so sorry for you finding you’re type 2 diabetic. But look on the bright side there are plenty of diabetic recipes that you can make that don’t taste nasty. I am a type 1 diabetic and have been for 37 years. Believe me you can survive. Because I have and I know you can, we are both Southern Belles. And I love you and your family. Just take care and eat like the dietitician tells you to. Lovefrom our family to yours.
JOY GROSS
January 15th, 2012
5:30 pm
I enjoy watching Paula. I just LOVE that accent. She’s good at what she does, she’s attractive, she’s funny, and what a cook! I get vicarious enjoyment from watching HER gobble down all those luscious, creamy sweet desserts and share them with her husband and sons (watch out – they may be next!). It’s a perverted, vicarious pleasure for me, as I have been a plant-based eater for 70 of my 84 years. As for the meat dishes, I don’t salivate over those. THAT almost gives me the heaves. Watching Paula, I’ve said to myself many times, “Something’s going to happen to her. There’ll be a price to pay.” And here it is. She needs MY new recipe book, JOY’S RECIPES FOR LIVING YOUNGER LONGER. There’re all plant based and alkalinizing. Meats and Sweets, Paula’s specialties are acid inducing, which predisposes you to whatever you are genetically predisposed to.
Paula’s a great hostess. I wish her the best.
Joy Gross
Does Paula Deen Have Type 2 Diabetes? – Ecorazzi | headlinenewsreport.org
January 15th, 2012
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[...] Atlanta Journal Constitution [...]
Does Paula Deen Have Type 2 Diabetes? – Ecorazzi | Rss News Desk | Daily News Magazine
January 15th, 2012
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[...] Atlanta Journal Constitution [...]
Does Paula Deen Have Type 2 Diabetes? – Ecorazzi | Best News Feed - Daily News Magazine
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[...] Atlanta Journal Constitution [...]
Report: Paula Deen to reveal she has diabetes | Weight and Diet
January 16th, 2012
12:10 am
[...] Report: Paula Deen to expose she has diabetes “Deen's cookbook contains these nourishment bombs as Hot Buffalo Wings. A single serving of 3 wings include 910 calories and 85 grams of fat,” the organization mentioned in a statement. A spokesperson for the PCRM mentioned that Deen “is the only chef who has … Examine far more on Atlanta Journal Constitution (web site) [...]
Bob from Cobb
January 16th, 2012
1:35 am
You LIBERALS KILL ME! Paula has always said she is NOT a CHEF!She is a self taught cook. So what if you don’t like her show or what she cooks? DON’T WATCH! No one is holding a gun to you head and making you eat GOOD OLD FASHIONED COOKING!
Speaking of eating,I LOVE LIBERALS like “Kharma” and “Treat her the same as a cigarette comercial”. Yeah,I LOVE YOU. You taste like CHICKEN!;-) LOL!
FAT LADY HAS SUNG ON THIS ONE
January 16th, 2012
1:41 am
WAITING FOR TRIPLE BYPASS SHE WILL HAVE ANY DAY NOW WITH ALL THAT BUTTER AND GOBBLYGOOK IN IT FAT AND THEN SOME
FAT LADY HAS SUNG ON THIS ONE
January 16th, 2012
1:42 am
AS PHONEY AS THE BALONEY SHE EATS WITH HER DONUTS
Holly
January 16th, 2012
5:21 pm
Deen created her diabetes through a very poor diet. That is the bottom line. I think Paula is a nice person, and I hope she can change her diet and lifestyle. Having a bad diet doesn’t mean you’re a bad person. I do hope she will stop with all the fat and sugar so she can live a healthy long life and be there for her kids and grandkids.
fatten up
January 16th, 2012
10:12 pm
diabetes? no surprise with all the fattening stuff she eats all the time.
call michelle!
January 16th, 2012
10:13 pm
paula need to call michelle obama—for lessons on how to lose weight and “get in shape!” michelle know her stuff.
Kevin McGill
January 17th, 2012
2:37 pm
Hey y’all,
Paula Deen confronting Type 2 diabetes is like a lifelong smoker amazed that they have lung cancer
What a joke!
No surprise Deen is using this to make some big dough for a pharmaceutical company to peddle meds for bad behavior..
Ed
January 17th, 2012
3:38 pm
“Not only has the First Lady of the Deep-Fryer been less than transparent about her disease, she has inked a multimillion dollar deal with the pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk for its once-daily treatment. It is hard to imagine a stickier ethical affair than making a fortune promoting foods that make people fat — thereby increasing their risk of diabetes — and then having the nerve to try to sell them a drug to treat the diet-related disease that she has had secretly for years.”
This pretty much says it all.
Dana
January 17th, 2012
4:18 pm
The fact she has hid this for 3 years is incomprehensible. This just “screams” fraud to me. And, the Food Network airing her shows in the interim is highly irresponsible, knowing she has Type 2. As a parent of a Type 1 Diabetic (Type 1 Diabetes is autoimmune, where the pancreas produces zero insulin) This is a huge slap in the face to let this woman get away with this. I have to account for EVERYTHING my child puts in her mouth, and give her injections of insulin to keep her alive. I am now officially banning The Food Network. This is just wrong on so many levels.