Paula Deen's Diabetes: Is the Sweet, Southern Cook the Most Dangerous Person in America?
Paula Deen's diabetes should be everyone's wake-up call.
Last year, celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain called celebrity down-home-cook Paula Deen “the most dangerous person to America,” adding, “She revels in unholy connections with evil corporations and she’s proud of the fact that her food is f—— bad for you. Plus, her food sucks.”
Tell us how you really feel, Anthony! But seriously, folks …Tuesday Bourdain did just that, taking to Twitter in response to Deen’s announcement that she has type 2 diabetes. In conjunction with that announcement, Deen also revealed that she’s teaming up with pharma company Novo Nordisk to promote the “Diabetes in a New Light” initiative. Essentially, Deen is shilling Victoza, “a non-insulin, once-a-day, injectable medication that helps lower blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes.”
Upon hearing the news about Deen’s new spokesperson gig, Bourdain tweeted: “Thinking of getting into the leg-breaking business, so I can profitably sell crutches later.” Ouch.
Mother Jones’ Tom Philpott backs up Bourdain’s criticism, saying, “Deen isn’t making a private decision on how to treat an ailment; she’s turning her ailment into a quite-public revenue stream. And she’s broadcasting a clear message to her legion of fans: Eat all the junkie food you want, and don’t worry, because the pharmaceutical industry will bail you out.”
Bourdain told Eater, “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.” Rumors had been circulating before Deen’s announcement that she was going to tell the world about her health condition, and Bourdain said he doubted she’d admit she’d known about her diagnosis for a while. Deen copped to the fact that she’s been dealing with type 2 for three years.
Philpott’s piece scrutinizes not just Deen (he says she uses her “Food TV forum to promote unhealthy food” and that her pairing with industrial-meat giant Smithfield may have backfired, noting that “industrially raised meat contributes to diabetes risk“) but also Novo Nordisk, citing proof that Victoza may cause cancer.
This is a personal issue for me, because my mother — very much a Paula Deen type of gal — has type 2 diabetes and regrets the way she handled food for most of her life. Still, she sounds like Deen in her slight denial. My mom says, “I still would have made the goodies but less often and portion control is the most important thing. You can still have those good things, but you have to be smart. Like you know how now when I make Italian food I have a big plate of broccoli instead of a whole plate of pasta? That’s how you have to do it. And keep movin’.”
Yeah. And don’t use butter spray as breath mints:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZgZ-klsQns[/youtube]
Video by my funny friend Abbi Crutchfield, featuring her funny husband Luke Thayer.
Anthony Bourdain and Paula Deen are two sides of the same egomaniacal coin. She is a total sellout who promotes bacon and butter laden dishes while shooting up insulin in private. He is a heavy smoker and drinker who eats the same crap that Deen does, he just eats it off a street cart in Korea. But he gets away with it because he’s a anti-establishment and hip. When Bourdain has his next physical or his first heart attack, then I’d like to see him continue with the mean spirited comments. I am no fan of Deen, Rachel Ray, or the other hack cooks on the Food Network. But Bourdain doesn’t cook anymore either! From what I can tell, his job is to be a dick and criticize everyone else. As for Paula Deen, I lost respect for her when I heard her interviewed on Fresh Air (NPR). A caller asked her opinion about labor abuses at a Smithfield factory (this story had been in the news shortly after Deen signed on as their spokesperson). Deen replied that labor issues were just not her forte! Way to play the dumb Southern Belle card while cashing your check from Smithfields, Paula.
Its easy to play a dumb blonde/ ditzy woman but when a man does it he’s a d!@k. When your a trained cook and know how to make healthy AND unhealthy dishes you have every right to be judgemental (heavy on the mental) but when your a homegrown cook and all you can do is cook food that is not ecclectic and 1 dementional then you should have to take the negative comments like a big girl and not play stupid. Take responsibility and learn to change with the times. She should have come out as a diabetic and spun it as here is a woman who is learning to change her habits to improve her health, not ,here is a woman who will say lets take our insulin shots before/after we eat
It’s just dumb because Victoza (and the other lizard spit brands) only work in conjunction with a low carb diet. They don’t cure diabetes and they don’t allow you to eat whatever crap you want.