TV chef and cookbook author Paula Deen admitted Tuesday that she has Type 2 diabetes.
Deen, known as the Sugar Queen of Southern-Fried Cuisine, went public with her diagnosis in prime time on the Today Show.
But what really shocked everyone was…
She revealed that she had Type 2 for three years ago, but kept it to herself, while continuing to crank out such sugar-laden abominations as The Krispy Kreme Burger (a hamburger on a donut) and her Ultimate Fantasy Deep-Fried Cheesecake.
Deen told the Today Show that she kept her diabetes a secret “because I had to figure out things in my own head.”
What it appears she was really “figuring out” was a multimillion-dollar endorsement deal with Novo Nordisk, the Danish pharmaceutical company that makes Victoza, a non-insulin injectable diabetes medication that Ms. Deen began promoting at her “debut” in front of the nation Tuesday morning.
“I have no regrets”
Deen said she didn’t plan to change her own lifestyle or cooking style drastically, other than to scale back on fat, dairy, and eggs (which don’t cause diabetes, by the way), reduce her portion sizes of unhealthful foods, and visit her treadmill occasionally.
So I guess we can’t expect Paula Deen to dedicate her show to diabetes-healing recipes … low-carb meals … or lifestyle changes – even though numerous studies show that Type 2 can be completely reversed with a few, simple diet and lifestyle changes.
Instead, her message to the 25-30 million Americans with Type 2 will be: “It’s OK to eat and drink whatever you want, just as long as you take your Victoza.” (Though I doubt the average diabetic can afford the $500-per-month price tag for this new drug.)
This is advice that the Type 2 community doesn’t need.
“It’s about heredity, honey.”
Deen blamed her Type 2 on “heredity,” rather than the over-the-top, carb-crazy recipes she created in her cookbooks and on her Food Network cooking show, Paula’s Best Dishes.
“It’s about heredity. It’s about age, lifestyle, race. I’m the only one in my family who has it,” she said in a USA Today interview, likening diabetes to sheer chance or “Russian roulette.”
But by her own admission, no one in her family has a history of diabetes.
Nonetheless, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) was quick to jump to her defense.
“You can’t just eat your way to Type 2 diabetes,” said Geralyn Spollett, the ADA’s director of education.
Oh, really?
According to all the research I’ve read, a high-carb diet is the primary cause of Type 2 — and is the main reason diabetes has become a global epidemic, according to the World Health Organization.
The ADA would love us to believe that Type 2 was caused by our genes, or by dietary fat, or by being overweight, or by anything but the sodas and refined carbohydrates in our modern diet — and the 150 pounds of sugar that Americans consume, on average, every year.
This is because a large chunk of the ADA’s funding comes from selling their Seal of Approval to the manufacturers of high-carb food products, including companies such as Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Hershey. (Their other major funding source is diabetes drug companies — $19 million in 2009!)
No wonder the ADA continues to recommend a diet of 60% (or more) carbohydrates — even for people with diabetes. That’s where much of their money comes from.
Paula, You Could Help So Many People!
Rather than educate herself about diet and lifestyle, and then dedicate her life and her TV show to helping diabetics get well, she says she won’t change her diet or her ways.
Instead, she’s chosen to become a spokesperson for a drug that will do nothing to reverse Type 2 – or to protect diabetics from nasty complications, such as heart attack, stroke, vision loss, painful neuropathy, and limb amputations.
This, despite a pile of research showing that many of these drugs are practically useless – and some are actually dangerous.
Two large studies in America and in Australia demonstrated that using drugs and insulin to control blood sugar provided no reduction in heart attack rates or death from diabetic complications.
In fact, controlling blood sugar levels with an aggressive use of drugs and insulin significantly increased the number of deaths from heart disease or any cause.
This finding also has been confirmed by the 2008 ACCORD study of 10,000 Type 2 patients, in which those in the group reducing its blood sugar with aggressive drug therapy had a 22% higher death rate than the control group.
Lifestyle changes are the best diabetes “medicine”
Paula Deen’s decision to promote Victoza, rather than to change her diet, provides her fans with the wrong example and little hope.
This is because numerous studies confirm that lifestyle changes are twice as effective as drugs when it comes to fighting diabetes.
In a study of 3,000 people reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, those who improved their diet and exercise habits for three years saw a 58% decrease in diabetes risk — whereas those taking the leading diabetic drug experienced only a moderate 31% decrease.
In other words, the diet and lifestyle approach was nearly 100% more successful.
Which changes would be most effective for Paula?
Because most people aren’t sure what works – or where to begin – I created a day-by-day, “one step at a time” plan for completely reversing Type 2 called The 30-Day Diabetes Cure.
Based on the successful clinical program developed by Dr. Stefan Ripich, The 30-Day Diabetes Cure has helped thousands of people to get off their drugs and return to a normal, healthy life.
These lifestyle changes are life-savers
Paula Deen and other public figures should realize the tremendous influence they exert on the health and lives of people who trust them.
This is a very serious disease — and the medical approach is currently losing the fight against diabetes.
Every 10 seconds, two new cases of diabetes are diagnosed.
Every 10 seconds, someone dies of diabetes-related causes.
Every 30 seconds, a leg is lost to diabetes, leading to more than one million diabetic amputations a year.
And 75% of all diabetics will die of a heart attack due to the severe artery damage and elevated blood pressure that high blood sugar cause.
Give it a try, Paula
Nothing would make me happier than seeing Paula Deen become an enthusiastic example of real healing, instead of accepting a life sentence of expensive drugs that offer no protection – with no possible chance of freedom from diabetes.
If you’re struggling with diabetes, or know someone who is, I invite you to visit The 30-Day Diabetes Cure website (www.30daydiabetescure.com) to learn more about how to completely reverse Type 2.
And if you see Paula Deen, please pass her the message.The Truth About Paula Deen’s Diabetes
By Jim Healthy
Jim Healthy™ is a prolific health writer with a life-long dedication to researching and publishing the most important health discoveries of our time — and creating practical “action plans” that help readers incorporate these new medical findings in their daily lives. He is the co-author of The Healthy Body Book, The Fast Food Diet, Arthritis Interrupted, The 30 Day Diabetes Cure, and The Healing Kitchen.
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