Paula Deen Confirms She Has Diabetes
Paula Deen has confirmed she has Type 2 Diabetes. People reports that the celebrity chef was actually diagnosed with the condition three years ago – but she kept it a secret until rumors started swirling last week.
Paula claims she didn’t want to come forward until she had the knowledge to help people with similar struggles. “I said, ‘The one thing that I think endeared me to so many people is I’ve been in very hopeless situations,’ ” said Deen, who has been open about dealing with agoraphobia. “I had to really get myself into a place when I made the announcement. I would come with information, and I would be armed to be able to help others.” Did that really take her three years? Paula says she wasn’t covering up her condition to protect the popularity of her high-fat Southern food…”people are not going to quit eating,” she said.
Paula, who has launched a program called “Diabetes in a New Light,” is also partnering up with pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk to promote a Diabetes drug. “I could’ve walked out and said, ‘Hey y’all, I have been diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes,’ and walked away,” she said on the Today show. She also told People: “But having given myself time to work with my family, talk with my family, now I feel like I have something to bring to the table.”
This seems obvious…but maybe altering her recipes would be more helpful to her fans than peddling drugs? What do you guys think? Paula obviously has a lot of fans and reach…she could be using that power to prevent people from getting Diabetes in the first place, rather than encouraging people simply to medicate it later.
