She always seems to be on the TV in my dentist's office when I visit. The first time I saw her whipping up something, I thought "Geez, there's a zillion calories going on there, and not exactly good ones." Never changed my view with later visits.

When I went to Savannah a couple of years ago, everyone insisted that I had to go to Lady and Son for lunch or dinner. I had no intention of doing so, but I went by it when I was downtown. The crowds were literally around the block for the lunch buffet.

Her cooking just doesn't appeal to me. I like fried things, but I don't need everything on earth fried, dipped in butter, and rolled in salt.

When she gets her angioplasty, I wonder if she will be a spokeswoman for Stents and other cardio medical devices. Her food and recipes are incredibly irresponsible, given it puts people at risk for heart disease over the edge.

it's telling that her son is promoting his show called ' not my momma's cooking' as this news is breaking. i also caught emril legasse on some talk show also putting forth healthier cooking techniques. it seems he has some health issues related to his years of indulgence in bad culinary habits..
but back on this side of the tracks a lot of us rutting and rooting for a former roomate of mine ty-lor boring ( an ex chef at marjorie's when it was still in belltown ) who is the beary contestant on bravo's 'top chef'.
http://gothamist.com/attachments/arts_ja…
.go ty-lor

@3: Can a recipe be irresponsible? I thought only people had such traits. Barring new evidence, I think I will choose to hold people responsible for what they eat, in the same way I hold TV audiences responsible for the dreck that passes for entertainment rather than blaming bad scripts.

How long before picking on Deen ignites the inevitable accusations of "fat shaming" that appear in the always predictable internet backlash? I'll go make some god-awful butter-free pop corn and wait.

Her recipes make my stomach churn as she dumps butter and bacon grease all that other crap in the bowl. I'm sure her arteries look like the clogged tubes that are used to disperse the "fake butter flavor" in the theater popcorn machines. Worst job ever, having to clean those out each night, squeezing that congealed grease out from one end of the tube out the other end....

Paula Deen should watch Forks Over Knives before it's too late. (Because of dead.)

http://www.forksoverknives.com/

A food critic who is 'unaware" of a best-selling cookbook author and televison cook with steady ratings, no matter how poorly one may think of that person, is just plain sloppy. Or perhaps your critism is concerned only with our little corner of the world, which would render your experience provincial, at best. There's a whole world of food outside Seattle. Try some.

@9 "criticism"

This is the best Paula Deen video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xr4Yn1QbJ…

Her recipes are truly dreadful, even by midwestern standard. You have to read them over and decide what to omit before you start cooking or else you end up with an overly sweet or salty mess.

How does one not know of Paula Deen? You can't be serious.

I'm with @5. She's not forcing you to use her recipes. If you're stupid enough to put a stick of butter (or more) into everything you cook, then it's really your fault. She simply represents a particular kind of Southern cooking.

Interesting she is on the chew again. It is produced by Gordon Elliott who discovered her and produces all of her shows (the first few seasons were shot in his actual kitchen) Nothing like the guy who makes millions off of you providing a controversy free platform for your latest scheme.

This story is about her coming out with type ii diabetes (and signing with a drug company, of course, to promote a drug that forces your already-taxed pancreas to make even more insulin) and everyone here and elsewhere is focusing exclusively on the butter in her recipes. How about all the, oh, I dunno, SUGAR AND WHITE FLOUR? People are so fat-phobic they think of a disease like diabetes, where your insulin is chronically elevated until your pancreas burn out, and still can't see past the butter. Eat a bunch of pancakes and syrup and check your blood sugar. Then try it with some bacon and eggs. Which type of foods are keeping your blood sugar chronically elevated and your insulin chronically high trying to beat it into submission, until your pancreas wear out? Hint: type ii diabetics who end up needing to shoot insulin do so to cover their carbohydrate intake.

(btw, the previous was addressed to those with compromised metabolisms and diabetic tendencies...many people can eat anything and not see their blood sugar rise much. These people occasionally think they are thin and/or non-diabetic because of incredible moral superiority, but that is a rant for another day.)

Is that not knowing or "not knowing"? Don't worry, we won't rescind your dinner party invitation.

I too was blissfully unaware of her existence. But I don't watch cooking shows or buy cookbooks. I get my recipes off this thing called The Internet.

Save yourselves: go vegan.

http://twitter.com/#!/ForksOverKnives

Anthony Bourdain, quoted in a related story also on 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.

At first I thought that was just a bit of clever hyperbole on his part, but no.

i think the complain here isn't just that she was schilling really unhealthy food...it was that she was hiding her diabetes while at it. sure, people are responsible for their own decisions in the kitchen. but she shoulda been honest.

and then the other thing...as a cook, she is in a prime position to fight diabetes by teaching people how to COOK healthy food...ie, prevention. instead she's gonna be saleslady for a drug company, for a drug that's gonna cost patients a hefty sum each month.

@19 dear, I just want you to know that no matter what you do, you're gonna die just like everybody else.

(yes, I totally ripped that off from Olympia Dukakis in "Moonstruck". But it just seemed right)

Save yourselves: think critically.

http://rawfoodsos.com/2011/09/22/forks-o…

Yes, think critically. Arrive at the conclusion that going vegan will improve your health.

Also, stop exploiting and murdering animals.

*Arrive at the conclusion that going organic, whole food, and vegan will improve your health.

But that still won't "save" you, will it? You're going to eventually die, just like everybody else.

I honestly admire vegetarians and vegans. I myself try to live by a vegan-by-day,whatever-by-night diet, because I think a plant based diet is better for me, but I'm not willing to limit myself to being completely vegetarian/vegan. After all, as the Schlitz people observed so wisely, and so many years ago, you only go around once in life.

It may well be true that I am robbing myself of years on the backend of my life. But it seems like the backend is the time when lots of folks, regardless of dietary choices, end up hoping for at best a gentle robbery.

At the end of the day, there's lots of very good reasons for going vegan. But "saving" yourself isn't one of them.

No, a vegan diet won't save you from death. But it will provide a longer, healthier, more fulfilling life. Perhaps those who cultivate good health all along enjoy much more rewarding years at the back end?

The Atlantic fortuitously posted this article this morning:

"The Evidence for a Vegan Diet"

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archiv…

>>According to one study, "vegetarian and vegan diets are effective in treating and preventing several chronic diseases." The adaptation of a low-fat vegan diet can substantially mitigate the impacts of type 2 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and Parkinson's disease.<<

>>If the prospect of simultaneously giving corporate food executives nightmares while achieving personal dietary empowerment -- not to mention lowering your carbon footprint and minimizing animal suffering -- has any appeal, then veganism is for you. But here's the thing: You have to do it right, and doing it right means consuming a broad diversity of nutrient-rich plants.<<
----

The article links to several sites and books to start you on a vegan path.

I also admired vegans for a long time. Five years ago I tried a one-month vegan challenge. I've never looked back :D.

She wasn't "hiding" her diabetes anymore than I am "hiding" my Plantar's Wart, just because I haven't discussed it publicly. Paula Deen's health issues are nobody else's business. Paula Deen's recipes are like alcohol or desserts: use in moderation. She's like a pastry chef. Just because a pastry chef teaches you recipes, you don't have to use them every day.

I first heard about her when that video of her getting hit in the face with a ham (or was it a turkey?) got popular a few years ago.

@28, if she cooks and eats her kind of food in moderation, how'd she come down with type 2 diabetes?

Do as I say, not as I do, huh?

So, @30, people only come down with Type II diabetes because they eat out of moderation?

http://pauladeenridingthings.com/

@28 i see your point but no one ever expects to eat pastry every day. wasn't Deen showcasing food for everyday cooking?

Paula Deen isn't diabetic because she eats meat. She's diabetic because she eats too much fat and carbs, excess calories, thus she is fat. Being overweight can lead to diabetes in many people.

We don't know what Paula Deen eats nor what her caloric intake is. To say we do is presumptuous. As is thinking that one public figure's health tells us anything about general nutrition principles.

@26

It's not that people will necessarily die younger. Though there is growing evidence (according to the CDC) that US life expectancies will be the first in the western industrialized world to begin begin trending down if current lifestyle/health/social problems are not resolved.

It's that expensive medical interventions are necessitated earlier and earlier in the lives of Americans as the result of our poor food and sedentary lifestyles (and the potential corruption of processed foods with additives that may effect us in harmful ways). Making the last thirty years of life unnecessarily miserable, impoverished, and crippled.

These interventions are coming alarmingly early with more and more children having Type II Diabetes, hypertension, and hosts of other health problems previously only seen in such concentration in middle aged Americans.

Not to mention the effect our factory produced diets have on the environment.

What we are "saving" is our environment, healthcare system, and quality of life - if we even want to have that. Do you?