{"id":23906,"date":"2012-01-18T09:31:34","date_gmt":"2012-01-18T14:31:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=23906"},"modified":"2015-12-29T08:37:03","modified_gmt":"2015-12-29T13:37:03","slug":"is-paula-deen-for-real","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=23906","title":{"rendered":"Is Paula Deen For Real?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hi Y’all,<\/p>\n

I’m from Texas, so that was genuine.\u00a0 I’m not making fun of Paula Deen.\u00a0 In fact, unlike practically everyone else in America right now, I’m giving Paula a big thumb’s up.\u00a0 I think she deserves it for coming out with her type 2 diabetes diagnosis.\u00a0 Yes, I know Paula’s coming out story<\/a> has a big paycheck attached to it, and I know it came three years after her diagnosis, but I am going to give her the benefit of the doubt and assume that as the new spokeswoman for Novo Nordisk (a drug company I admire) Paula is going to make a difference in the giant world of diabetes.\u00a0 I am willing to believe that we’ll see good things, not just drug pushing in the months to come.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I know those are big assumptions.\u00a0 But we’re talking about Paula Deen, a woman who went from nothing to everything.\u00a0 She’s captured the attention of millions and millions of people.\u00a0 If she’s given bad advice in the past, she now has the power to undo it and use her influence to put people on the path to better health.\u00a0 Paula must want to do this, otherwise why would she come out with her diagnosis at all?\u00a0 She’s smart enough to know that ridicule would come with her diabetes announcement.\u00a0 Surely she anticipated the finger-pointing and blame that would come her way. \u00a0And she still had the courage to do it.\u00a0 Well funded courage, but courage nonetheless.<\/p>\n

I’ve never seen Paula Deen’s show, nor have I ever been interested in her until now.\u00a0 I’ve never tried her recipes. The only thing I can say about them after clicking through her website for a few minutes is that they don’t seem any worse to me than those of the very, very popular Pioneer Woman who, like Paula, can be seen on the Food Network.\u00a0 (Have you seen the Pioneer Woman’s recipe for Dr. Pepper shredded pork<\/a>?\u00a0 It contains two cans of Dr. Pepper and two tablespoons of brown sugar… and it’s a main course, not dessert!)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>But does it help in any way to blame Paula or the Pioneer Woman for America’s obesity and type 2 diabetes epidemic?\u00a0 Not really.\u00a0 At least they’re at home cooking and encouraging people to cook.\u00a0 That’s a step or two above McDonald’s.\u00a0 And at least they’re honest.\u00a0 Paula Deen’s sweet tea, which she claims to have given up since diabetes, contains just under a tablespoon of sugar, according to the New York Times<\/a><\/em>.\u00a0 Sweet tea is what it is.\u00a0 The name says it all.\u00a0 Compare that now to a container of Yoplait yogurt.\u00a0 You think Yoplait is healthy, right?\u00a0 It says 99% fat free on the front of the container.\u00a0 That makes you think it’s good for you.\u00a0 But one itty bitty container of Yoplait yogurt<\/a> has 33 grams of carb, 26 of which are sugar.\u00a0 26 grams of sugar!\u00a0 That’s over two tablespoons. (The light version has 20 grams of carb, 15 of which are sugar.)\u00a0 The so-called healthful yogurt has more than twice as much sugar as Paula’s sweet tea.\u00a0 Yoplait and companies like it, not Paula Deen, are the ones screwing with our heads.<\/p>\n

Before we laugh at Paula Deen, let’s give her a chance.\u00a0 There’s nothing funny about diabetes and often the people suffering from it, or at high risk, are hard to reach.\u00a0 Education is scare.\u00a0 People don’t understand just how dangerous diabetes is, and also how well it can be managed.\u00a0 Paula has an audience with an appetite and she’s got Big Pharma funding.\u00a0 If she can get people to soak up diabetes information, give up sweet drinks and walk a mile a day, she may very well prevent them from getting diabetes.\u00a0 Paula Deen, if you’re reading this, please don’t underestimate your power.\u00a0 You can get in where doctors can’t.\u00a0 You can save toes, eyes, and kidneys.\u00a0 You can save lives.<\/p>\n

The Paula Deen persona America loves doesn’t speak to me.\u00a0 \u00a0I’m a serious low-carber who weighs 90 pounds, exercises, and has never had a taste for burgers, let alone Paula’s burgers covered in bacon and eggs.\u00a0 And unlike Paula,\u00a0 I’ve gone far from my southern roots.\u00a0 But what does speak to me is change.\u00a0 I’m betting on Paula.\u00a0 I’m counting on her.\u00a0 If she doesn’t come through, I’ll have to eat these words.\u00a0 My words, fortunately, are both calorie and carb-free. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":53098,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1501],"tags":[1181],"yoast_head":"\nIs Paula Deen For Real? | ASweetLife<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Before we laugh at Paula Deen, let's give her a chance. 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