So Paula Deen has Type 2 diabetes.

Cafe Society
41

If you’re talking the butter & tomato sauce where you simmer a stick of butter with a can of tomatoes and a whole onion, I’ve made that too, and it’s divine.

RE: cooking with butter. I’m going to go against the grain and say I don’t see an issue with it at all. What I see an issue with is portion size. A 1 or 2-oz (dry) portion of pasta with an appropriate amount of that tomato/butter sauce as a side to a dinner that includes some protein and veggies is absolutely fine and part of a healthy dinner.

I’ll go head to head health-wise with that dinner over the much-more-common huge bowl of spaghetti (6-8 oz dry) with a traditional less-fatty tomato sauce.

In most cases, I don’t think it’s WHAT you eat that’s causing health problems; it’s how much of it you eat. Even Deen’s crazy hamburger-on-a-donut ain’t bad if we’re talking small portions, or an occasional treat. And even the healthiest dish is going to cause weight gain if you eat too much on a regular basis.

42

As always, Don Asmussen has something to say about this in today’s Bad Reporter (lower left)

(this link may not work after today, or you might have to go into archives to find today’s strip)
Roddy

43

Wow. Y’all seem to have some issues that have nothing to do with the woman’s diet.

It’s a shame her accent offends you so.

44

I live in the South - and I can say with certainty that she deliberately exaggerates her accent. I can’t stand to listen to her.

45

No issues. My most-beloved aunt had an accent that was occasionally impenetrable to this Midwesterner without a repeat listen or translation. I’ve just read stories over the years that Deen’s accent is exaggerated for the audience. That offends me less than the stories that the dire situation she pulled herself out of (poverty, agoraphobia) was also exaggerated in its severity for her audience. If that is indeed her true accent or situation, I do apologize. I was speaking to her self-promotion, not her Southerness or anything similar. (The comedian known as “Larry the Cable Guy” also has a wildly exaggerated accent that is part of his act.)

(I’ll also note that the ex-mayor of Chicago, Richard M. Daley, was known for his thick Bridgeport accent and his oft-confusing malaprops and misstatements, and I found that just as bewildering at times.)

46

She has no one to blame butter herself.

47

Well, no you can’t. I know plenty of people with that accent.

48

When I lived in the Nawth, I was known to play up my (really nearly nonexistent) Southern accent.

49

I don’t find this case to be funny at all, diabetes is serious business…

50

Giada DiLaurentis over-exaggerates her pronunciation of Italian words. Every American with Hispanic roots I’ve seen on TV, either the cooking channel or elsewhere, over-exaggerates the pronunciation of Spanish words. So I don’t think Paula is any different in that regard except she actually sticks to the accent for everything she says which I actually find less annoying than using an accent for one word while over-enunciating every syllable.

Also, I’ve known a lot of people with Southern accents and it always gets thicker when they’re around a lot of people or people who aren’t Southern, bless their hearts.

51

Code-switching. We all do it to a greater or lesser extent. In my case, the Yankee girls liked it.

52

The words “mozzarella” and “prosciutto” are always said very jarringly in another accent, or at least it seems like it whenever I’ve heard it said.

53

I’ll be honest: I don’t like her (as much as I can say about someone I’ve never met). I don’t like her mannerisms, or her accent, or the food she cooks, or her apparent smarminess. The word oleaginous suits her to a tee.

Maybe she exaggerates her accent (god, I hope so, I can’t imagine living around a lot of people who talk like that) or maybe not. I don’t care. I can’t stand it in either case. I’m not offended by it, I just don’t like listening to it.

Hope that clears everything up for you.
Roddy

54

Oh, it does. I think I have you pegged exactly.

55

TV and other multimedia has softened the southern accent somewhat- it’s a bit different among teenagers today than it was when I was a teenager- but you do still hear some really thick drawls. Paula Deen was born and grew up in Albany, Georgia- a very remote town (you don’t get there by accident)- before TV made quite as many in-roads, and when I lived there I worked with some people, especially those born pre:1950, who could give her a run for her money in the thickness, so while she might ham it up for television I think it’s probably at least mostly genuine.

I regard Paula Deen the way that New Jerseyans probably regard the cast of Jersey Shore cast: yes, such people exist here, but we don’t have to know them, do we? My least favorite thing about her is not even her voice but her “just plain folks” schtick with it’s side dish of proud anti-intellectualism. (She was guest host on Today or some similar network morning show one week and was interviewing some Broadway star and said something like “I gotta admit I don’t really know that showww cause I’m from Savannah, Georgia and we don’t much keep up with the-AY-ter…”. Bugged the hell out of me because, for starters, speak for your fricking self Meemaw: I lived in Georgia for several years and knew many theater buffs, even attended Tony Awards parties a couple of times; Atlanta has a definite theatre scene and while I can’t remember what play she was commenting on I do remember that it was a well known one whose road show had been to Savannah.

So anyway, I don’t like her, but for the life of me I’m not understanding the cries of hypocrisy. Nobody is forced to cook or eat like her and there are no more people out there who don’t know that fried food and lots of butter are bad for you than there are who don’t know cigarettes will kill you. All-you-can-eat-buffets existed a long time before Deen and will keep on going until the zombies take over and if you go to any one of them you’ll see people piling their plates high with more calories than many Struthervision kids will see in a year; whether you choose to emulate them while you’re there or not is your call. To quote Al Pacino as John Milton, “Free will, it is a bitch.”

56

Type 2 Diabetes:

Typically controlled with diet, exercise, and often medication.

For diet, do research on the “Glycemic Index” of foods. Those guidelines are easily understandable and have a huge impact on blood sugar control than the usual American Diabetes Association Exchange Diet. You’ll also be a LOT less hungry using the Glycemic Index than the Exchange Diet.

Diabetes is a metabolic disorder. The entire body is out of balance. And here’s the kicker: even if you manage to completely control your blood sugar with diet and exercise, you are still Diabetic, and WILL ALWAYS BE DIABETIC. This is crucial to understand in the event you need surgery, have an accident, or develop an infection. Diabetics heal slower than normal people. Stress, infection, surgery can drive perfectly controlled blood sugars out of whack.

It’s a nasty disease, but it CAN be controlled. And if you keep on top of it, you can avoid or reduce complications such as blindness, amputation, and kidney disease.

Type 2 Diabetics are also at risk for developing something called “Syndrome X.” That is the trifecta of Type 2 Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, and High Cholesterol. Those three disorders together have a synergistic effect on the body, and not in a good way. The biggest threat to people with Syndrome X is heart disease. And too many people find out they have Syndrome X after the first heart attack.

In Paula Deen’s case, the butter habit can contribute to High Cholesterol. Her husband is very obese, and I’m sure he’s been diagnosed with a plethora of disorders as well. I hope she takes it all to heart and changes her ways. It’s possible to cook delicious, traditional dishes with lower fat, more complex carbohydrates, and fewer calories.

I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes almost ten years ago. I already had High Blood Pressure and High Cholesterol. I felt like crap, and I finally found out WHY. The biggest change I made was to start eating Vegetarian. I started out Vegan, and gradually evolved to Vegetarian with occasional fish.

Just recently, my doctor informed me I’ve got Stage 3 Kidney Disease. Talk about a kick in the head!

Like Diabetes, it’s manageable, but not curable.

I have decided that “lovely” is a more acceptable word than “bullshit.”
~VOW

57

Yeah, and anyone with mind enough to tie their shoes should know that inhaling smoke in general is a bad thing but we all hate them cigarette companies and smoking Joe Camel for selling people cigarettes.

People will eat garbage. People will do bad things. We all have our vices. We just don’t need the help from people like Paula Deen teaching us how to make them, telling us that cheesecake is a fine breakfast for our kids, and selling great fatty vices as a “just plain folks” virtue. Paula Deen is to our diets what Sarah Palin is to our minds.

Plus that woman has creepy dead eyes and a predators grin that tells me she’d like nothing more than to beer batter and deep fry me. To Serve Man: Carny Style.

58

All the references I’ve checked on type 2 diabetes still say that it is most common in people who are overweight or obese. Are you saying that it’s wrong to think you can control your weight with your diet, or that the correspondence here isn’t a reason to suspect causation?

I agree with your second point though. I’m generally against people who cackle for any reason, but if it’s with glee at the thought of someone’s illness … well, that’s doubly bad!

59

I’m saying that type II diabetes is not caused ONLY by being overweight, according to the latest studies. There are other causes and risk factors involved. People who are not overweight can develop diabetes, and people who are overweight are not guaranteed to develop diabetes.

60

She is the only person I’ve ever heard who pronounces “oil” with just one syllable.