Disgusted by Paula Deen

As most of you have read by now Paula Deen will be a spokesman for Novo Nordisk to promote their type 2 diabetic drug.  In my view this alliance and Paula Deen's development of the disease represents everything that is wrong with both the American health system and the obesity issue in America.  Paula Deen should in no way be viewed as a role model for people with type 2 diabetes, she should rather be viewed as the poster person for EXACTLY HOW NOT TO EAT.

I took a quick look at her top recipes on foodtv.com, I've listed the high fat, high carb ingredients in the top 3 recipes:

• Chicken & Rice Casserole - 1 can condensed cream of celery soup (220 calories, 13.6 g fat, 21.4 g carbohydrates), 1 cup mayonnaise (916 calories, 78.5 g fat, 56.2 g carbohydrates),  for a total of 1,136 calories, 92.1 g fat and 77.6 g carbohydrates.
• Lady & Sons Chicken Pot Pie - 1 quart heavy cream (3,284 calories, 352 g fat, 24 g carbohydrates), 1/3 cup butter (542 calories, 61.3 g fat, < 1 g carbohydrates), 2/3 cup all purpose flour (309 calories, < 1 g fat, 64.6 g carbohydrates), 4 sheets frozen puff pastry (1.036 calories, 71.6 g fat, 84.8 g carbohydrates) for a total of 5,171 calories, 484.9 g fat and 173.4 g carbohydrates
• Chicken & Dumplings - 1 can condensed cream of celery soup (220 calories, 13.6 g fat, 21.4 g carbohydrates), 2 cups all purpose flour (910 calories, 2.4 g fat, 191 g carbohydrates) for a total of 1,130 calories, 16 g fat and 212.4 g carbohdyrates

Even in moderation the foods above should be avoided at all costs; the human body simply should not process foods that dense in calories, fat or carbohydrates.  And to keep it simple I didn't break down the difference between good and bad fats above or include the level of sodium in each dish.  Fat tastes good, no question about it, but after years of eating clean the mere sight of the nutritional content above makes me nausesus.

Rather than promoting someone whose cooking habits and lifestyle no doubt led to the development of a lifestyle disease shouldn't we celebrate people like Jamie Oliver or studying the glycemic index of foods like Michael Montignac suggested?  Paula Deen is addressing the problem after something has happened rather than making a chance prior to the problem happening.  Think about what would happen if you didn't change the oil in your car's engine until after your engine seized.  That would be a tad more expensive than the $40 oil change and your local shop, right?  That's exactly what Novo Nordisk is suggesting by using Paula Deen as a spokesmen.  We need to get ahead of the problem and change eating habits, not address the consequences once we are too far downstream.