Paula Deen on the Today Show - what's your opinion?

I didn't see the show but overall, she never professed to be a go-to source for healthy eating or living. People have to take personal responsibility...if they couldn't figure out that her recipies weren't exactly healthy while watching the show - I mean adding sticks of butter to everything shoulda clued them in - then that sadly is on them. And if those same people are now (after she's been publicly diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes) willing to follow her advice on how to get healthy, that is is sadly on them. I place no real blame on Paula Dean...she strikes me as an old school cook who doesn't want to diet-down her cooking because of the times we live in; which honestly, I understand. Eating those foods every now and then is not a crime and no one should be made to feel like it is. Again, each person is responsible for their own health choices.

I think she is a fat-sugar-starch pusher, who should atone for her sins. She is harming people by giving everyone the idea that feast foods should be everyday foods. We have enough of that message from greedy corporations who don't care if they throw us under a bus, as long as they get our money.

She should do FREE public service messages, and if she teaches anyone about food, it should be how to make delectable foods that nourish us and sustain our health.

She's made enough money off the fat of the land.

It is not the fat that is bad for us. Butter is actually healthy as it is a natural occurring fat. The sugar, flour and starch in her foods is what is killing her and many others.

And she needs to stop smoking

I think it's her body, her health, and our responsibility to educate ourselves on what is healthy. Sure it would be great for someone in the public eye to be a good representative of good health but she certainly isn't the only celebrity making poor choices. I never was much of a fan and it's a constant joke about Paula Deen and her butter so people know the health risks from her food and continue making/eating them.

I think some people are just too quick to let celebrities/people on the screen make decisions for you. I personally know that I can't really eat the food Ms. Deen cooks because its waaaay too heavy for me. Of course it looks tasty though and I might have a bite of it but I wouldn't go home and make it everyday and night because she did. Yes if she did know she had diabetes she should have been more cautious of what she was cooking, but then again we only see what she cooks in the studio, maybe in her home she was more careful, I'm not quite sure. I just hope that now that she knows for real and that the public knows along with her that she'll feel more pressure to think of healthier choices in her kitchen and eating lifestyle, that she could change that first and see how that can help with the drugs she might be taking, because in the end you can't just depend on the drugs you need to do your part too, and doctors tell you that when they say you have high cholesterol or diabetes, they tell you that you're going to have to exercise more, cut back on certain things etc. There are no miracle drugs.

As a life long southerner...sorry, I cannot say anything bad about Ms. Paula. To do so would result in a visit by some large guys wearing bib overalls all named Bubba, who would then take me for a ride into the woods escorted by their baseball bats and a mostly empty bottle of Jim Beam.
And now, for some reason, I'm craving a stick of butter....

Hmmmmm, maybe this is why her son Bobby is trying to play up her recipes and make them more healthy.

No she does not have to be held responsible to her audience, but honesty to her audience would have been nice. How convenient for a public figure to not speak up about a condition that affects millions until you get an endorsement.

However from what I see, his food is not that much healthy.

Making something low fat definitely doesn't make it healthy - only more processed, which in my book is the BIGGEST NO NO of them all.

Reducing the sugar and flour a small bit doesn't making something healthier either...............

I would rather stick to the basics.

Fat - Coconut Oil, animal fats, olive oil, some nut and seed oils
Protein - From a variety of wild, pastured, free roaming sources
Carbs - From locally sources farmers markets, CSA and Coop. Growing my own when it is growing season and getting as much organic as I can afford.

it's irresponsible of the public to not educate themselves.
Just because someone famous supports it, doesn't mean you should jump on the bandwagon.
Do research, be INFORMED and EDUCATED.

She is basically advocating drugs (and getting compensated by a pharmaceutical company) over lifestyle changes to help type 2 diabetes. It's irresponsible....
she has a public responsibility with that damn cooking show of hers, and she's just exacerbating something that she could be helping.

I cringe every time I watch one of her shows - her show must be by far the unhealthiest of the US celebrity cook show hosts!!
She has obviously made truck loads of money peddling unhealthy eating, and what a shame she is not using this opportunity to show people a new way!

I USED to love Paula Deen... but after hearing about this I have a completely changed opinion.

According to different newsites she has had diabetes for approx 3 years. That means for 3 years she has continued to make high sugar high carb foods that trigger blood sugar spikes in diabetes patients while she herself was suffering. So only now, when she is being paid to represent a medication, she comes out and tells America... You want to make money? How about pitch a show about cooking for people who have diabetes??

Type 2 diabetes can be CONTROLLED and in some cases REVERSED with DIET alone!!!

Tsk, tsk Paula. You say you dont know if the way you ate had anything to do with your diabetes? Of course it did, you cant eat high carb high sugar foods for years and expect your pancreas to just be able to keep up. Lets own up to this. I do not blame her for cooking those types of foods on TV, people have complete control over what is put in their mouths, only for lying about it and acting like she has no clue why this happened to her.

I'm sorry, but if unless she forced people to cook and consume everything on her show, she has no responsiblity to her audience. They are responsible for what they purchase, prepare and consume.

This. Honestly, if you seriously thought this woman who cooks and eats the way she does has NO health problems at all, you're delusional. Seriously.