Now that the cat was out of the bag about her Type 2 diabetes, Paula Deen faced pressure to change up the way she was presenting food to the world. “I’ve always said, ‘Practice moderation, y’all.’ I’ll probably say that a little louder now. You can have diabetes and have a piece of cake. You cannot have diabetes and eat a whole cake,” she stated shortly after revealing her diagnosis, per CBS News. “I am who I am. I think the South gets a bad rap sometimes, saying our food is very unhealthy, but frankly, I don’t think that’s the case,” Deen added.
In an interview with Prevention that same year, the “Paula’s Home Cooking” star shared that she has added more fresh vegetables to her diet and is eating a lot less starch. “My favorite thing in the world is potatoes cooked in a pot of fresh green beans. And I would have had a lot of ham and just a little bit of squash,” she revealed. “But the night before last, I had lots of squash, a little slice of ham, a nice serving of green beans, and a tablespoon of fresh peas. And I had no potatoes and no bread,” Deen recounted. Her new way of eating paid off, and while the Southern cook still deals with diabetes, she has lost over 30 pounds since her diagnosis.
