I've always liked Paula Deen and was hoping she could become a spokeswoman for diabetes, but after reading her remarks and her first recipe, I realize she has yet to sit down with a good endocrinologist and diabetic dietician before she began giving out advice and recipes.
Most of us on this website know that diabetes is NOT about eating LIGHT. Eliminating cream cheese and butter from a diabetic's diet is not going to change their blood glucose number one bit. As usual, she and her sons are confusing what is thought to be a heart-healthy diet with one for diabetics. In fact, butter doesn't hurt everyone. My husband's grandmother lived to be 98 years old and ate green beans swimming in "fat back" every day. Julia Child and her husband lived to be in their 90s and loved butter.
I'm embarrassed for her. Still I know after living in the south since 1955 that it is a "southern thing" to go to friends for advice rather than the horse's mouth. I also know how much southerners love their rice, corn bread and black-eyed peas. All full of carbohydrates. No sugar, but still full of carbs.
Some years ago I used to go to lunch with a friend who was an RN and had been diabetic for years. After I became diabetic and studied a lot, I realized that while she never ordered dessert, her plate was covered with rice. She had convinced herself that her diabetes was worse than anyone else's. I heard another friend of mine giving out a recipe for muffins he'd converted to one for diabetics by exchanging the sugar for applesauce.
While we can learn from some friends, I've learned to study a lot and found a diabetic mailing list that has members who know what they are talking about. It's run by an endo who has diabetes. I think their address is Diabetesworld@yahoo.com. Paula and her sons need to join.
Yvonne S