Celebrated Food Network star and Southern Belle Paula Deen confirmed rumors that she is living with type 2 Diabetes. This might not come as a surprise given that Deen is known for her excessive love of butter and sinful fried chicken recipes, and she now becomes part of the group of millions of Americans who have been diagnosed with the same disease.

Although people diagnosed with type 1 are generally healthy except that their immune systems kill beta cells, type 2 is linked to unhealthy eating, smoking, inactivity, and obesity and affects approximately 90% of all diabetics. Obesity is increasingly becoming a fatal problem plaguing American society especially children. 

It has been speculated that Deen has withheld commenting on this diagnosis since April of 2010. Was she trying to fool anyone? Perhaps she did not want to taint her reputation or make people not want to purchase her cookbooks in fear of getting diabetes too. Also she presents herself as an opportunist taking money to become a spokesperson for Novo Nordisk pharmaceutical company. Could she just be full of greed?

Still, it is brave (or at least the right thing to do) for the Queen of Southern cooking to finally confirm the reports. Maybe she can use her celebrity to raise awareness about diabetes and help her viewers who are dealing with the same problems.

Deen definitely could write a cookbook with healthier versions of her beloved recipes. Her son Bobby hosts a show which embraces this concept. Yet would all of those sweets and meals be complete without sugar and her signature sticks of butter?

Also Deen has said that she wants to enjoy her life and will not make many changes to her eating habits despite her health scare. Yet she has been exercising on a treadmill and quit slurping down sugary tea and plans to eat in moderation.

It is doubtful as to whether Paula Deen can have her cake and eat it too, pun intended. She has fostered an empire on comfort food but it would seem hypocritical to continue preparing and eating so much fatty food especially since her health is on the line no matter how much money she could lose.