This week on the podcast: the brouhaha over southern cook Paula Deen’s diabetes diagnosis, why gossiping isn’t all bad (it can lower stress!), and the effect of a female shortage on how much money men spend. Click the play button below to listen, or go to iTunes to listen and subscribe for free.
TIME senior health writer Alice Park kicked off the discussion by asking the question, did Paula Deen’s doughnut-and-hamburger-loving style of cooking cause her diabetes — or is that too simplistic a connection to draw? Either way, lots of Deen’s critics seem to be reveling in her diagnosis — but here’s why Paula Deen will have the last laugh.
TIME editor-at-large Belinda Luscombe explained why men spend more money, save less and accrue more debt when they sense that women are few. (It’s to buy stuff to impress the ladies, of course.) Interestingly, though, the same phenomenon doesn’t hold true for women.
The long view? Decidedly not "new" or "delicious." The National Institutes of Health lists the life-threatening complications: heart disease, stroke, hypertension, blindness, kidney disease, nervous system disease, amputations, dental problems, pregnancy complications. The catchall "other complications" category includes coma, greater risk of death from pneumonia, trouble with physical activity for those over 60 and, no surprise, depression.
I imagine that right now most of you like Deen a whole lot more than you like me, and I apologize for putting a dent in her I-eat-what-I-like-but-in- moderation campaign. My father had diabetes, and I watched its progress for 21 years. I can say with some authority that while a diabetic's life is manageable, it hardly qualifies as delicious in any dependable way.
Here are some things that can derail a diabetic: Skipping a meal, any meal, any day; eating too much or too little of just about anything; hidden sugar in a restaurant dish; eating a spontaneous snack; sitting on the tarmac having forgotten to pack a candy bar; having a glass of champagne at your kid's wedding; eating one too many summer-ripe, isn't-fruit-good-for-you strawberries.
Yes, people manage diabetes, and some really disciplined people wean themselves off medication with a regimen of diet and exercise, but that's a long, long way from what most of us consider "moderation," which usually involves saying no to a second slice of cake. Besides, a diabetic never gets a day off.
The life of a diabetic is somewhat less than swell — but Novo Nordisk is selling swell, alongside drug companies that promise to medicate away depression, gas, incontinence, clogged arteries and fibromyalgia. According to the Congressional Budget Office, pharmaceutical companies spent $4.7 billion on direct-to-consumer advertising in 2008; the United States has the dubious distinction of being one of only two countries in the world to allow such advertising, New Zealand being the other.
Support and encouragement is one thing, but what we're being sold is magical thinking. In the battle between healthcare reality and fantasy, Paula Deen is small potatoes (steamed, skins on, no butter), but what she represents matters: another attempt to market immortality to a culture that's particularly in love with misbehaving, followed by an easy fix.
TIME senior health writer Alice Park kicked off the discussion by asking the question, did Paula Deen’s doughnut-and-hamburger-loving style of cooking cause her diabetes — or is that too simplistic a connection to draw? Either way, lots of Deen’s critics seem to be reveling in her diagnosis — but here’s why Paula Deen will have the last laugh.
TIME editor-at-large Belinda Luscombe explained why men spend more money, save less and accrue more debt when they sense that women are few. (It’s to buy stuff to impress the ladies, of course.) Interestingly, though, the same phenomenon doesn’t hold true for women.
The long view? Decidedly not "new" or "delicious." The National Institutes of Health lists the life-threatening complications: heart disease, stroke, hypertension, blindness, kidney disease, nervous system disease, amputations, dental problems, pregnancy complications. The catchall "other complications" category includes coma, greater risk of death from pneumonia, trouble with physical activity for those over 60 and, no surprise, depression.
I imagine that right now most of you like Deen a whole lot more than you like me, and I apologize for putting a dent in her I-eat-what-I-like-but-in- moderation campaign. My father had diabetes, and I watched its progress for 21 years. I can say with some authority that while a diabetic's life is manageable, it hardly qualifies as delicious in any dependable way.
Here are some things that can derail a diabetic: Skipping a meal, any meal, any day; eating too much or too little of just about anything; hidden sugar in a restaurant dish; eating a spontaneous snack; sitting on the tarmac having forgotten to pack a candy bar; having a glass of champagne at your kid's wedding; eating one too many summer-ripe, isn't-fruit-good-for-you strawberries.
Yes, people manage diabetes, and some really disciplined people wean themselves off medication with a regimen of diet and exercise, but that's a long, long way from what most of us consider "moderation," which usually involves saying no to a second slice of cake. Besides, a diabetic never gets a day off.
The life of a diabetic is somewhat less than swell — but Novo Nordisk is selling swell, alongside drug companies that promise to medicate away depression, gas, incontinence, clogged arteries and fibromyalgia. According to the Congressional Budget Office, pharmaceutical companies spent $4.7 billion on direct-to-consumer advertising in 2008; the United States has the dubious distinction of being one of only two countries in the world to allow such advertising, New Zealand being the other.
Support and encouragement is one thing, but what we're being sold is magical thinking. In the battle between healthcare reality and fantasy, Paula Deen is small potatoes (steamed, skins on, no butter), but what she represents matters: another attempt to market immortality to a culture that's particularly in love with misbehaving, followed by an easy fix.
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