There’s not one food that causes diabetes.What causes Type II diabetes is being overweight... I’ve just come to grips, over the past four or five months, with my diabetes.

Paula Deen made remarks like this during her public disclosure that she had been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, after having kept the condition private for a period of time. The comments circulated widely in early 2012 amid intense media scrutiny of her brand—built around rich, high-calorie Southern comfort food—and her new endorsement relationship with a diabetes medication company. In interviews, Deen framed her diagnosis in terms of weight and lifestyle rather than blaming any single food, while also describing her emotional process of accepting the diagnosis (“come to grips”) in the months leading up to going public.

The quote pushes back against a simplistic, moralized idea that one “bad” food directly causes diabetes, emphasizing instead a broader risk profile associated with excess weight and, by implication, long-term dietary patterns and lifestyle. Deen’s phrasing also functions as self-justification and repositioning: it separates her culinary persona from direct culpability while acknowledging personal responsibility (“being overweight”) and the psychological work of acceptance (“come to grips”). The statement reflects a common public-health tension—individual foods versus overall patterns—while also revealing how celebrity health disclosures are shaped by reputation management and the need to narrate illness in relatable, controllable terms.