Cooking legend Paula Deen is the epitome of you are what you eat. The Savannah restaurant owner and author of several cookbooks, who also appears in her own television show, tells “kids to have cheesecake for breakfast… chocolate cake and meatloaf for lunch—and french fries” according to Barbara Walters. Apparently the chef heeded her own advice and now the blatant disregard for eating healthy has caught up with her as she has been diagnosed with type II diabetes. The official announcement of her type II diabetes only came about recently, several years after she was actually diagnosed. Unfortunately this announcement did not come out in conjunction with a public service announcement promoting organic foods, fresh fruits and vegetables, or while pushing healthy entree selections at the buffet of her world famous restaurant. Instead Chef Deen elected to take her diabetes story public in conjunction with her role as a paid spokeswoman for Novo, the Danish-based pharmaceutical manufacturer, pushing its new diabetes management program. With role models such as Chef Deen, it is no wonder that America is becoming the fattest nation, with staggering statistics on cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes and more alarmingly, juvenile diabetes, to back it up.

With Chef Deen on the air and in our children’s cookbooks the nation will turn into the capital of juvenile diabetes in no time unless parents take a proactive stance against such role models. As a parent and physician myself, I will not allow Chef Deen’s children’s cookbook in my home because I don’t want any child to follow in her footsteps and become a diabetic. I encourage all parents to step away from the plate and lead by example by deep-sixing Chef Deen’s cookbooks and planting an organic garden with your children instead.

Most people know the danger of high cholesterol: It puts people at increased risk for heart attack, stroke, and other cardiovascular conditions. But the good news is that you can lower your “bad” cholesterol (low-density lipoprotein, or LDL) and raise your “good” cholesterol (high-density lipoprotein, or HDL) — just by altering your diet. Here is a list of cholesterol lowering foods that are most effective at keeping your blood vessels and heart in tip-top shape.

1. Green tea
2. Red wine
3. Fruits and vegetables
4. Chocolate
5. Beans & oats
6. Nuts
7. Salmon & other fish
8. Olive oil
9. Yogurts

Read more about these ten 10 foods that reduce your Cholesterol at EveryDayHealth.com