NEWSMichael Jackson's Nutritionist: He Didn't Want to Eat Food
July 29 2009, Published 9:00 a.m. ET
In addition to troubling reports about Michael Jackson's alleged dependence on painkillers and sleeping medication comes news of his strange dietary requests, via Cherilyn Lee, his personal nutritionist from January to April this year. "He loved trail mix. And once a month he had to have fried chicken," she tells E! News But it was his preference for aliquid diet that seems most worrying: "His whole thing was that he didn't really want to eat food."
Cherilyn says MJ mostly dined on a liquid, juice-based diet, until they parted ways in April, when he added granola to his dietary regime.
"He said, 'Well, you know I'm feeling tired,' " she recalled of meeting him. " 'I'm getting ready for the concerts. I would love to have as much energy as possible, so what can I do with my diet and nutrition?' "
She then put him on the juice and smoothie diet "to meet the needs of a couple things that were slightly out of bounds."
- Michael Jackson's Children Look Somber While Paying Respects at Uncle Tito's Funeral After His Fatal Heart Attack: See Photos
- Lisa Marie Presley Reveals Michael Jackson Was 'Still a Virgin' at 35 Years Old When They Started Dating: 'I Was Terrified'
- 8 Things to Know About the Jackson 5: Members, Unofficial Breakup and More
Want OK! each day? Sign up here!
Michael's liquid food preferences didn't affect his fatherly duties however, says Cherilyn.
"They had structure," she reveals. "They sat down and had dinner together at night. Even though he'd say a lot of times, 'I'm not hungry,' this is what he wanted to do. He was a prime example of a very good father."
But that care didn't extend to MJ's treatment of his own body, as he started having sleeping problems and asked Cherilyn for Diprivan, which she refused him. "What he tried to reassure me was that 'I will be safe...I will be safe just as long as someone monitors me,' " she remembers. "He said, 'I'm tired of taking things to try to help me to sleep and I want to go to sleep right away. I don't want to wait for hours. I want to be knocked out.' Those were his words: 'I want to be knocked out and go to sleep.' "
