Former Nurse: Michael Wasn’t Much of a Food Person

Michael’s former nurse and nutrition specialist told E! Online: “He loved nuts. And once in a while he would eat fried chicken.”

Sherylin Lee says Michael’s daily food—at least until she stopped working for him in April—was a kind of liquid diet like syrup, as well as foods such as nuts, granola (a mixture of dried fruits and dried grains served with liquids like milk), and fried chicken. Lee was introduced to Michael by a mutual friend, and in January she went to his Bel-Air home to treat one of Michael’s children who had caught the flu. She then put Michael on her own liquid-based diet. Michael told her:

“Well, you know I’m really tired. I’m getting ready for the concerts. I want more energy. What kind of nutrition and diet should I have?”

Lee immediately gave him the ingredients his body needed most in the form of syrup and liquids. Lee says Michael preferred to be fed liquids: “He really didn’t like eating food.”

Ki Chais, who had been hired as Michael’s cook starting in March this year, said that after dinner Michael would drink syrup. She said she prepared plenty of solid foods for Michael and his children.

“When I started my job at the house, Michael asked me not to cook beef or pork. Only chicken, fish, and turkey, organic vegetables, and organic syrups he liked. He also ate solid foods. He loved gumbo (a vegetable soup with meat or shellfish) and KFC fried chicken. I didn’t work on Sundays. But on Mondays, I would see KFC containers, mashed potatoes, and sauce (meat or vegetable extract).”

She says that when Michael began rehearsing for his concerts, she prepared high-protein, low-fat foods for him such as grilled meat and fish. But on Saturdays, he ate lighter foods like roasted chicken and corn. She also said Michael had requested gumbo for Father’s Day.

According to Lee, Michael liked low-caffeine drinks that added to the problem of his low blood sugar. Even though Michael himself avoided eating, Lee says he did not allow her food preferences to spread to his children. She also says Michael’s weight was not below normal.

“They had a food routine. At night, everyone would sit together at the table. Even if Michael repeatedly said he wasn’t hungry, he still wanted to sit at the table with the kids. He was a perfect example of a very good father.”

But he wasn’t doing very well health-wise. Lee says it was around April when Michael’s insomnia began, and he asked her for Diprivan (a powerful anesthetic). Despite her insistence, her request was rejected by Lee.

“What he was trying to reassure me about was, ‘Nothing will happen to me… as long as there is someone watching over me, nothing will happen to me.’”

Michael said, “I’m tired of trying different things that put me to sleep. I want to fall asleep right away. I don’t want to wait for hours. I want to be knocked out.”

Lee continues: “These are his own words. ‘I want to be knocked out and go to sleep.’”

Source: eMJey / E! Online