Elvis Presley was known for having a “disturbing” diet that would eventually turn lethal by the time of his death in 1977.
The King died on the toilet while his fiancée Ginger Alden slept in the next room, after playing a game of racquetball with his cousins in the early hours of the morning. As well as a diet of prescription painkillers and sleeping tablets, Elvis kept some pretty unhealthy habits.
He was known for battling chronic constipation, likely due to the controversial things he ate in his later years. One of the Jailhouse Rock hitmaker’s favourites was the peanut butter and banana sandwich – and sometimes he’d even add rashers of bacon to the combo.
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The King was also known for scoffing fried breakfasts, hot dogs and sodas, regularly slurping Pepsi, Nesbitt’s Orange and Shasta Black Cherry. Another favourite was bologna served with barbecue sauce, along with cheeseburgers, Spanish omelettes and fried pickles.
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According to some reports, Elvis would scoff a coconut cake every single night, after enjoying the recipe when his mother Gladys made it during his childhood. In the cookbook Fit for a King states: “Elvis was just wild about his mother’s coconut cake.
“He drank a lot of milk, water and soda pop. On certain occasions, he preferred chocolate milk.” Another addendum added: “Like many young girls her age, Priscilla Beaulieu was dying to meet Elvis Presley. Her first ‘date’ with Elvis was while he was stationed in Germany. She went to his house for a home-cooked southern supper prepared by Elvis’s grandmother Minnie Presley.”
Elvis was also known for putting his own twist on typical Southern foods, including the Fool’s Gold Loaf, which consisted of a hollowed out sourdough loaf stuffed with an entire jar of jelly, a whole jar of peanut butter and a pound of bacon, and served with fried pickles.
(Image: Getty Images)
It wasn’t uncommon for the star to order in bulk – according to the tabloids back in the 60s, Pepsi was driven straight to Graceland in special distribution lorries as he would down “several” with each meal. Rumours even abounded that Elvis created an egg shortage in Tennessee from eating so many Spanish omelettes, with the book Elvis for Dummies reporting: “Rumours also claimed that he once ate 30 cups of yogurt, 8 honeydew melons, and a hundred dollars worth of ice cream bars in one night.”
One of the most harrowing incidents, however, came when Elvis was hospitalised with colon problems and begged his cook Mary Jenkins to bring him food “disguised as clothes”. She admitted in her book Elvis the Way I Knew Him that the King told her: “I want you to fix me some kraut and wiener sandwiches.”
(Image: Getty Images)
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She tried to remind him he was on a strict diet, but Elvis said: “Mary, I got to have some of those sandwiches. Boil the kraut and the wieners together. Take the wieners out, put them on a hot dog bun, and pile the kraut on top. Then fill them full of mustard. Bring them by to me this afternoon, and tell the guard at my door that you are bringing Linda [Thompson, his then girlfriend] some clothes.”
The star eventually suffered a cardiac arrest from a combination of his substance use, high-fat and high-cholesterol diet, and chronic constipation. As he attempted to defecate rather forcefully on the toilet, his abdominal aorta was compressed, which shut down his heart.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
