by Tom Brady
EAT FOODS HIGH IN FIBER
Along with essential fatty acids, I also make sure my diet has lots of fiber in it. The best fiber sources out there are fruits, vegetables, bran, rolled oats, brown rice, and various other complex carbohydrates. High-fiber diets are associated with a reduced incidence of heart disease, high blood pressure, and of certain kinds of cancer and GI conditions.
EAT A VARIETY OF FOODS
I try to eat as wide an assortment of foods as I can every day. Different foods contain different nutrients and minerals, and no single food can give your body exactly what it needs. Even if you eat spinach three meals a day, you’re missing out on dozens of other nutrients your body needs to achieve optimal health. Just as you shouldn’t get all your greens from spinach, you shouldn’t get all your protein from a piece of beef. By varying the foods you eat, you also avoid boredom. As part of the TB12 Method, I’ve also created a line of healthy snacks and protein bars that help me refuel in between meals. They’re raw, nutrient-rich, and alkalizing, and a regular part of my diet.
You can be creative with what you eat.
Fruit is a core ingredient of my morning smoothies. I also snack on fruit throughout the day.
We at TB12 also work with a great meal-delivery service that aligns with the goals of TB12 to provide meals that make the type of eating we subscribe to at TB12 available for everybody. Their food is nutrient-rich and tastes great. I’ve been eating it all year on a weekly basis, and I feel great results. If you’re lacking for time, this could be a great solution for you.
FOODS TO LIMIT OR AVOID: THE DON’TS
AVOID REFINED CARBOHYDRATES
The negative effects of eating too many refined carbohydrates, which are in junk foods and fast foods, include excessive insulin production, excessive fat storage, and elevated blood sugar levels. I try to keep my insulin levels balanced, since the more stable they are, the lower my inflammation rates will be. For that reason I try to avoid eating anything that comes in a box or a bag, as well as foods containing white flour or added sugars. That means I try to limit cereal, white bread, white rice, pasta, cakes, and cookies. Less inflammation is the key for me.
AVOID UNHEALTHY FATS
Trans-fatty acids and saturated fats are both found in hydrogenated oils, which are used in the commercial production of cookies, crackers, peanut butter, and breakfast cereals. Hydrogenation is the process of turning healthy oils into solids to keep them from going bad. Basically, trans fats are the worst kind of fat out there. If hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils appear on the label’s ingredients list, try to avoid that product. (If a food has fewer than 0.5 grams of trans fat in it per serving, by law its label is allowed to say “0 grams of trans fat.” So always read the label.) Trans fats not only create inflammation but are also linked to heart disease, diabetes, and stroke. Saturated fats, which are found in red meat, milk, butter, cheese, palm oil, and coconut oil, also increase the risk of heart disease. Of the two, saturated fats are “better” than trans fats, but try to limit your consumption of foods containing either. I will very rarely eat anything with these types of fats.
LIMIT DAIRY
The protein in dairy products—cow’s milk, cheese, ice cream, yogurt—increases inflammation in both the digestive tract and the thyroid gland, which means your body is less able to absorb the right nutrients. When I was a kid, the dairy industry rolled out lots of campaigns urging people to drink lots of milk. Remember milk mustaches? I actually did that campaign back in 2002! But research today is pretty clear that we should consume dairy in more limited amounts. Our belief at TB12 is that dairy products are high in calories and lower in nutritional value than other foods, and milk shakes, cheeseburgers, and ice cream every night isn’t going to make for a healthy diet, certainly not when you expect your body to perform at the highest levels.
LIMIT SALT
Our bodies need salt, but too much of it elevates blood pressure and interferes with our ability to eliminate toxins and waste from our cells. If you use salt, at least taste your food first, or use just a small pinch of salt rather than overdoing it. There’s a big difference between seasoning your food and flavoring it so completely that you can barely taste it. One of the problems I have with food that isn’t “real” is that most of the time our palates are responding to one of three ingredients: salt, sugar, or fat. Whenever the media claims that some of the dietary methods I pursue are new-agey or even quackery, I tell them that some of the biggest advertisers on television and in the stadiums I’ve played in are marketing all the wrong things. Which message seems more sensible? It’s common to see soda or alcohol commercials infiltrating every part of popular culture. I advocate for seeing more types of healthy food choices in advertising to help balance these out.
THE FOOD INDUSTRY
The way we eat has changed more in the past fifty years than it had in the previous ten thousand. There are around forty thousand products for sale in a supermarket. Most are manufactured by one of the ten or so multinationals that control our country’s trillion-dollar industrial food system.
Most people define “food” as any substance we eat that provides proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals. Our body’s cells absorb and metabolize these nutrients, which in turn give us energy and ensure continuing growth in our bones and muscles. But most of what we buy in the supermarket are food-like products or compounds marketed and sold to us as “food.” They’re not food. They’re refinements or inventions that someone made up. Consider what the industry does to fruits and vegetables, too. Green apples, bananas, and tomatoes ripened by ethylene gas are available all year round, but are those real? Moreover, a lot of studies show that the mineral content of our soil has declined steadily since the 1950s, along with the nutritional value of the fruits and vegetables that grow in that soil.
The way I see it, food companies are more like chemical companies than anything else. But we keep eating what they sell us and then wondering why the rates of disease and obesity are so high. Our bodies become toxic when we ingest toxic chemicals. Just go into the grocery store and scan the ingredients on a can of soup or a jar of peanut butter. Ascorbic acid. High-fructose corn syrup. Potassium chloride. Citric acid. Sodium caseinate. Silicon dioxide. Xanthan gum. Turmeric sodium carbonate. Monopotassium phosphate. Fully hydrogenated vegetable oils. Then of course there’s genetic engineering. Does that sound like something you’d want to eat? It sounds like a chemistry experiment to me.
When I think about “food,” I picture an avocado, a banana, a salad, a handful of nuts, or a piece of fish. I don’t picture a box of cereal, a tub of margarine, a box of doughnuts, a bag of potato chips, or anything else manufactured using salt, sugar, fat, additives, stabilizers, and chemicals. Food should look like, smell like, and taste like food. I’m not saying to never eat the foods I just mentioned, as I know they taste good (and are marketed well). But try to limit them and eat more real, organic, local food.
LIMIT NIGHTSHADES
Nightshades are a family of darker plants and foods that include mushrooms, eggplants, potatoes, strawberries, and bell peppers. Nightshades are a really great source of antioxidants. Now, eating vegetables like tomatoes and eggplant won’t affect most people’s performance levels, but, again, as an NFL quarterback, I need to do everything possible to maximize my pliability and minimize even small amounts of inflammation. For that reason, I rarely eat dark-shaded vegetables. Again, my diet is engineered and matched to the job I need my body to do. As long as I play pro football, I’ll be as disciplined as possible. At some point in my life, this may relax, but my diet has become so natural and ingrained that I can’t really imagine any large changes in the future. Put another way, I enjoy how I eat, and what I eat, and I never feel I’m missing out—which brings me to the two things many adults indulge in: caffeine and alcohol.
LIMIT CAFFEINE
Roughly half of all Americans are addicted to coffee, tea, or soda. Drinking moderate amounts of coffee (20
0 milligrams of caffeine a day, which is about two cups of coffee) is harmless, but too much caffeine can lead to a wide range of health problems, not to mention edginess and stress. More to the point, caffeine can be dehydrating. I steer clear. If you’re going to drink caffeine, you’d better stick to the 2-to-1 rule of thumb I mentioned earlier.
LIMIT ALCOHOL
If you drink alcohol, do so only in moderation. Too much alcohol is linked to hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and impaired liver function, but, again, the biggest problem for me is that alcohol is a diuretic and therefore is dehydrating. Alcohol is full of sugar, too, and for that reason alone it creates inflammation. From time to time I’ll have a beer, and when I’m in a social setting, maybe a few drinks. But in general, I don’t drink alcohol with my meals or as a stand-alone drink. In fact, at this point in my life, I rarely drink alcohol at all. If I do, I make sure I compensate for the loss in hydration by drinking twice that amount in water the next day.
ALKALINE VERSUS ACIDIC FOODS
In addition to eating as much real food as possible, I also follow a nutritional regimen that’s made up of 80 percent alkaline and 20 percent acidic foods. In general, foods that are acidic cause inflammation, and alkaline-forming foods reduce inflammation.
To explain, every food we eat mixes with the oxygen in our body’s cells to create energy. Whenever we digest and metabolize a food, it forms a signature inside the body. That ash is either acidic, alkaline, or neutral. The body’s optimal pH range—pH is a measurement of the hydrogen ion concentration in our bodies—is around 7. A pH range below 7 means the body is too acidic. When we maintain good pH levels, the body is properly oxygenated, which accelerates recovery and healing.
Alkaline or neutral ash helps the body thrive, whereas eating too many acidifying foods leads to a condition called acidosis, which makes us more prone to infections, colds, flu, low energy, fatigue, sore muscles, joint pain, hip fractures, bone spurs, poor concentration, and mood swings. All of these things are opposite to what I need as an athlete. Strongly acidifying foods include white rice, bread, butter, cheese, yogurt, and beef. The optimal goal is an 80/20 balance between alkalizing and acidifying foods, and a pH balance of 7. By decreasing the percentage of acidifying foods in your diet, your body is better able to neutralize whatever acids it produces during digestion and protect itself from further acidity.
The foundation of an alkalizing meal is vegetables. All vegetables have lots of vitamins, alkalizing minerals, salts, enzymes, nutrients, and fiber. Again, try to eat as many green vegetables as you can—they’re rich in chlorophyll, which gives them their green color—along with beets, green cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, garlic, onions, radishes, bell peppers, and squash. Still, don’t eliminate acidifying foods altogether. No matter how acidic your pH levels are, your body still needs some acidic, protein-rich foods to work properly. We all need some percentage of acidifying protein to establish alkaline minerals in our muscles in the first place, and protein in turn helps our muscles retain alkaline minerals.
By following a nutritional regimen of around 80 percent alkaline or alkalizing foods and the remaining balance of 20 percent more acidifying foods, I try to keep my body in a naturally alkaline state. I try to eat alkalizing foods at every meal, and I spread them out during the day, too. A healthy diet means less inflammation, more energy, and faster recovery. These things align with TB12’s philosophies, and they work great for me.
IF YOU CAN’T EAT RIGHT
Sometimes I’m in a situation where it’s not possible to eat the things I want. When that happens, I do the best I can and focus on enjoying my night out. If the only options on a menu are pasta, pizza, or even cheeseburgers, I’ll order a cheeseburger. I just won’t order two or three of them. Or I’ll eat half. I may love the taste, but I know that eating cheeseburgers or pizza won’t help me accomplish my athletic goals. To me, it’s about prioritizing. My regimen works for what I’m asking my body to do. In the end, it’s balance in all things.
THE SHORT LIST
STRONGLY ALKALIZING FOODS
Artichokes
Beets
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Cabbage
Carrots
Cauliflower
Chicory
Cucumbers
Dandelion greens
Escarole
Green beans
Lettuce (except for iceberg)
Potatoes
Red cabbage
Spinach
Squash
Sweet peppers
Sweet potatoes
Vegetable juice made in a juicer
Yams
Zucchini
STRONGLY ACIDIFYING FOODS
Beef
Black currants
Butter
Cheese
Chickpeas
Cold cuts
Crayfish
Hazelnuts
Herring
Kiwis
Lobster
Mackerel
Mandarin oranges
Millet
Nectarines
Oranges
Peanuts
Pecans
Pineapples
Pistachio nuts
Pork
Pumpkin seeds
Raspberries
Red currants
Salmon
Soybeans
Strawberries
Sunflower seeds
Walnuts
White bread
White rice
White wheat
Yogurt
PORTION SIZES
The cut of meat, chicken, or fish you eat shouldn’t be any bigger than the size of your palm. It should be accompanied by at least two palms’ worth of vegetables. As a general rule, it’s good to leave the table feeling 75 percent full. That way your body can digest and absorb the food you’ve eaten more easily.
Here’s a tip: If I’m in a restaurant and I order something savory, like fish or a steak, I make sure to order a lot of vegetables on the side. I eat them first, so by the time I get to the steak, I’m already pretty full. If I ate the steak first, I would have less room for the vegetables. In general, I try to eat what’s good for me first, like the nutrient-rich vegetables, and save the stuff that’s less good for me for last.
HOW MUCH ADDED SUGAR SHOULD YOU BE EATING EVERY DAY?
We get a lot of sugar naturally from the fruits and vegetables we eat. Athletes who burn a lot of calories can get away with eating up to 50 grams of added sugar a day, but for most people I wouldn’t recommend more than 25 grams per day. Again, I try to limit sugar, as it raises insulin and creates inflammation. As you know by now, inflammation is the enemy for an athlete.
TIMING BETWEEN EATING AND REST
Try to give yourself around three hours from when you finish dinner to the time you go to bed. The body’s metabolic burn rate starts slowing down at night, and sleep is when our bodies should be recovering from the day’s activities. That’s why eating late at night isn’t a great idea. Your body can’t prepare for recovery when it’s digesting the food you’ve just eaten.
SNACKING
Snacking is normal, especially in the late morning and midafternoon. But if you experience food cravings throughout the day, your body is telling you it’s nutrient deprived. If you’re eating real food, your body should be metabolizing the nutrients you’ve taken in. You’re better off modifying your diet and adding more nutrient-dense meals over the course of the day. Still, try to snack throughout the day. It curbs your appetite, helps you retain energy, and lowers your chance of overeating during meals. I snack quite a bit throughout the day myself, and at TB12 we created an assortment of snacks so I know I have healthy choices available that I also love to eat.
COMBINING FOODS
The foods we eat—fruits, vegetables, grains, meat—each belong to specific food groups. We digest each one more easily or with more difficulty, depending on what other foods we pair with them. When we diges
t, say, protein-rich foods like beef or chicken, our bodies require an acidic environment. When we digest carbohydrates, our bodies require a more alkaline environment. In this case, opposites don’t attract.
Here are four principles to keep in mind:
1. Try to avoid eating proteins like meat, poultry, fish, or dairy with carbohydrates like potatoes, breads, wheat, or grain products.
2. Mixing vegetables—cooked or raw—with either proteins or carbohydrates is ideal and won’t interfere with good digestion.
3. Eat fruits alone. They digest quickly. Other foods don’t.
4. Drinking water with your meals can interfere with good digestion. Drink water half an hour before a meal, and then wait an hour before you have your next glass. If you’re going to drink with your meals, I recommend only a little bit of water in order to ensure proper digestion.
I always make sure I have great sources of vitamin C.