Tom Brady Weight Loss 2022: Update On Tom Brady Diet & What Is The TB12 Diet?

Tom Brady’s career is still going strong at 43 years old.

What’s interesting about Brady’s continued dominance in the NFL is that, unlike other elite athletes, he’s open about how he keeps his level of performance high.

It’s almost as if he’s daring his opponents to match his level of health, fitness, and diet by divulging his secrets.

The former New England Patriots quarterback, now with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, previously detailed his diet in his 2017 book, The TB12 Method. Some (ok, most) people would describe his eating habits as strict. In that book, he explained his diet in broad strokes, as follows.

3.46 out of 5 stars for Healthline Diet

The Tom Brady Diet, also known as the TB12 Method, is a whole foods diet created by Tom Brady, a professional American football player. It’s said to be one of the primary reasons for Brady’s continued success in the NFL.

Brady attributes his improved athletic performance, recovery, energy levels, and overall health to his diet and fitness regimen, which he credits with lowering his risk of injury.

The first edition of the TB12 Method was published in 2017 as a guide for others to eat like Tom Brady. In 2020, a revised and updated edition of the TB12 Method was released.

Some people have lost weight by following the diet. Others do it in the hopes of feeling more energized and benefiting athletic performance.

Many online reviews from people who have tried the diet are positive, but critics say it is overly complicated, unsustainable in the long run, and unsupported by science.

What Is Tom Brady’s Diet?

The Tom Brady Diet, also known as the TB12 diet, is a diet plan developed by American football player Tom Brady. It is based on Brady’s method, which he first detailed in his book “The TB12 Method: How to Achieve a Lifetime of Sustained Peak Performance” in 2017.

It is mostly plant-based, but not strictly vegetarian/vegan, and contains a lot of whole foods like vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and herbs.

Overall, it is a high-fiber diet similar to the Mediterranean diet, the DASH or MIND diet, the “flexitarian diet,” the alkaline diet, or the anti-inflammatory diet. All of these plans come with a slew of health benefits, such as protection against obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and neurological issues.

How to Use the TB12 Method

Is Tom Brady a meat eater? Yes, but he balances his meat consumption with plenty of plant foods.

You don’t have to eat entirely plant-based to follow TB12, but you may need to reduce your meat consumption. Brady recommends consuming approximately 80% of your daily calories from plant foods and no more than 20% from meat, fish, eggs, and other animal products.

The TB12 diet also forbids the consumption of most processed foods and many packaged items, such as sugary drinks, sweetened snacks, and processed meats.

Aside from eating certain foods and avoiding others, TB12 establishes some meal timing and food combining guidelines:

Drink plenty of water, but avoid calorie- and sugar-laden beverages.
To aid digestion and metabolic health, avoid eating within three hours of going to bed.
Drink water 30 minutes before meals and avoid drinking water with meals and within one hour of eating.
Eat fruit and carbohydrates on their own, without a lot of protein.
Avoid nightshade vegetables like white potatoes, tomatoes, and eggplants because they can cause allergies or reactions in some people.

How to Stick to Tom Brady’s Diet

The Tom Brady Diet is a plant-based diet that focuses on whole, minimally processed foods. When possible, the emphasis is on eating only organic, locally grown, and seasonal produce.

Furthermore, the diet suggests only eating organic, grass-fed, free-range, hormone-free, and antibiotic-free meats and poultry, as well as wild, hormone-free, and antibiotic-free fish.

This diet requires followers to consume organically grown fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and legumes 80% of the time. The remaining 20% of the diet is made up of grass-fed, organic, antibiotic- and hormone-free lean meats, as well as wild-caught fish and seafood.

The TB12 Method includes a long list of foods to avoid or limit because they are pro-inflammatory.

These are some examples:

non-organic grass-fed dairy
refined carbohydrates
trans and saturated fats
added sugars
salt
alcohol
caffeine

The diet also restricts:

GMOs
most cooking oils, like canola and soy
high fructose corn syrup
other soy-containing foods

Brady’s personal chef famously stated that Brady avoids nightshade vegetables due to their alleged inflammatory properties.

However, there is no evidence that nightshade vegetables cause inflammation.

“Nightshades are a family of produce and spices that contain the compound alkaloids, which are thought to be inflammatory, but there is little to no research to suggest that alkaloids are associated with inflammation,” explains Nicole Feneli, RD, CSSD, FLIK Hospitality Group’s VP of wellness, performance nutrition, and sustainability.

In fact, recent evidence suggests otherwise.

Furthermore, the most recent version of the TB12 Method includes nightshade vegetables in the shopping list, as well as tomatoes and peppers. Those considering the diet will most likely appreciate the change.