How TB12 Method Founder, Tom Brady, Eats

Tom Brady is one of the most famous American football players. And he’s also the quarterback with the most Superbowl wins, claiming a total of 7 wins with the New England Patriots. Brady is also known for having an exceptionally long career for a professional athlete — well into his 40s — which he credits to taking very good care of himself with healthy diet and exercise.  

In 2017 Brady released a book called The TB12 Method: How to Achieve a Lifetime of Sustained Peak Performance, which included his methodology for being able to sustain his peak athletic performance for so many years.

The book covered Brady’s 12 principles of performance, which included his training principles and healthy living philosophy, including sleep and cognitive fitness, as well as a diet including nutrition guidelines and recipes. 

Read on to learn exactly how Tom Brady eats.

What do you eat on the TB12 diet?

The Tom Brady diet, known as TB12, is based on the mostly plant-based eating pattern that Brady has been following for years. He doesn’t ascribe to a vegan or vegetarian diet, but follows a plan that includes about 80 percent plant-based foods and 20 percent animal-based foods. In addition to balanced meals with lots of vegetables, Tom also incorporates several smoothies into his day made with pea protein-based from the TB12 brand.

But powder isn’t the only way the athlete meets his protein goals.

One ingredient that is mentioned several times in the recipes on the TB12 website is almond butter. Almond butter is a delicious and nutrient-dense ingredient, providing 5 to 7g of protein per 2 tablespoon serving. And the website notes that Tom eats “nuts and seeds as a snack.”

Eggs are also an excellent and budget-friendly source of protein. And sure enough, the TB12 diet includes eggs in its recommended recipes and in a list of foods to eat, not only for their protein content but also for their immune supporting nutrients, like vitamin D. The website recommends eating them daily as scrambled eggs, snacks or to top a hash of Brussels sprouts and potatoes. 

While pizza may seem like a forbidden food for Tom, if you make it with a cauliflower crust, it’s yours to enjoy on TB12. The website offers a recipe for a crust made with fresh cauliflower, Parmesan cheese and an egg. It recommends topping it with vegetables like peppers, onion, spinach and broccoli, which sounds pretty great to this dietitian. 

What can’t you eat on the TB12 diet?

The TB12 website provides ways that you can “Fuel your body like Tom Brady.” This includes eating only real, whole foods and eschewing processed foods, including white bread, chips and foods with added sugar that come in boxes or bags. Foods with any amount of trans fat, such as deep fried foods, are also omitted. 

Dieters are also advised to choose sweet potatoes over white potatoes, red peppers over green ones, carrots and dried apricots over processed snacks, cashews and walnuts instead of almonds (though almond butter is used in many smoothies), and oranges and berries over apples. The reasoning for these specific recommendations is due to higher levels of immune supporting nutrients like beta-carotene and vitamin C. 

While alcohol and caffeinated beverages aren’t explicitly called out as items to avoid completely, they are mentioned culprits of dehydration and a link is made between dehydration and inflammation. 

Is TB12 anti-inflammatory?

TB12 emphasizes that by focusing on eating more plants and limiting animal-based foods to only 20% of your diet you’ll “help insure you are reducing any unnecessary inflammation, giving you the energy to recover faster and perform better.”

There are also articles on the TB12 site that explain what chronic inflammation is and why it’s linked to many health issues, including diabetes and heart disease. TB12 advocates for regular exercise as a way of protecting against inflammation. 

Sample shopping list

The TB12 website does not include a sample diet plan, but it does share general nutrition guidance, recipes (mostly smoothies) and a printable shopping list.

The list includes:

• Berries
• Zucchini
• Sweet potatoes
• Brown rice
• Bell peppers
• Kale
• Nuts
• Beans
• Salmon
• Avocados

Pros of the TB12 diet

A big tenet of Tom’s nutrition plan is hydration. As soon as he rises at 6 am, he starts drinking a combination of 20 ounces of water with his branded electrolyte mix. Brady recommends hydrating during workouts and emphasizes the importance of electrolytes. He advocates drinking half of your body weight in ounces of water each day. 

I like that TB12 advocates for getting enough fiber in your diet and eating balanced meals, as well as its emphasis on getting exercise regularly.

Another selling point for TB12 is its emphasis on building healthy lifestyle habits you can practice daily, including meditation and foam rolling. And unlike many fad diets that promote quick weight loss, the focus here is on health and performance, not attaining the ideal body. 

Cons of the TB12 diet

Your wallet is likely to be a lot lighter after following this diet. The plant-based protein powder is $54 for 30 servings, and since the diet recommends drinking lots of smoothies, one canister may not last an entire month.

There is also an online quiz to help you pinpoint the areas you may need help in, such as sleep, inflammation, immune health and focus. I took the quiz and was given a list of three supplements (protein powder, electrolytes and the Recover supplement for joints) totalling $146, as well as a recommendation to buy the Vibrating Pliability Sphere for $119, a Nutrition Sample Pack, which I couldn’t locate on the site and a shaker bottle ($30) for making smoothies. 

The diet can be followed without buying the specific TB12 supplements and protein powder, but other than the shopping list and the recipes, there is not a specific diet plan to follow and hardly any portion guidance is given, so it may be challenging to put a plan together for yourself without one.

Is the TB12 diet healthy?

With its emphasis on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds, TB12 provides the foundation for a healthy eating plan. If you include the recommended foods into your daily life, you’ll be following a high fiber, high protein diet that will also help you reduce the amount of saturated fat you consume, which may help cut your risk of long-term illnesses like heart disease.

Why is TB12 controversial? 

Critics of TB12 cite the expense of the ingredients and supplements and its restrictions on nightshade plants like eggplant, tomatoes, peppers and potatoes. This conflicts with the recommendation on the website to eat red peppers. Other concerns include the lack of scientific evidence to back up health claims and the difficulty of following a diet that doesn’t include any convenience foods. 

The bottom line: The TB12 Diet may offer some health benefits, but it can be expensive and inconvenient to follow and does not guarantee results.