Tom Brady takeaway -- it's the inflammation

Patriot's QB Tony Eason under a pile of Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XX, in 1985. Da Bears tied the record for most sacks in the game - 7 - and set a record for fewest rushing yards allowed (7) that still stands.

I went to bed after the halftime show last night. If the Patriots came back from their 21-3 deficit to win, I didn't want to know about it.

Just for the record, I was not rooting against the Patriots because their coach and quarterback supported Trump, as I've seen some liberal friends post; I've hated the Patriots for more than 30 years, as any true Bears fan would. 

​So when I woke up this morning to the news that, indeed, the almost inhuman Patriots had come back to win in overtime, I looked for the bright spot. How does Tom Brady do it? 

He's certainly not the only NFL quarterback to play
until almost 40 or beyond (he's 38), but few
​have maintained the playing level that he does. 

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Not to mention playing through injury. Since missing all of 2008 due to a devastating tear of both his ACL and MCL, Brady has rarely missed a game from being hurt. He's played with a broken finger, with fractured, ribs, with a sprained ankle . . . how does he do it?

He seems to think part of his success is due to his diet. As his personal chef, Allen Campbell, related in an interview, Brady eats about 80% vegetables, whole grains (brown rice, quinoa) and beans, and 20% lean meats. His "body coach" Alex Guerrero also weighs in with fitness suggestions.

Many articles online characterize Brady's food and fitness habits as "extreme," "incredibly strict," and even "weird." Certainly eating 100% organic or making raw veggie sushi rolls for your kids may not seem practical to most of us. And some of the assertions his chef has made have been challenged by doctors and nutritionists. (Demonizing cooking with olive oil was the oddest one to me!) 

BUT. If you look at the underlying goals and priorities, there IS something for all of us to take away, regardless of our feelings toward the Patriots. Most of the tenets of Brady's food strategy are related to reducing inflammation.

It's easy to understand why an NFL quarterback would care about keeping inflammation down at all costs. Brady says that when he was 25, he hurt all the time, but by 2008:

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“I was told by my doctor after the ACL tear that my knee would never be the same. That I would never be able to run around and play with my kids, which was all a bunch of bulls---. That knee feels as good as my other knee. It never swelled up one day in the last six years.

What you may not realize is that inflammation is connected to LOTS of health problems.

I'm on a mission to help people and communities understand how inflammation works and its connections to their health, including how being stressed out seriously increases the inflammation in your body.

For now, here are a few (non-weird) tips, courtesy of Tom Brady. To reduce inflammation:

• Make plant-based foods the major part of your diet.​
• Eat good-quality meats, and choose grass-fed over grain-fed whenever possible. 
• Cut back on sugar.
• Avoid corn oil and hydrogenated oils (which are in just about all your packaged foods).
• Reduce white flour, and refined grains that have most of their fiber stripped out -- things like white bread, pasta, white rice, and baked goods. (Does that mean you can never have cake again? Only if you're Tom Brady. But any effort you can make to eat brown rice and higher fiber bread and pasta is going to be good for you.)
• You don't have to freak out about iodized salt like the Brady household, but do what you can to avoid added chemicals in your food. If, like me, you don't have the money (or access) to shop organic, here's a list of the non-organic fruits and veggies with the lowest pesticide, and the dirty dozen you may want to avoid if you can't get organic or local pesticide-free versions.
• Get 8 hours of sleep a night.
• Campbell disparages nightshades like tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants, but they may only be a problem for people with auto-immune disorders or gut issues. Here's an easy starter guide to anti-inflammatory foods.

One reason there was so much press about Brady's diet is that he published a cookbook last year. Sorry, he has instructed the world that it is not a cookbook, but a "nutrition manual . . . a limited edition 'living document.'" Don't get too excited, though; not only is it sold out online, it also costs $200. (You should really go read the description of it, though -- the 100 lb paper and laser-etched wood cover make it sound like one of those hipster spoof ads.)

Me being Research Girl, I figured I could find a couple of example recipes from it, but Brady cagily promoted the "manual" on Facebook with photos that were too blurred to actually read.

Note to Tom - see, this is why you have a reputation as not being a great guy (along with your propensity for temper tantrums) -- you sell a cookbook...sorry, nutrition manual ...for $200, and you can't give us peons ONE recipe? (I'm choosing to hope he's splitting the proceeds of the...whatever it is...with the personal chef and body trainer who are actually responsible for its content. Naive?) ​

​BUT, Reddit to the rescue! Here is the complete avocado ice cream recipe, with reviews. 
I'll be sharing lots of research and information about inflammation. If you'd like to work with me on crafting your own personal wellness manual, let me know!

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