Is Tom Brady Vegetarian or Vegan?

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady is still at the top of his game at an age when most players are long-retired. His disciplined fitness and nutrition regimen has kept him at peak performance levels for more than 20 years. But what exactly does Brady eat every day? Is he a vegetarian or vegan?

Tom Brady has a rigid daily routine

A typical day in the life of the Bucs QB begins at 6:00 a.m., and he immediately drinks 20 ounces of water with electrolytes when he wakes up. Then, Brady consumes a high-calorie, high-fat, high-protein smoothie that usually features bananas, blueberries, nuts, and seeds.

About two hours into his day, Brady begins his training session which features 20-minute intervals throughout his workout. The six-time Super Bowl champion stays hydrated throughout his workout and drinks plenty of water with electrolytes.

When his workout is done — around 11:00 a.m. — Brady has a recovery drink with almond milk and a scoop of protein powder.

At lunch time, Brady eats protein and “lots of veggies,” which is mostly dark leafy greens and whole grains. For the remainder of the day, Brady snacks on nuts and seeds, bone broth, and protein shakes. He also eats a plant-packed dinner.

Is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback a vegetarian or vegan?

It’s true that Brady eats a lot of greens. But his diet is much more flexible than vegan or vegetarian. The majority of his diet is plant-based, but he does consume animal products.

“When people ask if I’m a vegan or a vegetarian, I tell them no, decidedly not,” Brady explained on his TB12 Sports website.

Brady’s meals are usually divided up into 20 percent animal-based foods and 80 percent plant-based foods. Outside of the football season, Brady sometimes increases the plant-based portion to as much as 95 percent of his meal.

The QB follows a mostly plant-based diet because fruits and veggies are loaded with nutrients, fiber, and enzymes. He incorporates meat into his diet for some “balance.”

Brady’s chef, Allen Campbell, confirmed that both Brady and his wife, Gisele Bundchen, follow the 80/20 rule.

“So, 80 percent of what they eat is vegetables. [I buy] the freshest vegetables. If it’s not organic, I don’t use it,” Campbell told Boston.com. ” And whole grains: brown rice, quinoa, millet, beans. The other 20 percent is lean meats: grass-fed organic steak, duck every now and then, and chicken. As for fish, I mostly cook wild salmon.”

Campbell added that Brady’s diet is very different from a traditional American diet because it isn’t just “sugar and carbs.” When people do that, Campbell says the body is acidic, and that causes disease.

“Sugar is the death of people,” Campbell said.

Tom Brady’s TB12 Method has some seriously strict rules

In Brady’s book The TB12 Method, he details 12 principles for “sustained peak performance” that he developed with his “body coach” and business partner Alex Guerrero. The diet that Brady promotes in the book includes TB12-branded nutritional bars and dietary supplements.

“It really doesn’t matter how much exercise you do, if you’re not eating the right food and providing your body the right nutrients,” Brady writes.

The list of “right food,” however,” is extremely limited. Campbell says that Brady avoids alcohol, processed foods, gluten-filled bread and pasta, breakfast cereal, corn, anything with GMO’s, salty and sugary snacks, sweetened drinks, and pre-packaged condiments. But the restrictions don’t end there.

“No white sugar, no white flour, no MSG,” Campbell says. “I’ll use raw olive oil, but I never cook with olive oil. I only cook with coconut oil. Fats like canola oil turn into trans fats. … I use Himalayan pink salt as the sodium. I never use iodized salt. … What else? No coffee, no caffeine, no fungus, no dairy.”

Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will battle the Kansas City Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes in Super Bowl 55 on CBS on Sunday, February 7.