Is Tom Brady's Intense Diet a Load of Crap?

With the patriots in the super bowl, there has been a lot of talk about the teams MVP, Tom Brady…and his strict diet.  Brady and his family eat vegan the majority of the time and also follow the alkaline diet, which limits acidic foods.  Though it is remarkable that Brady is still an all star in the game at the age of 40, how heavy of a role does his diet actually play into it?  Brady claims that it’s huge, but does science agree?
    According to StyleCaster.com “80% percent of what they eat is vegetables”, “The other 20% is lean meats: grass-fed organic steak, duck every now and then, and chicken. As for fish, I mostly cook wild salmon”.  The list of things the family doesn’t eat is also long; “No white sugar. No white flour. No MSG”,  “No coffee. No caffeine. No fungus. No dairy. No gluten”.  Even their vegetable intake is strict.  Their nutritionist says that they do not eat “tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, or eggplants”.  Other football players have also followed this health trend, except many of them are going full vegan.  According to CNBC.com, known players like Derrick Morgan, Jurrell Casey, DaQuan Jones and most famously, David Carter have followed the health trend.  Nicknamed “The 300-pound Vegan", who claims the lifestyle “completely changed” how he thought about eating and that being vegan is “Just a lot easier for you to function during work because your body is functioning better”, and he could very well be right.   Researchers found that "Plant-based foods naturally lower inflammation in the body because they are naturally low in fat and high in antioxidants.  High vegetable intake increases the amount of B vitamins in the diet, which have been found to affect mood."
    However, as researcher and kinesiology professor Stuart Phillips says, “There’s lots of example where people who are successful athletes have attributed their success to one practice or another.  But the main point is: If you pull it back and start to look at the science that underpins what people are saying, there is none there”.  Brady prides him self on the claim that his diet lowers the body’s pH, but that is scientifically impossible.  Experiments conducted have proven that you can’t alter blood pH in a significant way with diet, according to businessinsider.com .

Essentially, health doesn’t have to be this complicated and expensive. There is no science that says it does and you can’t argue with science.

But damn, that man really is in great shape.