The TB12 Method: How to Achieve a Lifetime of Sustained Peak Performance

by Tom Brady

Drink at least one-half of your body weight in ounces of water every day. That’s the minimum.

Reaching a baseline of proper hydration takes at least fourteen days.

These days, even if I get an adequate amount of sun, I won’t get a sunburn, which I credit to the amount of water I drink. I always hydrate afterward, too, to keep my skin from peeling.

but be sure to wait half an hour before you eat breakfast, and don’t drink water while you’re eating (see below). It gets in the way of optimally digesting foods and absorbing their nutrients.

Wait an hour or so after you’re done eating before you drink water, since water washes away the body’s natural enzymes, which break down your food. Rule of thumb: Drink more water before and after meals than during meals.

In some medical traditions, there are certain “warm property” foods that are higher in fat and protein, while other foods, known as “cold property” foods, are lower in fat. On hot summer days, it feels more natural to cook or eat foods that are light or “cool,” like salad or fruit. On colder days, our cravings naturally skew toward stews or soups. A few warm-weather foods that cool the body include cucumbers, asparagus, avocados, broccoli, and celery. On the list of cold-weather foods are root vegetables, fennel, oats, quinoa, and rutabaga. Some foods fall in the middle. They’re neither warm-weather nor cold-weather, and are considered neutral: apricots, beets, grapes, green beans, lentils, pineapples, potatoes, and raspberries. These principles are thousands of years old, and they make intuitive sense.

try to avoid eating anything that comes in a box or a bag, as well as foods containing white flour or added sugars. That means I try to limit cereal, white bread, white rice, pasta, cakes, and cookies. Less inflammation is the key for me.

One of the problems I have with food that isn’t “real” is that most of the time our palates are responding to one of three ingredients: salt, sugar, or fat.

Nightshades are a family of darker plants and foods that include mushrooms, eggplants, potatoes, strawberries, and bell peppers.

I need to do everything possible to maximize my pliability and minimize even small amounts of inflammation. For that reason,

I don’t drink alcohol with my meals or as a stand-alone drink. In fact, at this point in my life, I rarely drink alcohol at all. If I do, I make sure I compensate for the loss in hydration by drinking twice that amount in water the next day.

foods that are acidic cause inflammation, and alkaline-forming foods reduce inflammation.

eating too many acidifying foods leads to a condition called acidosis, which makes us more prone to infections, colds, flu, low energy, fatigue, sore muscles, joint pain, hip fractures, bone spurs, poor concentration, and mood swings. All of these things are opposite to what I need as an athlete. Strongly acidifying foods include white rice, bread, butter, cheese, yogurt, and beef.

THE SHORT LIST STRONGLY ALKALIZING FOODS Artichokes Beets Broccoli Brussels sprouts Cabbage Carrots Cauliflower Chicory Cucumbers Dandelion greens Escarole Green beans Lettuce (except for iceberg) Potatoes Red cabbage Spinach Squash Sweet peppers Sweet potatoes Vegetable juice made in a juicer Yams Zucchini

STRONGLY ACIDIFYING FOODS Beef Black currants Butter Cheese Chickpeas Cold cuts Crayfish Hazelnuts Herring Kiwis Lobster Mackerel Mandarin oranges Millet Nectarines Oranges Peanuts Pecans Pineapples Pistachio nuts Pork Pumpkin seeds Raspberries Red currants Salmon Soybeans Strawberries

Sunflower seeds Walnuts White bread White rice White wheat Yogurt

The cut of meat, chicken, or fish you eat shouldn’t be any bigger than the size of your palm. It should be accompanied by at least two palms’ worth of vegetables. As a general rule, it’s good to leave the table feeling 75 percent full. That way your body can digest and absorb the food you’ve eaten more easily.

Here’s a tip: If I’m in a restaurant and I order something savory, like fish or a steak, I make sure to order a lot of vegetables on the side. I eat them first, so by the time I get to the steak, I’m already pretty full. If I ate the steak first, I would have less room for the vegetables. In general, I try to eat what’s good for me first, like the nutrient-rich vegetables, and save the stuff that’s less good for me for last.

We get a lot of sugar naturally from the fruits and vegetables we eat. Athletes who burn a lot of calories can get away with eating up to 50 grams of added sugar a day, but for most people I wouldn’t recommend more than 25 grams per day. Again, I try to limit sugar, as it raises insulin and creates inflammation. As you know by now, inflammation is the enemy for an athlete.

Here are four principles to keep in mind: 1. Try to avoid eating proteins like meat, poultry, fish, or dairy with carbohydrates like potatoes, breads, wheat, or grain products. 2. Mixing vegetables—cooked or raw—with either proteins or carbohydrates is ideal and won’t interfere with good digestion. 3. Eat fruits alone. They digest quickly. Other foods don’t. 4. Drinking water with your meals can interfere with good digestion. Drink water half an hour before a meal, and then wait an hour before you have your next glass. If you’re going to drink with your meals, I recommend only a little bit of water in order to ensure proper digestion.