Is Tom Brady The Next Health Food Icon?

Tom Brady is famous for his success on the football field, but now he's shifting his focus to a new opponent: junk food.

Since being drafted by the New England Patriots in 2000, Brady has won four Super Bowls and has been selected to the Pro Bowl 11 times. Fans love his grit, relentless determination, and physical ability; simply put, the man epitomizes athleticism. Off the field, the quarterback is also the spokesperson for the lifestyle brand TB12, which sells workout gear, apparel, energy supplements, and protein powders, in addition to promoting a specific eating philosophy.

Brady lives by TB12's unique diet, which rejects gluten, refined carbohydrates, dairy, fungus, processed snacks, and acidic foods. His health-conscious mantra is nothing new: In the past he's called out Frosted Flakes and Coca-Cola for being junk food, and he claims he's never even tried coffee. (If you want an athletic idol who eats pizza, you're better off cheering for Peyton Manning.)

Brady's personal chef, Allen Campbell, created the TB12 Nutrition Manual, a healthy cookbook featuring 89 seasonal dishes that follow the brand's nutritional philosophy. The limited-edition, $200 binder — with a natural wood cover and a laser-etched logo — is meant to be expanded on, with new or modified recipes sent out periodically. It's so popular that you can't even get one until late September/early October, according to the TB12 website. While the idea of eating like Brady sounds exhilarating, the cookbook's recipes — such as sweet potato gnocchi, avocado ice cream, grouper ceviche, and Japanese-style fish cakes with taro root — are complex and require a number of unusual ingredients not stocked in the average pantry.

However, Brady's newest healthy eating project allows even his busiest fans to keep up his demanding diet with a line of organic, gluten-free, dairy-free, and raw vegan snacks. For $50 (plus shipping and handling), the customer receives 12 individually packaged and resealable snack packs, each weighing 1.4 – 1.75 ounces. The snacks come in six flavors: Blueberry Crunch, Amazon Crunch, Superfood Energy Squares, Cacao Goji Energy Squares, Dark Cocoa Coconut, and Buffalo Almonds & Ranch Cashews. As an added bonus, the packaging is made of compostable rice paper. The TB12 snack line sold out on its first day, but maybe it will be available in time for the Patriots' first game of the season.