- Aaron Rodgers won his fourth NFL MVP award this past year and will play his 18th NFL season in 2022.
- Rodgers says he cut out a few major food groups over the years to stay fit and resilient as he ages.
- These restricted foods include dairy, gluten, and coffee, which Tom Brady also avoided as he got older.
Aaron Rodgers reportedly signed a four-year, $200 million contract extension with the Green Bay Packers on Tuesday, making him the highest-paid player in NFL history, according to NFL Network.
The 38-year-old reigning NFL MVP convinced the Packers that he can keep his career going, and he previously said he wants to play into his 40s, which has only ever been accomplished by 15 other quarterbacks in NFL history.
Rodgers has made some strict adjustments to his diet and lifestyle over the years to help him reach his goal. Rodgers previously said he reached out to Tom Brady for diet advice, but added that he doesn't follow as strict of a diet as Brady, who retired in February at the age of 44.
Still, Rodgers, who hasn't missed a game due to injury since 2017, has followed some of Brady's food restrictions and cut out several major food groups, like dairy, gluten, and caffeine.
Rodgers cut out dairy and gluten, which is also off-limits for other pro athletes
Rodgers said he avoids all dairy and gluten, during an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show in January 2021, and that has helped him improve his energy and the health of his skin and joints.
"Cutting gluten, and probably most importantly for me and my own blood type, dairy, out of my diet has really made a difference in my body," Rodgers said. "It's just changed the way my joints respond. It's changed the way my skin and body respond. I don't feel bloated all the time, I don't feel kind of slow and foggy."
Dairy and gluten may cause certain people with sensitivities or intolerances to these foods to develop digestive issues, skin issues, or migraines, registered dietitians Bonnie Taub-Dix and Alix Turoff previously told Insider.
Blood tests, and other DNA tests like hair and saliva tests, are becoming popular methods for dieters to find out which food groups they are sensitive to. However, experts previously told Insider that the science behind these tests may not be evidence-based.
Still, other NFL stars, like Los Angeles Rams captain Andrew Whitworth and Carolina Panthers star running back Christian McCaffrey told Insider they get blood tests to determine their dietary restrictions.
Other star athletes have also said restricting either dairy, gluten, or both from their diet benefitted their performance or helped them reduce the risk of injury, including Tom Brady, Kevin Love, Joe Burrow, Whitworth, and Troy Aikman.
However, cutting out dairy and gluten won't benefit a person who is not sensitive to those food groups, Taub-Dix told Insider, and extreme diet restrictions are generally not recommended by experts, Insider's Rachel Hosie and Gabby Landsverk previously reported.
Rodgers said cutting out coffee helped him improve his sleep and feel more consistent energy
Rodgers told The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in 2014 he used to make a run to the coffee shop two to three times a day but decided to stop drinking coffee and limited his caffeine intake overall. Now, he says the only caffeine he gets is from the occasional green tea, and it's helped him feel more consistent energy throughout the day and get better sleep at night.
"I found myself having energy throughout the day, rather than going through the roller-coaster effects of caffeine," Rodgers said.
Consuming too much caffeine, or consuming it later in the day can cause a person to have trouble falling asleep at night because caffeine blocks the adenosine receptors in your brain that signal the body to feel sleepy, Deborah Cohen, DCN, RDN, associate professor in the Department of Clinical and Preventive Nutrition Sciences at Rutgers University, previously told Insider.