Ever since Tom Brady laid out his insanely disciplined, kale-and-collard-fueled, cheeseburger-starved diet in a wide-ranging profile in the New York Times last January, one of the few guilty pleasures in his diet — avocado ice cream — has been something of a culinary mystery.
Until now.
With the release of his new cookbook, “TB12 Nutrition Manual,’’ fans can now treat themselves to the dessert of (four-time) champions.
The book, described as a “limited-edition living document,’’ features 89 recipes that follow the dietary edicts of the three-time Super Bowl MVP himself. Brady promoted it on his Facebook page with a shot of the avocado ice cream page, although the recipe is blurred.
Printed on 100-pound text paper and with a specialized “screw post binding,’’ the book will cost a pretty penny. It’s available on Brady’s website for $200. Still, that is peanuts compared with the $700 coffee table book his wife, Gisele Bundchen, released last fall.
While the initial run has already sold out, pre-orders placed by Saturday will ship early next month.
Last year, in an interview with WEEI that found Brady defending friend and trainer Alex Guerrero, pondering conspiracy theories about the food industry ripped straight from Netflix documentaries, and taking a stand against, of all people, Tony the Tiger (all of which Brady admitted sounded bizarre), the quarterback hinted at a life after football devoted to opening up avenues for people to have the same training and health techniques that have allowed him to sustain his 16-year NFL career.
“I think we’ve been lied to by a lot of food companies over the years, by a lot of beverage companies over the years,’’ he said. “But we still do it. That’s just America, and that’s what we’ve been conditioned to. We believe that Frosted Flakes is a food.
“You just keep eating those things, and you keep wondering why we have just incredible rates of disease in our country. No one thinks it has anything to do with what we put in our body.
“I also think those [junk foods], of course they taste very good. And of course all those companies make lots of money selling those things. They have lots of money to advertise. When you go to the Super Bowl, who are the sponsors?
“So, like I said, that’s the education that we get. That’s what we get brainwashed to believe, that all these things are just normal food groups, and this is what you should eat. And then when you get sick, these are the things you should take when you get sick. I like to try to avoid those things.’’
With his book, Brady has created a how-to guide for the health-conscious sports fan. Now, those cheat days won’t feel so bad.
Julian Benbow can be reached at jbenbow@globe.com.