Super Bowl champ Drew Brees is opening up about his severe food allergies. Doctors diagnosed him back in 2004 with severe food allergies.
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For the past few decades, the NFL quarterback has had to watch what he eats. Brees was allergic to both peanuts and eggs.
"I could tell that something was wrong, just the way that I was reacting to certain foods," he told People. "The way it would make me feel very lethargic, a lot of inflammation, and just feeling like I wasn't able to be myself. I was having a hard time recovering."
Brees has partnered with ARS Pharmaceuticals to promote a nasal spray called Neffy, which can stop anaphylaxis.
Drew Brees Opens Up
"I think more so anything, it's just about creating the conversation and awareness," Brees said. "When you're a professional athlete, you're obviously putting your body through a lot, you know? A lot of training, a lot of abuse, even just from the perspective of the brain. You want your body solely focused on recovery, recovering every aspect of your body that's gonna help you have peak performance, and it's a race too, for that recovery each and every week."
Additionally, Brees said that he has seen other people suffer allergic reactions.
"I've seen people have allergic reactions and it's scary," Brees recalls. "I've seen people have seizures in the locker room and I feel like, you play long enough, you get exposed to a lot of stuff, you know? I think all those things just make you realize, man, this could happen at any time and you wanna feel like you can help assist."
The quarterback also explained the importance of understanding food allergies and how they might affect your body.
"Anything that you put in your body or that you're exposed to that has a negative effect, your body has to immediately go and fight that as opposed to focusing on getting your body ready to go perform at peak performance," he said.
