AUSTIN, TX — Three-stripe blue belt and two-time regional medalist Tyler Brandt wants to be clear that the large acai smoothie he brings to every class, every open mat, and apparently every location he visits in daily life is strictly a recovery tool and has nothing to do with anything else anyone might be thinking about. "The antioxidants," Brandt said, when asked about the smoothie during a warmup this week. He then said "inflammation" and "mitochondria" before returning to his hip escapes. Brandt, 31, began his acai protocol approximately two months after he started competing seriously and approximately four months after he started following several Brazilian jiu-jitsu competitors on Instagram. He currently purchases his blended acai base in bulk, frozen, from a specialty grocery store 25 minutes from his apartment. He does not consider this inconvenient. "It's actually closer than my gym," Brandt explained, which is technically true, as he drives 34 minutes each way to train at a gym that is not the nearest gym to his apartment but is the one where a brown belt once told him his pressure passing was "pretty decent for a blue belt." When pressed on what he is recovering from, specifically, given that he trains four days a week at moderate intensity and has no documented injuries, Brandt explained that recovery is "cumulative" and that the body "is always rebuilding." He also mentioned something about cortisol. When asked to elaborate on cortisol, he said "it's a hormone" and then changed the subject to his guard pull timing. Brandt's acai consumption has escalated steadily since its inception. What began as a post-training smoothie three times a week has expanded to a daily morning smoothie, a post-training smoothie, and what Brandt calls a "maintenance dose" — a small bowl he eats at approximately 3 p.m. each afternoon at his desk at a regional insurance brokerage where he works as an account manager. His coworkers have noticed. "He keeps the blender in the break room," said colleague Amanda Torres, 28. "He rinses it out every time, I'll give him that. But the sound. Every day at three. The sound." Training partners say they have noticed changes since Brandt began the protocol. He is faster to the mat, more consistent in attendance, and his guard passing has improved noticeably. He attributes this to the acai. When one purple belt suggested that perhaps Brandt had simply been training more and sleeping better, Brandt nodded and said "the acai helps with sleep too." His coach, Rafael Mendonca, a third-degree black belt who grew up in Sao Paulo eating acai as a normal food item and not a performance-enhancing spiritual experience, has declined to comment on Brandt's protocol directly. "In Brazil, acai is like... a food," Mendonca said. "You eat it. It's good. It's a berry." When told that Brandt tracks his daily acai intake in a spreadsheet that also logs his heart rate variability and "perceived recovery score," Mendonca stared for several seconds and then said, "He's a good kid." Brandt's girlfriend, Megan Ostrowski, confirmed that the acai situation has expanded beyond the gym. "We went to dinner last week and he asked the waiter if they had acai bowls," she said. "It was a steakhouse." She added that Brandt recently suggested they visit Brazil together, and when she expressed excitement about Rio de Janeiro, he clarified that he meant "the part of the Amazon where the acai grows." The tub of unflavored powder currently sitting in the front pocket of Brandt's gym bag is a different product entirely, he noted, which he uses at a different time for different reasons that he did not elaborate on further. It is also for recovery. A second, smaller tub, which appeared in the bag approximately one week ago, is "a cofactor," Brandt said. He did not explain what it is a cofactor for. A third container — a ziplock bag of unlabeled capsules — was briefly visible during the interview before Brandt moved his bag to a different bench. Dr. Karen Llewellyn, a sports nutritionist at UT Austin who has never treated Brandt but was shown his supplement spreadsheet by this publication, described the protocol as "a lot of acai." She added: "The antioxidant properties of acai are real but modest. You'd get similar benefits from blueberries. You would not need a spreadsheet." When told Brandt also tracks blueberry intake separately, she asked to end the interview. Brandt is currently registered for the Austin Open in June and has told training partners he plans to move up a weight class — a decision he attributes to "better fueling," though multiple sources confirm he has gained approximately eight pounds since beginning his acai protocol, mostly in his midsection. At press time, Brandt was seen leaving the specialty grocery store with two bags of frozen acai and a receipt he immediately photographed for his expense-tracking app under the category "Athletic Recovery."