#red-s

Early on, we learn everyone gets rice and miso plus one main for every meal, Isagi’s being natto.  Using general info in a food logging database and eyeballing quantities, we get this: 

Rice (~200g) and miso soup (~250g) : 336 calories (11g protein, 64g carbs, 4g fat, 2g fiber)

Natto (~50g): 118 calories (10g protein, 6g carbs, 6g fat, 3g fiber)

So every meal Isagi has is 454 calories (21g protein, 71g carbs, 10g fat, 5g fiber)

As a preworkout meal/ snack this would be relatively reasonable as it’s higher carb with moderate protein, lower fat, and lower fiber.  

Seeing Isagi eating this and only this 3 times a day means his daily macros look like this: 

1,362 calories (63g protein, 213g carbs, 30g fat, 15g fiber)

Already doesn’t look like much.  Let’s estimate Isagi’s needs for performance.  

I decided to use the Mifflin-St Jeor equation to determine Isagi’s basal metabolic rate (BMR).  BMR is basically the bare minimum your body needs to just exist (think pumping blood, beathing, etc. at rest).  From the BMR you multiply by a coefficient to estimate the rest of the calories needed to live your life (TEF, EAT, NEAT)

This equation uses both height and weight in its calculations.  SInce we don’t have Isagi’s weight I did a little googling and found an analysis of height/ weight of athlete’s at the 2018 world cup (source).  Isagi is reported as 179 cm, which is extremely close to the reported average height for a midfielder.  The average reported weight for a midfielder is 74kg so I’m using that to estimate.  Using this info, we now can estimate Isagi’s BMR is 1,760 calories.  Since Isagi is in Blue Lock, we will use the coefficient associated with a highly active lifestyle (1.9) and estimate Isagi needs 3,344 calories/ day.  

For estimating macros, I estimated 2.16g protein/kg (falls in a recommended range for athletes), 25% total calories from fat (common range for performance is 20-30%), and the rest as carbs, giving a macro distribution of 160g protein, 466g carbs, 93g fat.  (As a hyper generalized quick reference: protein is important for building and maintaining muscle, carbs are usually the preferred fuel source, and fats are important for hormone production and regulation.)  

I’m going to add another disclaimer here.  Equations and things are great for getting a ballpark of needs, but nutrition is dynamic and individualized.  Needs can vary a LOT. Also Isagi is still a youth athlete so he could very much still be growing and have even higher needs.  

Now that we have something to compare against, I’m going to reiterate numbers: 

Blue Lock day of eating: 1,362 calories; 63g protein, 213g carbs, 30g fat

Isagi’s needs: 3,344 calories (BMR 1,760 calories); 160g protein, 466g carbs, 93g fat

So Isagi isn’t even hitting his BMR.  He’s getting less than HALF the calories he needs, just over a third of the protein he needs and LESS THAN A THIRD of the fat he needs.  

That’s fucked.  And that’s dangerous.  As any human that’s dangerous.  As a trend, this is low energy availability, or LEA.  Leave that alone and it may turn into an extra fun version called RED-S, or relative energy deficiency in sports.  Both are problems and lead to increase in injury risk, trouble healing from said injuries, trouble thermoregulating, loss of menstruation if that’s applicable, increased risk of illness, GI issues, hormone issues, fatigue, it just keeps going.  Yeah, BAD.  

So total energy is bad, but how about other nutrients? Are those any better? Looking at some of the heavy hitters, here’s what Isagi is getting per day: 

Fiber: 15g  Fiber intake recs are 10-15g/ 1,000 cal, so minimum 30g for Isagi.  His poor gut health.  

Omega 3’s and 6’s: 1.26 omega 3, 8.5g omega 6 Recommended intake of omega 3s is 1.6-4g depending on the source in a 4:1 (omega 6: omega 3) ratio to omega 6’s.  These are fats that cannot be made in house and must be consumed.  They’re most famous for their roles in inflammation management.  Isagi might be okay on omega 6’s, but not omega 3’s.  

B vitamins: no B12, some of the others but not enough to worth writing out B vitamins are really important for metabolism, the brain, red blood cells, etc.  and Isagi is missing one of them completely!!!!!

Vitamins A and D: none NONE!!!!! Enough said, I don’t need to go into details for you to know how much of a problem this is.  

Vitamin C: 35mg Recommended intake is 90mg daily.  Vitamin C is famous for boosting the immune system, but that’s not the only thing it does.  

Iron: 25.8mg This one gets funky but actually looks okay.  Natto is saving Isagi’s ass with its solid iron content.  With male anatomy, 8mg/ day can be okay.  If he’s menstruating, 18mg/ day is a better target.  The big thing here, though, is we can absorb 2 types of iron: heme and nonheme.  Heme iron comes from animal sources and is significantly more bioavailable than nonheme.  For vegetarian or vegan diets, it’s recommended to increase those values by 1.8x to account for this bioavailability issue.  Here, Isagi is getting nonheme iron, so he really does need that extra iron.  I will also note, having issues storing iron is also a thing that can be connected to RED-S.  

Calcium: 576 mg Recommended minimum is 1,000mg.  The big thing calcium is best known for is bone health, which is kind of really important.  

Zinc: 8.5 mg  Recommended intake is minimum 11mg.  

Magnesium: 245mg Recommended intake is 400-420mg.  

Sodium and potassium:  These (as well as magnesium and calcium) are major electrolytes lost in sweat so needs are more individualized than I can reasonably estimate.  At the very least, the low calcium and magnesium to start with paint a not so good story here either. 

Looking at micronutrients, it’s important to note you would have to eat an obscene amount to hit 100% of all recommended daily intakes of all micronutrients. That’s part of why it is encouraged to eat a variety of different foods if you can. Isagi's Blue Lock diet dies not vary, which is part of what makes this problematic.

So what does this mean for the rest of Blue Lock? 

It's really hard to analyze main dishes that are described as "curry" or "stir fry" as closely as I did Isagi's natto, but I have some qualitative thoughts. A lot of the micronutrients could easily be boosted by letting Isagi eat some produce, so folks with more produce have a better chance of getting enough vitamins A and C, potassium, fiber, etc.  Those with no protein source, like Igaguri with his pickled radish,  are getting extra fucked on protein.  Isagi’s natto is actually a very bioavailable source of protein and is what’s giving him a LOT of his micronutrients, so switching it for things that are less calorie dense and/ or nutrients dense will hit very hard.  As my final note (for now), there are lots of characters who are much bigger than Isagi.  Bodyweight plays a huge factor in determining caloric needs, so assuming the rice and miso portions stay the same for everyone, others may be getting in even worse calorie deficits (like 188 cm high muscle mass Kunigami).  

In conclusion, shit’s BAD and Ego is just setting everyone up not only to not progress, but also to get hurt.  We knew this, but numbers are fun.