Ever wonder how your favorite foods stack up against each other in terms of nutrition?
We compared the nutritional contents of
cashews
versus
whey protein powder
(100g each)
below using 2020 USDA and NIH data[1].
For a quick recap of significant nutrients and differences in cashews and whey protein powder:
Both cashews and whey protein powder are high in calories. Cashew has 57% more calories than whey protein powder - cashew has 553 calories per 100 grams and whey protein powder has 352 calories.
For macronutrient ratios, cashews is much lighter in protein, heavier in carbs and much heavier in fat compared to whey protein powder per calorie. Cashews has a macronutrient ratio of 13:21:67 and for whey protein powder, 89:7:4 for protein, carbohydrates and fat from calories.
Macro Ratios from Calories:
| Cashews | Whey Protein Powder | |
|---|---|---|
| Protein | 13% | 89% |
| Carbohydrates | 21% | 7% |
| Fat | 67% | 4% |
| Alcohol | ~ | ~ |
Cashew is high in carbohydrates and whey protein powder has 79% less carbohydrates than cashew - cashew has 30.2g of total carbs per 100 grams and whey protein powder has 6.3g of carbohydrates.
Both cashews and whey protein powder are high in dietary fiber. Cashew has a little more dietary fiber (6%) than whey protein powder by weight - cashew has 3.3g of dietary fiber per 100 grams and whey protein powder has 3.1g of dietary fiber.
Whey protein powder has less sugar than cashew - cashew has 5.9g of sugar per 100 grams and whey protein powder does not contain significant amounts.
Both cashews and whey protein powder are high in protein. Whey protein powder has 329% more protein than cashew - cashew has 18.2g of protein per 100 grams and whey protein powder has 78.1g of protein.
Cashew is high in saturated fat and whey protein powder has 90% less saturated fat than cashew - cashew has 7.8g of saturated fat per 100 grams and whey protein powder has 0.78g of saturated fat.
Cashew has less cholesterol than whey protein powder - whey protein powder has 16mg of cholesterol per 100 grams and cashew does not contain significant amounts.
Cashews and whey protein powder contain similar amounts of Vitamin C - cashew has 0.5mg of Vitamin C per 100 grams and whey protein powder does not contain significant amounts.
Cashew has more Vitamin E than whey protein powder - cashew has 0.9mg of Vitamin E per 100 grams and whey protein powder does not contain significant amounts.
Cashew has more Vitamin K than whey protein powder - cashew has 34.1ug of Vitamin K per 100 grams and whey protein powder does not contain significant amounts.
Whey protein powder has more riboflavin and Vitamin B12, however, cashew contains more pantothenic acid. Both cashews and whey protein powder contain significant amounts of thiamin, niacin, Vitamin B6 and folate.
| Cashews | Whey Protein Powder | |
|---|---|---|
| Thiamin | 0.423 MG | 0.609 MG |
| Riboflavin | 0.058 MG | 2.017 MG |
| Niacin | 1.062 MG | 1.136 MG |
| Pantothenic acid | 0.864 MG | ~ |
| Vitamin B6 | 0.417 MG | 0.607 MG |
| Folate | 25 UG | 33 UG |
| Vitamin B12 | ~ | 2.45 UG |
Whey protein powder is an excellent source of calcium and it has 11 times more calcium than cashew - cashew has 37mg of calcium per 100 grams and whey protein powder has 469mg of calcium.
Cashew is an excellent source of iron and it has 491% more iron than whey protein powder - cashew has 6.7mg of iron per 100 grams and whey protein powder has 1.1mg of iron.
Both cashews and whey protein powder are high in potassium. Cashew has 32% more potassium than whey protein powder - cashew has 660mg of potassium per 100 grams and whey protein powder has 500mg of potassium.
For omega-3 fatty acids, both cashews and whey protein powder contain significant amounts of alpha linoleic acid (ALA).
| Cashews | Whey Protein Powder | |
|---|---|---|
| alpha linoleic acid | 0.062 G | 0.034 G |
| Total | 0.062 G | 0.034 G |
Comparing omega-6 fatty acids, cashew has more linoleic acid than whey protein powder per 100 grams.
| Cashews | Whey Protein Powder | |
|---|---|---|
| other omega 6 | 0.266 G | ~ |
| linoleic acid | 7.782 G | 0.264 G |
| Total | 8.048 G | 0.264 G |
The comparison below is by common portions, e.g. cups, packages. You can also see a more concrete comparison by weight at equal weight (by grams) comparison.
Note: The specific food items compared are: Cashews (Nuts, cashew nuts, raw) and Whey Protein Powder (Protein powder, whey based, NFS) .
Cashews g
()
|
Daily Values (%) |
Whey Protein Powder g
()
|
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KCAL % |
|
5% | calories | 5% |
|
KCAL % | |
| G % |
|
5% | carbohydrates | 5% |
|
G % | |
| G % |
|
5% | dietary fiber | 5% |
|
G % | |
| G | 5% | sugar | 5% | G | |||
| G % |
|
5% | total fat | 5% |
|
G % | |
| G % |
|
5% | saturated fat | 5% |
|
G % | |
| G | 5% | monounsaturated fat | 5% | G | |||
| G | 5% | polyunsaturated fat | 5% | G | |||
| G | 5% | trans fat | 5% | G | |||
| MG | 5% | cholesterol | 5% | MG | |||
| MG % |
|
5% | sodium | 5% |
|
MG % | |
| 5% | Vitamins and Minerals | 5% | |||||
| UG % |
|
5% | Vitamin A | 5% |
|
UG % | |
| MG % |
|
5% | Vitamin C | 5% |
|
MG % | |
| IU % |
|
5% | Vitamin D | 5% |
|
IU % | |
| MG % |
|
5% | calcium | 5% |
|
MG % | |
| MG % |
|
5% | iron | 5% |
|
MG % | |
| MG % |
|
5% | magnesium | 5% |
|
MG % | |
| MG % |
|
5% | potassium | 5% |
|
MG % | |
| MG % |
|
5% | thiamin (Vit B1) | 5% |
|
MG % | |
| MG % |
|
5% | riboflavin (Vit B2) | 5% |
|
MG % | |
| MG % |
|
5% | niacin (Vit B3) | 5% |
|
MG % | |
| MG % |
|
5% | Vitamin B6 | 5% |
|
MG % | |
| MG % |
|
5% | pantothenic acid (Vit B5) | 5% |
|
MG % | |
| UG % |
|
5% | folate (Vit B9) | 5% |
|
UG % | |
| UG % |
|
5% | Vitamin B12 | 5% |
|
UG % | |
| MG % |
|
5% | Vitamin E | 5% |
|
MG % | |
| UG % |
|
5% | Vitamin K | 5% |
|
UG % | |
| G % |
|
5% | protein | 5% |
|
G % | |
| UG % |
|
5% | biotin (Vit B7) | 5% |
|
UG % | |
| MG % |
|
5% | choline | 5% |
|
MG % | |
| MG % |
|
5% | chlorine | 5% |
|
MG % | |
| UG % |
|
5% | chromium | 5% |
|
UG % | |
| MG % |
|
5% | copper | 5% |
|
MG % | |
| UG % |
|
5% | fluoride | 5% |
|
UG % | |
| UG % |
|
5% | iodine | 5% |
|
UG % | |
| MG % |
|
5% | manganese | 5% |
|
MG % | |
| UG % |
|
5% | molybdenum | 5% |
|
UG % | |
| MG % |
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5% | phosphorus | 5% |
|
MG % | |
| UG % |
|
5% | selenium | 5% |
|
UG % | |
| MG % |
|
5% | zinc | 5% |
|
MG % | |
| G | 5% | Water | 5% | G | |||
| G | 5% | Starch | 5% | G | |||
| G | 5% | Alcohol | 5% | G | |||