Ever wonder how your favorite foods stack up against each other in terms of nutrition?
We compared the nutritional contents of
cheese
versus
whey protein powder
(100g each)
below using 2020 USDA and NIH data[1].
For a quick recap of significant nutrients and differences in cheese and whey protein powder:
Both cheese and whey protein powder are high in calories. Cheese has a little more calories (9%) than whey protein powder by weight - cheese has 384 calories per 100 grams and whey protein powder has 352 calories.
For macronutrient ratios, cheese is much lighter in protein, lighter in carbs and much heavier in fat compared to whey protein powder per calorie. Cheese has a macronutrient ratio of 25:0:75 and for whey protein powder, 89:7:4 for protein, carbohydrates and fat from calories.
Macro Ratios from Calories:
| Cheese | Whey Protein Powder | |
|---|---|---|
| Protein | 25% | 89% |
| Carbohydrates | ~ | 7% |
| Fat | 75% | 4% |
| Alcohol | ~ | ~ |
Cheese has 47 times less carbohydrates than whey protein powder - cheese has 0.13g of total carbs per 100 grams and whey protein powder has 6.3g of carbohydrates.
Whey protein powder is an excellent source of dietary fiber and it has more dietary fiber than cheese - whey protein powder has 3.1g of dietary fiber per 100 grams and cheese does not contain significant amounts.
Both cheese and whey protein powder are high in protein. Whey protein powder has 232% more protein than cheese - cheese has 23.5g of protein per 100 grams and whey protein powder has 78.1g of protein.
Cheese is high in saturated fat and whey protein powder has 95% less saturated fat than cheese - cheese has 16.1g of saturated fat per 100 grams and whey protein powder has 0.78g of saturated fat.
Whey protein powder has 4.9 times less cholesterol than cheese - cheese has 95mg of cholesterol per 100 grams and whey protein powder has 16mg of cholesterol.
Cheese is an excellent source of Vitamin A and it has more Vitamin A than whey protein powder - cheese has 174ug of Vitamin A per 100 grams and whey protein powder does not contain significant amounts.
Cheese has more Vitamin D than whey protein powder - cheese has 21iu of Vitamin D per 100 grams and whey protein powder does not contain significant amounts.
Cheese and whey protein powder contain similar amounts of Vitamin E - cheese has 0.25mg of Vitamin E per 100 grams and whey protein powder does not contain significant amounts.
Cheese and whey protein powder contain similar amounts of Vitamin K - cheese has 2.5ug of Vitamin K per 100 grams and whey protein powder does not contain significant amounts.
Whey protein powder has more thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, Vitamin B6 and folate, however, cheese contains more pantothenic acid. Both cheese and whey protein powder contain significant amounts of Vitamin B12.
| Cheese | Whey Protein Powder | |
|---|---|---|
| Thiamin | 0.023 MG | 0.609 MG |
| Riboflavin | 0.318 MG | 2.017 MG |
| Niacin | 0.114 MG | 1.136 MG |
| Pantothenic acid | 0.249 MG | ~ |
| Vitamin B6 | 0.061 MG | 0.607 MG |
| Folate | 13 UG | 33 UG |
| Vitamin B12 | 1.23 UG | 2.45 UG |
Both cheese and whey protein powder are high in calcium. Cheese has 41% more calcium than whey protein powder - cheese has 659mg of calcium per 100 grams and whey protein powder has 469mg of calcium.
Whey protein powder has 92% more iron than cheese - cheese has 0.59mg of iron per 100 grams and whey protein powder has 1.1mg of iron.
Whey protein powder is an excellent source of potassium and it has 488% more potassium than cheese - cheese has 85mg of potassium per 100 grams and whey protein powder has 500mg of potassium.
For omega-3 fatty acids, cheese has more alpha linoleic acid (ALA) than whey protein powder per 100 grams.
| Cheese | Whey Protein Powder | |
|---|---|---|
| alpha linoleic acid | 0.332 G | 0.034 G |
| Total | 0.332 G | 0.034 G |
Comparing omega-6 fatty acids, cheese has more linoleic acid than whey protein powder per 100 grams.
| Cheese | Whey Protein Powder | |
|---|---|---|
| linoleic acid | 0.532 G | 0.264 G |
| Total | 0.532 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: Cheese (Cheese, Mexican blend) and Whey Protein Powder (Protein powder, whey based, NFS) .
Cheese 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 % |
|
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 | |||