Ever wonder how your favorite foods stack up against each other in terms of nutrition?
We compared the nutritional contents of
chicken leg
versus
sweet potatoes
(100g each)
below using 2020 USDA and NIH data[1].
For a quick recap of significant nutrients and differences in chicken leg and sweet potatoes:
Chicken leg is high in calories and sweet potato has 60% less calories than chicken leg - sweet potato has 86 calories per 100 grams and chicken leg has 214 calories.
For macronutrient ratios, chicken leg is much heavier in protein, much lighter in carbs and much heavier in fat compared to sweet potatoes per calorie. Chicken leg has a macronutrient ratio of 31:0:69 and for sweet potatoes, 7:92:1 for protein, carbohydrates and fat from calories.
Macro Ratios from Calories:
| Chicken Leg | Sweet Potatoes | |
|---|---|---|
| Protein | 31% | 7% |
| Carbohydrates | ~ | 92% |
| Fat | 69% | 1% |
| Alcohol | ~ | ~ |
Chicken leg has 117.3 times less carbohydrates than sweet potato - sweet potato has 20.1g of total carbs per 100 grams and chicken leg has 0.17g of carbohydrates.
Sweet potato is a great source of dietary fiber and it has more dietary fiber than chicken leg - sweet potato has 3g of dietary fiber per 100 grams and chicken leg does not contain significant amounts.
Chicken leg has less sugar than sweet potato - sweet potato has 4.2g of sugar per 100 grams and chicken leg does not contain significant amounts.
Chicken leg is an excellent source of protein and it has 943% more protein than sweet potato - sweet potato has 1.6g of protein per 100 grams and chicken leg has 16.4g of protein.
Sweet potato has signficantly less saturated fat than chicken leg - sweet potato has 0.02g of saturated fat per 100 grams and chicken leg has 4.4g of saturated fat.
Both chicken leg and sweet potatoes are low in trans fat - chicken leg has 0.06g of trans fat per 100 grams and sweet potato does not contain significant amounts.
Sweet potato has less cholesterol than chicken leg - chicken leg has 93mg of cholesterol per 100 grams and sweet potato does not contain significant amounts.
Sweet potatoes and chicken leg contain similar amounts of Vitamin C - sweet potato has 2.4mg of Vitamin C per 100 grams and chicken leg has 0.2mg of Vitamin C.
Sweet potato is an excellent source of Vitamin A and it has 24 times more Vitamin A than chicken leg - sweet potato has 709ug of Vitamin A per 100 grams and chicken leg has 28ug of Vitamin A.
Chicken leg and sweet potatoes contain similar amounts of Vitamin D - chicken leg has 2iu of Vitamin D per 100 grams and sweet potato does not contain significant amounts.
Sweet potatoes and chicken leg contain similar amounts of Vitamin E - sweet potato has 0.26mg of Vitamin E per 100 grams and chicken leg has 0.22mg of Vitamin E.
Sweet potatoes and chicken leg contain similar amounts of Vitamin K - sweet potato has 1.8ug of Vitamin K per 100 grams and chicken leg has 2.3ug of Vitamin K.
Chicken leg has more riboflavin, niacin and Vitamin B12, however, sweet potato contains more folate. Both chicken leg and sweet potatoes contain significant amounts of thiamin, pantothenic acid and Vitamin B6.
| Chicken Leg | Sweet Potatoes | |
|---|---|---|
| Thiamin | 0.073 MG | 0.078 MG |
| Riboflavin | 0.141 MG | 0.061 MG |
| Niacin | 4.733 MG | 0.557 MG |
| Pantothenic acid | 0.994 MG | 0.8 MG |
| Vitamin B6 | 0.318 MG | 0.209 MG |
| Folate | 4 UG | 11 UG |
| Vitamin B12 | 0.56 UG | ~ |
Sweet potato has 233% more calcium than chicken leg - sweet potato has 30mg of calcium per 100 grams and chicken leg has 9mg of calcium.
Sweet potatoes and chicken leg contain similar amounts of iron - sweet potato has 0.61mg of iron per 100 grams and chicken leg has 0.69mg of iron.
Both sweet potatoes and chicken leg are high in potassium. Sweet potato has 66% more potassium than chicken leg - sweet potato has 337mg of potassium per 100 grams and chicken leg has 203mg of potassium.
Carotenoids are micronutrients commonly found in plants and some animal products. An example is beta-carotene, the notable carotenoid which is a popular source of Vitamin A.[4][5]
For specific types of carotenoids, chicken leg has more lutein + zeaxanthin than sweet potato per 100 grams, however, sweet potato contains more beta-carotene than chicken leg per 100 grams.
| Chicken Leg | Sweet Potatoes | |
|---|---|---|
| lutein + zeaxanthin | 91 UG | ~ |
| beta-carotene | ~ | 8509 UG |
| alpha-carotene | ~ | 7 UG |
For omega-3 fatty acids, chicken leg has more alpha linoleic acid (ALA) and DPA than sweet potato per 100 grams.
| Chicken Leg | Sweet Potatoes | |
|---|---|---|
| alpha linoleic acid | 0.155 G | 0.001 G |
| DHA | 0.01 G | ~ |
| EPA | 0.004 G | ~ |
| DPA | 0.012 G | ~ |
| Total | 0.181 G | 0.001 G |
Comparing omega-6 fatty acids, chicken leg has more linoleic acid than sweet potato per 100 grams.
| Chicken Leg | Sweet Potatoes | |
|---|---|---|
| other omega 6 | 0.016 G | ~ |
| linoleic acid | 2.987 G | 0.013 G |
| Total | 3.003 G | 0.013 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: Chicken Leg (Chicken, broilers or fryers, leg, meat and skin, raw) and Sweet Potatoes (Sweet potato, raw, unprepared) .
Chicken Leg g
()
|
Daily Values (%) |
Sweet Potatoes 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 | |||