Ever wonder how your favorite foods stack up against each other in terms of nutrition?
We compared the nutritional contents of
chia seeds
versus
romaine lettuce
(100g each)
below using 2020 USDA and NIH data[1].
For a quick recap of significant nutrients and differences in chia seeds and romaine lettuce:
Chia seed is high in calories and romaine lettuce has 97% less calories than chia seed - romaine lettuce has 17 calories per 100 grams and chia seed has 486 calories.
For macronutrient ratios, chia seeds is lighter in protein, much lighter in carbs and much heavier in fat compared to romaine lettuce per calorie. Chia seeds has a macronutrient ratio of 13:33:54 and for romaine lettuce, 26:65:10 for protein, carbohydrates and fat from calories.
Macro Ratios from Calories:
Chia Seeds | Romaine Lettuce | |
---|---|---|
Protein | 13% | 26% |
Carbohydrates | 33% | 65% |
Fat | 54% | 10% |
Alcohol | ~ | ~ |
Chia seed is high in carbohydrates and romaine lettuce has 92% less carbohydrates than chia seed - romaine lettuce has 3.3g of total carbs per 100 grams and chia seed has 42.1g of carbohydrates.
Both romaine lettuce and chia seeds are high in dietary fiber. Chia seed has 15 times more dietary fiber than romaine lettuce - romaine lettuce has 2.1g of dietary fiber per 100 grams and chia seed has 34.4g of dietary fiber.
Chia seed has less sugar than romaine lettuce - romaine lettuce has 1.2g of sugar per 100 grams and chia seed does not contain significant amounts.
Chia seed is an excellent source of protein and it has 12 times more protein than romaine lettuce - romaine lettuce has 1.2g of protein per 100 grams and chia seed has 16.5g of protein.
Romaine lettuce has 84.3 times less saturated fat than chia seed - romaine lettuce has 0.04g of saturated fat per 100 grams and chia seed has 3.3g of saturated fat.
Both chia seeds and romaine lettuce are low in trans fat - chia seed has 0.14g of trans fat per 100 grams and romaine lettuce does not contain significant amounts.
Romaine lettuce and chia seeds contain similar amounts of Vitamin C - romaine lettuce has 4mg of Vitamin C per 100 grams and chia seed has 1.6mg of Vitamin C.
Romaine lettuce is an excellent source of Vitamin A and it has more Vitamin A than chia seed - romaine lettuce has 436ug of Vitamin A per 100 grams and chia seed does not contain significant amounts.
Romaine lettuce and chia seeds contain similar amounts of Vitamin E - romaine lettuce has 0.13mg of Vitamin E per 100 grams and chia seed has 0.5mg of Vitamin E.
Romaine lettuce is a great source of Vitamin K and it has more Vitamin K than chia seed - romaine lettuce has 102.5ug of Vitamin K per 100 grams and chia seed does not contain significant amounts.
Chia seed has more thiamin, riboflavin and niacin, however, romaine lettuce contains more pantothenic acid, Vitamin B6 and folate.
Chia Seeds | Romaine Lettuce | |
---|---|---|
Thiamin | 0.62 MG | 0.072 MG |
Riboflavin | 0.17 MG | 0.067 MG |
Niacin | 8.83 MG | 0.313 MG |
Pantothenic acid | ~ | 0.142 MG |
Vitamin B6 | ~ | 0.074 MG |
Folate | 49 UG | 136 UG |
Chia seed is an excellent source of calcium and it has 18 times more calcium than romaine lettuce - romaine lettuce has 33mg of calcium per 100 grams and chia seed has 631mg of calcium.
Chia seed is an excellent source of iron and it has 696% more iron than romaine lettuce - romaine lettuce has 0.97mg of iron per 100 grams and chia seed has 7.7mg of iron.
Both romaine lettuce and chia seeds are high in potassium. Chia seed has 65% more potassium than romaine lettuce - romaine lettuce has 247mg of potassium per 100 grams and chia seed has 407mg of potassium.
For omega-3 fatty acids, chia seed has more alpha linoleic acid (ALA) than romaine lettuce per 100 grams.
Chia Seeds | Romaine Lettuce | |
---|---|---|
alpha linoleic acid | 17.83 G | 0.113 G |
Total | 17.83 G | 0.113 G |
Comparing omega-6 fatty acids, chia seed has more linoleic acid than romaine lettuce per 100 grams.
Chia Seeds | Romaine Lettuce | |
---|---|---|
other omega 6 | 0.093 G | ~ |
linoleic acid | 5.835 G | 0.047 G |
Total | 5.928 G | 0.047 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: Chia Seeds (Seeds, chia seeds, dried) and Romaine Lettuce (Lettuce, cos or romaine, raw) .
Chia Seeds g
()
|
Daily Values (%) |
Romaine Lettuce g
()
|
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KCAL % |
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5% | calories | 5% |
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KCAL % | |
G % |
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5% | carbohydrates | 5% |
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G % | |
G % |
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5% | dietary fiber | 5% |
|
G % | |
G | 5% | sugar | 5% | G | |||
G % |
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5% | total fat | 5% |
|
G % | |
G % |
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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% |
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MG % | |
5% | Vitamins and Minerals | 5% | |||||
UG % |
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5% | Vitamin A | 5% |
|
UG % | |
MG % |
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5% | Vitamin C | 5% |
|
MG % | |
IU % |
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5% | Vitamin D | 5% |
|
IU % | |
MG % |
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5% | calcium | 5% |
|
MG % | |
MG % |
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5% | iron | 5% |
|
MG % | |
MG % |
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5% | magnesium | 5% |
|
MG % | |
MG % |
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5% | potassium | 5% |
|
MG % | |
MG % |
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5% | thiamin (Vit B1) | 5% |
|
MG % | |
MG % |
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5% | riboflavin (Vit B2) | 5% |
|
MG % | |
MG % |
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5% | niacin (Vit B3) | 5% |
|
MG % | |
MG % |
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5% | Vitamin B6 | 5% |
|
MG % | |
MG % |
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5% | pantothenic acid (Vit B5) | 5% |
|
MG % | |
UG % |
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5% | folate (Vit B9) | 5% |
|
UG % | |
UG % |
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5% | Vitamin B12 | 5% |
|
UG % | |
MG % |
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5% | Vitamin E | 5% |
|
MG % | |
UG % |
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5% | Vitamin K | 5% |
|
UG % | |
G % |
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5% | protein | 5% |
|
G % | |
UG % |
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5% | biotin (Vit B7) | 5% |
|
UG % | |
MG % |
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5% | choline | 5% |
|
MG % | |
MG % |
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5% | chlorine | 5% |
|
MG % | |
UG % |
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5% | chromium | 5% |
|
UG % | |
MG % |
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5% | copper | 5% |
|
MG % | |
UG % |
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5% | fluoride | 5% |
|
UG % | |
UG % |
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5% | iodine | 5% |
|
UG % | |
MG % |
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5% | manganese | 5% |
|
MG % | |
UG % |
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5% | molybdenum | 5% |
|
UG % | |
MG % |
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5% | phosphorus | 5% |
|
MG % | |
UG % |
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5% | selenium | 5% |
|
UG % | |
MG % |
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5% | zinc | 5% |
|
MG % | |
G | 5% | Water | 5% | G | |||
G | 5% | Starch | 5% | G | |||
G | 5% | Alcohol | 5% | G | |||