Ever wonder how your favorite foods stack up against each other in terms of nutrition?
We compared the nutritional contents of
ricotta cheese
versus
sweet potatoes
(100g each)
below using 2020 USDA and NIH data[1].
For a quick recap of significant nutrients and differences in ricotta cheese and sweet potatoes:
Ricotta cheese is high in calories and sweet potato has 43% less calories than ricotta cheese - sweet potato has 86 calories per 100 grams and ricotta cheese has 150 calories.
For macronutrient ratios, ricotta cheese is heavier in protein, much lighter in carbs and much heavier in fat compared to sweet potatoes per calorie. Ricotta cheese has a macronutrient ratio of 20:19:61 and for sweet potatoes, 7:92:1 for protein, carbohydrates and fat from calories.
Macro Ratios from Calories:
Ricotta Cheese | Sweet Potatoes | |
---|---|---|
Protein | 20% | 7% |
Carbohydrates | 19% | 92% |
Fat | 61% | 1% |
Alcohol | ~ | ~ |
Ricotta cheese has 64% less carbohydrates than sweet potato - sweet potato has 20.1g of total carbs per 100 grams and ricotta cheese has 7.3g of carbohydrates.
Sweet potato is a great source of dietary fiber and it has more dietary fiber than ricotta cheese - sweet potato has 3g of dietary fiber per 100 grams and ricotta cheese does not contain significant amounts.
Sweet potatoes and ricotta cheese contain similar amounts of sugar - sweet potato has 4.2g of sugar per 100 grams and ricotta cheese has 0.27g of sugar.
Ricotta cheese has signficantly more protein than sweet potato - sweet potato has 1.6g of protein per 100 grams and ricotta cheese has 7.5g of protein.
Ricotta cheese is high in saturated fat and sweet potato has 100% less saturated fat than ricotta cheese - sweet potato has 0.02g of saturated fat per 100 grams and ricotta cheese has 6.4g of saturated fat.
Both ricotta cheese and sweet potatoes are low in trans fat - ricotta cheese has 0.33g of trans fat per 100 grams and sweet potato does not contain significant amounts.
Sweet potato has less cholesterol than ricotta cheese - ricotta cheese has 49mg of cholesterol per 100 grams and sweet potato does not contain significant amounts.
Sweet potato has more Vitamin C than ricotta cheese - sweet potato has 2.4mg of Vitamin C per 100 grams and ricotta cheese does not contain significant amounts.
Both sweet potatoes and ricotta cheese are high in Vitamin A. Sweet potato has 491% more Vitamin A than ricotta cheese - sweet potato has 709ug of Vitamin A per 100 grams and ricotta cheese has 120ug of Vitamin A.
Ricotta cheese has more Vitamin D than sweet potato - ricotta cheese has 10iu of Vitamin D per 100 grams and sweet potato does not contain significant amounts.
Sweet potatoes and ricotta cheese contain similar amounts of Vitamin E - sweet potato has 0.26mg of Vitamin E per 100 grams and ricotta cheese has 0.11mg of Vitamin E.
Sweet potatoes and ricotta cheese contain similar amounts of Vitamin K - sweet potato has 1.8ug of Vitamin K per 100 grams and ricotta cheese has 1.1ug of Vitamin K.
Sweet potato has more thiamin, niacin, Vitamin B6 and folate, however, ricotta cheese contains more riboflavin and Vitamin B12. Both ricotta cheese and sweet potatoes contain significant amounts of pantothenic acid.
Ricotta Cheese | Sweet Potatoes | |
---|---|---|
Thiamin | 0.013 MG | 0.078 MG |
Riboflavin | 0.298 MG | 0.061 MG |
Niacin | 0.137 MG | 0.557 MG |
Pantothenic acid | 0.461 MG | 0.8 MG |
Vitamin B6 | 0.097 MG | 0.209 MG |
Folate | 4 UG | 11 UG |
Vitamin B12 | 0.85 UG | ~ |
Ricotta cheese is an excellent source of calcium and it has 587% more calcium than sweet potato - sweet potato has 30mg of calcium per 100 grams and ricotta cheese has 206mg of calcium.
Sweet potato has 369% more iron than ricotta cheese - sweet potato has 0.61mg of iron per 100 grams and ricotta cheese has 0.13mg of iron.
Both sweet potatoes and ricotta cheese are high in potassium. Sweet potato has 54% more potassium than ricotta cheese - sweet potato has 337mg of potassium per 100 grams and ricotta cheese has 219mg 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,
Ricotta Cheese | Sweet Potatoes | |
---|---|---|
beta-carotene | 33 UG | 8509 UG |
alpha-carotene | ~ | 7 UG |
For omega-3 fatty acids, ricotta cheese has more alpha linoleic acid (ALA) than sweet potato per 100 grams.
Ricotta Cheese | Sweet Potatoes | |
---|---|---|
alpha linoleic acid | 0.043 G | 0.001 G |
DHA | 0.001 G | ~ |
EPA | 0.004 G | ~ |
DPA | 0.006 G | ~ |
Total | 0.054 G | 0.001 G |
Comparing omega-6 fatty acids, ricotta cheese has more linoleic acid than sweet potato per 100 grams.
Ricotta Cheese | Sweet Potatoes | |
---|---|---|
other omega 6 | 0.012 G | ~ |
linoleic acid | 0.356 G | 0.013 G |
Total | 0.368 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: Ricotta Cheese (Cheese, ricotta, whole milk) and Sweet Potatoes (Sweet potato, raw, unprepared) .
Ricotta Cheese g
()
|
Daily Values (%) |
Sweet Potatoes 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% |
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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 % |
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5% | sodium | 5% |
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MG % | |
5% | Vitamins and Minerals | 5% | |||||
UG % |
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5% | Vitamin A | 5% |
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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% |
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MG % | |
MG % |
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5% | magnesium | 5% |
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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% |
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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% |
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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% |
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MG % | |
MG % |
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5% | chlorine | 5% |
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MG % | |
UG % |
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5% | chromium | 5% |
|
UG % | |
MG % |
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5% | copper | 5% |
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MG % | |
UG % |
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5% | fluoride | 5% |
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UG % | |
UG % |
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5% | iodine | 5% |
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UG % | |
MG % |
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5% | manganese | 5% |
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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 | |||