Ever wonder how your favorite foods stack up against each other in terms of nutrition?
We compared the nutritional contents of
sweet potatoes
versus
whey protein powder
(100g each)
below using 2020 USDA and NIH data[1].
For a quick recap of significant nutrients and differences in sweet potatoes and whey protein powder:
Whey protein powder is high in calories and sweet potato has 76% less calories than whey protein powder - sweet potato has 86 calories per 100 grams and whey protein powder has 352 calories.
For macronutrient ratios, sweet potatoes is much lighter in protein, much heavier in carbs and similar to whey protein powder for fat. Sweet potatoes has a macronutrient ratio of 7:92:1 and for whey protein powder, 89:7:4 for protein, carbohydrates and fat from calories.
Macro Ratios from Calories:
| Sweet Potatoes | Whey Protein Powder | |
|---|---|---|
| Protein | 7% | 89% |
| Carbohydrates | 92% | 7% |
| Fat | 1% | 4% |
| Alcohol | ~ | ~ |
Whey protein powder has 69% less carbohydrates than sweet potato - sweet potato has 20.1g of total carbs per 100 grams and whey protein powder has 6.3g of carbohydrates.
Both sweet potatoes and whey protein powder are high in dietary fiber. Sweet potato is very similar to sweet potato for dietary fiber - sweet potato has 3g of dietary fiber per 100 grams and whey protein powder has 3.1g of dietary fiber.
Whey protein powder has less sugar than sweet potato - sweet potato has 4.2g of sugar per 100 grams and whey protein powder does not contain significant amounts.
Whey protein powder is an excellent source of protein and it has 48 times more protein than sweet potato - sweet potato has 1.6g of protein per 100 grams and whey protein powder has 78.1g of protein.
Both sweet potatoes and whey protein powder are low in saturated fat - sweet potato has 0.02g of saturated fat per 100 grams and whey protein powder has 0.78g of saturated fat.
Sweet potato has less cholesterol than whey protein powder - whey protein powder has 16mg of cholesterol per 100 grams and sweet potato does not contain significant amounts.
Sweet potato has more Vitamin C than whey protein powder - sweet potato has 2.4mg of Vitamin C per 100 grams and whey protein powder does not contain significant amounts.
Sweet potato is an excellent source of Vitamin A and it has more Vitamin A than whey protein powder - sweet potato has 709ug of Vitamin A per 100 grams and whey protein powder does not contain significant amounts.
Sweet potatoes and whey protein powder contain similar amounts of Vitamin E - sweet potato has 0.26mg of Vitamin E per 100 grams and whey protein powder does not contain significant amounts.
Sweet potatoes and whey protein powder contain similar amounts of Vitamin K - sweet potato has 1.8ug of Vitamin K per 100 grams and whey protein powder does not contain significant amounts.
Whey protein powder has more thiamin, riboflavin, Vitamin B6, folate and Vitamin B12, however, sweet potato contains more pantothenic acid. Both sweet potatoes and whey protein powder contain significant amounts of niacin.
| Sweet Potatoes | Whey Protein Powder | |
|---|---|---|
| Thiamin | 0.078 MG | 0.609 MG |
| Riboflavin | 0.061 MG | 2.017 MG |
| Niacin | 0.557 MG | 1.136 MG |
| Pantothenic acid | 0.8 MG | ~ |
| Vitamin B6 | 0.209 MG | 0.607 MG |
| Folate | 11 UG | 33 UG |
| Vitamin B12 | ~ | 2.45 UG |
Whey protein powder is an excellent source of calcium and it has 14 times more calcium than sweet potato - sweet potato has 30mg of calcium per 100 grams and whey protein powder has 469mg of calcium.
Whey protein powder has 85% more iron than sweet potato - sweet potato has 0.61mg of iron per 100 grams and whey protein powder has 1.1mg of iron.
Both sweet potatoes and whey protein powder are high in potassium. Whey protein powder has 48% more potassium than sweet potato - sweet potato has 337mg of potassium per 100 grams and whey protein powder has 500mg of potassium.
For omega-3 fatty acids, whey protein powder has more alpha linoleic acid (ALA) than sweet potato per 100 grams.
| Sweet Potatoes | Whey Protein Powder | |
|---|---|---|
| alpha linoleic acid | 0.001 G | 0.034 G |
| Total | 0.001 G | 0.034 G |
Comparing omega-6 fatty acids, whey protein powder has more linoleic acid than sweet potato per 100 grams.
| Sweet Potatoes | Whey Protein Powder | |
|---|---|---|
| linoleic acid | 0.013 G | 0.264 G |
| Total | 0.013 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: Sweet Potatoes (Sweet potato, raw, unprepared) and Whey Protein Powder (Protein powder, whey based, NFS) .
Sweet Potatoes 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 % |
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5% | choline | 5% |
|
MG % | |
| MG % |
|
5% | chlorine | 5% |
|
MG % | |
| UG % |
|
5% | chromium | 5% |
|
UG % | |
| MG % |
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5% | copper | 5% |
|
MG % | |
| UG % |
|
5% | fluoride | 5% |
|
UG % | |
| UG % |
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5% | iodine | 5% |
|
UG % | |
| MG % |
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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 | |||