Ever wonder how your favorite foods stack up against each other in terms of nutrition?
We compared the nutritional contents of
watermelon
versus
chicken leg
(100g each)
below using 2020 USDA and NIH data[1].
For a quick recap of significant nutrients and differences in watermelon and chicken leg:
Chicken leg is high in calories and watermelon has 86% less calories than chicken leg - watermelon has 30 calories per 100 grams and chicken leg has 214 calories.
For macronutrient ratios, watermelon is much lighter in protein, much heavier in carbs and much lighter in fat compared to chicken leg per calorie. Watermelon has a macronutrient ratio of 7:90:4 and for chicken leg, 31:0:69 for protein, carbohydrates and fat from calories.
Macro Ratios from Calories:
| Watermelon | Chicken Leg | |
|---|---|---|
| Protein | 7% | 31% |
| Carbohydrates | 90% | ~ |
| Fat | 4% | 69% |
| Alcohol | ~ | ~ |
Chicken leg has 43.4 times less carbohydrates than watermelon - watermelon has 7.6g of total carbs per 100 grams and chicken leg has 0.17g of carbohydrates.
Watermelon has more dietary fiber than chicken leg - watermelon has 0.4g of dietary fiber per 100 grams and chicken leg does not contain significant amounts.
Chicken leg has less sugar than watermelon - watermelon has 6.2g of sugar per 100 grams and chicken leg does not contain significant amounts.
Chicken leg is an excellent source of protein and it has 25 times more protein than watermelon - watermelon has 0.61g of protein per 100 grams and chicken leg has 16.4g of protein.
Watermelon has signficantly less saturated fat than chicken leg - watermelon has 0.02g of saturated fat per 100 grams and chicken leg has 4.4g of saturated fat.
Both chicken leg and watermelon are low in trans fat - chicken leg has 0.06g of trans fat per 100 grams and watermelon does not contain significant amounts.
Watermelon has less cholesterol than chicken leg - chicken leg has 93mg of cholesterol per 100 grams and watermelon does not contain significant amounts.
Watermelon has 39 times more Vitamin C than chicken leg - watermelon has 8.1mg of Vitamin C per 100 grams and chicken leg has 0.2mg of Vitamin C.
Watermelon and chicken leg contain similar amounts of Vitamin A - watermelon has 28ug of Vitamin A per 100 grams and chicken leg has 28ug of Vitamin A.
Chicken leg and watermelon contain similar amounts of Vitamin D - chicken leg has 2iu of Vitamin D per 100 grams and watermelon does not contain significant amounts.
Watermelon and chicken leg contain similar amounts of Vitamin E - watermelon has 0.05mg of Vitamin E per 100 grams and chicken leg has 0.22mg of Vitamin E.
Watermelon and chicken leg contain similar amounts of Vitamin K - watermelon has 0.1ug of Vitamin K per 100 grams and chicken leg has 2.3ug of Vitamin K.
Chicken leg has more thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, Vitamin B6 and Vitamin B12. Both watermelon and chicken leg contain significant amounts of folate.
| Watermelon | Chicken Leg | |
|---|---|---|
| Thiamin | 0.033 MG | 0.073 MG |
| Riboflavin | 0.021 MG | 0.141 MG |
| Niacin | 0.178 MG | 4.733 MG |
| Pantothenic acid | 0.221 MG | 0.994 MG |
| Vitamin B6 | 0.045 MG | 0.318 MG |
| Folate | 3 UG | 4 UG |
| Vitamin B12 | ~ | 0.56 UG |
Watermelon and chicken leg contain similar amounts of calcium - watermelon has 7mg of calcium per 100 grams and chicken leg has 9mg of calcium.
Chicken leg has 188% more iron than watermelon - watermelon has 0.24mg of iron per 100 grams and chicken leg has 0.69mg of iron.
Chicken leg is a great source of potassium and it has 81% more potassium than watermelon - watermelon has 112mg 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, watermelon has more beta-carotene and lycopene than chicken leg per 100 grams, however, chicken leg contains more lutein + zeaxanthin than watermelon per 100 grams.
| Watermelon | Chicken Leg | |
|---|---|---|
| beta-carotene | 303 UG | ~ |
| lycopene | 4532 UG | ~ |
| lutein + zeaxanthin | 8 UG | 91 UG |
Comparing omega-6 fatty acids, chicken leg has more linoleic acid than watermelon per 100 grams.
| Watermelon | Chicken Leg | |
|---|---|---|
| linoleic acid | 0.05 G | 2.987 G |
| other omega 6 | ~ | 0.016 G |
| Total | 0.05 G | 3.003 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: Watermelon (Watermelon, raw) and Chicken Leg (Chicken, broilers or fryers, leg, meat and skin, raw) .
Watermelon g
()
|
Daily Values (%) |
Chicken Leg 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 | |||