Ever wonder how your favorite foods stack up against each other in terms of nutrition?
We compared the nutritional contents of
nutritional yeast
versus
whey protein powder
(100g each)
below using 2020 USDA and NIH data[1].
For a quick recap of significant nutrients and differences in nutritional yeast and whey protein powder:
Both nutritional yeast and whey protein powder are high in calories. Whey protein powder has a little more calories (8%) than nutritional yeast by weight - nutritional yeast has 325 calories per 100 grams and whey protein powder has 352 calories.
| Nutritional Yeast | Whey Protein Powder | |
|---|---|---|
| Protein | 41% | 89% |
| Carbohydrates | 41% | 7% |
| Fat | 17% | 4% |
| Alcohol | ~ | ~ |
Nutritional yeast is high in carbohydrates and whey protein powder has 85% less carbohydrates than nutritional yeast - nutritional yeast has 41.2g of total carbs per 100 grams and whey protein powder has 6.3g of carbohydrates.
Both nutritional yeast and whey protein powder are high in dietary fiber. Nutritional yeast has 768% more dietary fiber than whey protein powder - nutritional yeast has 26.9g of dietary fiber per 100 grams and whey protein powder has 3.1g of dietary fiber.
Both nutritional yeast and whey protein powder are high in protein. Whey protein powder has 93% more protein than nutritional yeast - nutritional yeast has 40.4g of protein per 100 grams and whey protein powder has 78.1g of protein.
Nutritional yeast and whey protein powder contain similar amounts of saturated fat - nutritional yeast has 1g of saturated fat per 100 grams and whey protein powder has 0.78g of saturated fat.
Nutritional yeast has less cholesterol than whey protein powder - whey protein powder has 16mg of cholesterol per 100 grams and nutritional yeast does not contain significant amounts.
Nutritional yeast and whey protein powder contain similar amounts of Vitamin C - nutritional yeast has 0.3mg of Vitamin C per 100 grams and whey protein powder does not contain significant amounts.
Nutritional yeast and whey protein powder contain similar amounts of Vitamin K - nutritional yeast has 0.4ug of Vitamin K per 100 grams and whey protein powder does not contain significant amounts.
Nutritional yeast has more thiamin, niacin, pantothenic acid, Vitamin B6, folate and Vitamin B12. Both nutritional yeast and whey protein powder contain significant amounts of riboflavin.
| Nutritional Yeast | Whey Protein Powder | |
|---|---|---|
| Thiamin | 10.99 MG | 0.609 MG |
| Riboflavin | 4 MG | 2.017 MG |
| Niacin | 40.2 MG | 1.136 MG |
| Pantothenic acid | 13.5 MG | ~ |
| Vitamin B6 | 1.5 MG | 0.607 MG |
| Folate | 2340 UG | 33 UG |
| Vitamin B12 | 12.07 UG | 2.45 UG |
Whey protein powder is an excellent source of calcium and it has 14 times more calcium than nutritional yeast - nutritional yeast has 30mg of calcium per 100 grams and whey protein powder has 469mg of calcium.
Nutritional yeast is a great source of iron and it has 92% more iron than whey protein powder - nutritional yeast has 2.2mg of iron per 100 grams and whey protein powder has 1.1mg of iron.
Both nutritional yeast and whey protein powder are high in potassium. Nutritional yeast has 91% more potassium than whey protein powder - nutritional yeast has 955mg of potassium per 100 grams and whey protein powder has 500mg of potassium.
Comparing omega-6 fatty acids, whey protein powder has more linoleic acid than nutritional yeast per 100 grams.
| Nutritional Yeast | Whey Protein Powder | |
|---|---|---|
| linoleic acid | 0.017 G | 0.264 G |
| Total | 0.017 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: Nutritional Yeast (Leavening agents, yeast, baker's, active dry) and Whey Protein Powder (Protein powder, whey based, NFS) .
Nutritional Yeast 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 % |
|
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 | |||