Ever wonder how your favorite foods stack up against each other in terms of nutrition?
We compared the nutritional contents of
granola
versus
whey protein powder
(100g each)
below using 2020 USDA and NIH data[1].
For a quick recap of significant nutrients and differences in granola and whey protein powder:
Both granola and whey protein powder are high in calories. Granola has 39% more calories than whey protein powder - granola has 489 calories per 100 grams and whey protein powder has 352 calories.
For macronutrient ratios, granola is much lighter in protein, much heavier in carbs and much heavier in fat compared to whey protein powder per calorie. Granola has a macronutrient ratio of 11:44:45 and for whey protein powder, 89:7:4 for protein, carbohydrates and fat from calories.
Macro Ratios from Calories:
| Granola | Whey Protein Powder | |
|---|---|---|
| Protein | 11% | 89% |
| Carbohydrates | 44% | 7% |
| Fat | 45% | 4% |
| Alcohol | ~ | ~ |
Granola is high in carbohydrates and whey protein powder has 88% less carbohydrates than granola - granola has 53.9g of total carbs per 100 grams and whey protein powder has 6.3g of carbohydrates.
Both granola and whey protein powder are high in dietary fiber. Granola has 187% more dietary fiber than whey protein powder - granola has 8.9g of dietary fiber per 100 grams and whey protein powder has 3.1g of dietary fiber.
Whey protein powder has signficantly less sugar than granola - granola has 19.8g of sugar per 100 grams and whey protein powder does not contain significant amounts.
Both granola and whey protein powder are high in protein. Whey protein powder has 472% more protein than granola - granola has 13.7g of protein per 100 grams and whey protein powder has 78.1g of protein.
Whey protein powder has 4 times less saturated fat than granola - granola has 4g of saturated fat per 100 grams and whey protein powder has 0.78g of saturated fat.
Both granola and whey protein powder are low in trans fat - granola has 0.02g of trans fat per 100 grams and whey protein powder does not contain significant amounts.
Granola has less cholesterol than whey protein powder - whey protein powder has 16mg of cholesterol per 100 grams and granola does not contain significant amounts.
Granola has more Vitamin C than whey protein powder - granola has 1.2mg of Vitamin C per 100 grams and whey protein powder does not contain significant amounts.
Granola and whey protein powder contain similar amounts of Vitamin A - granola has 1ug of Vitamin A per 100 grams and whey protein powder does not contain significant amounts.
Granola is an excellent source of Vitamin E and it has more Vitamin E than whey protein powder - granola has 11.1mg of Vitamin E per 100 grams and whey protein powder does not contain significant amounts.
Granola has more Vitamin K than whey protein powder - granola has 5.3ug of Vitamin K per 100 grams and whey protein powder does not contain significant amounts.
Whey protein powder has more riboflavin and Vitamin B12, however, granola contains more niacin, pantothenic acid and folate. Both granola and whey protein powder contain significant amounts of thiamin and Vitamin B6.
| Granola | Whey Protein Powder | |
|---|---|---|
| Thiamin | 0.548 MG | 0.609 MG |
| Riboflavin | 0.354 MG | 2.017 MG |
| Niacin | 2.739 MG | 1.136 MG |
| Pantothenic acid | 0.752 MG | ~ |
| Vitamin B6 | 0.37 MG | 0.607 MG |
| Folate | 84 UG | 33 UG |
| Vitamin B12 | ~ | 2.45 UG |
Both granola and whey protein powder are high in calcium. Whey protein powder has 517% more calcium than granola - granola has 76mg of calcium per 100 grams and whey protein powder has 469mg of calcium.
Granola is an excellent source of iron and it has 250% more iron than whey protein powder - granola has 4mg of iron per 100 grams and whey protein powder has 1.1mg of iron.
Both granola and whey protein powder are high in potassium. Granola has a little more potassium (8%) than whey protein powder by weight - granola has 539mg of potassium per 100 grams and whey protein powder has 500mg of potassium.
For omega-3 fatty acids, granola has more alpha linoleic acid (ALA) than whey protein powder per 100 grams.
| Granola | Whey Protein Powder | |
|---|---|---|
| alpha linoleic acid | 0.611 G | 0.034 G |
| EPA | 0.002 G | ~ |
| Total | 0.613 G | 0.034 G |
Comparing omega-6 fatty acids, granola has more linoleic acid than whey protein powder per 100 grams.
| Granola | Whey Protein Powder | |
|---|---|---|
| other omega 6 | 0.053 G | ~ |
| linoleic acid | 7.194 G | 0.264 G |
| Total | 7.247 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: Granola (Cereals ready-to-eat, granola, homemade) and Whey Protein Powder (Protein powder, whey based, NFS) .
Granola 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 | |||