Ever wonder how your favorite foods stack up against each other in terms of nutrition?
We compared the nutritional contents of
white sugar
versus
whey protein powder
(100g each)
below using 2020 USDA and NIH data[1].
For a quick recap of significant nutrients and differences in white sugar and whey protein powder:
Both white sugar and whey protein powder are high in calories. White sugar has a little more calories (10%) than whey protein powder by weight - white sugar has 387 calories per 100 grams and whey protein powder has 352 calories.
For macronutrient ratios, white sugar is much lighter in protein, much heavier in carbs and lighter in fat compared to whey protein powder per calorie. White sugar has a macronutrient ratio of 0:100:0 and for whey protein powder, 89:7:4 for protein, carbohydrates and fat from calories.
Macro Ratios from Calories:
| White Sugar | Whey Protein Powder | |
|---|---|---|
| Protein | ~ | 89% |
| Carbohydrates | 100% | 7% |
| Fat | ~ | 4% |
| Alcohol | ~ | ~ |
White sugar is high in carbohydrates and whey protein powder has 94% less carbohydrates than white sugar - white sugar has 100g of total carbs per 100 grams and whey protein powder has 6.3g of carbohydrates.
Whey protein powder is an excellent source of dietary fiber and it has more dietary fiber than white sugar - whey protein powder has 3.1g of dietary fiber per 100 grams and white sugar does not contain significant amounts.
White sugar is high in sugar and whey protein powder has less sugar than white sugar - white sugar has 99.8g 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 more protein than white sugar - whey protein powder has 78.1g of protein per 100 grams and white sugar does not contain significant amounts.
Both whey protein powder and white sugar are low in saturated fat - whey protein powder has 0.78g of saturated fat per 100 grams and white sugar does not contain significant amounts.
White sugar has less cholesterol than whey protein powder - whey protein powder has 16mg of cholesterol per 100 grams and white sugar does not contain significant amounts.
Whey protein powder has more thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, Vitamin B6, folate and Vitamin B12.
| White Sugar | Whey Protein Powder | |
|---|---|---|
| Thiamin | ~ | 0.609 MG |
| Riboflavin | 0.019 MG | 2.017 MG |
| Niacin | ~ | 1.136 MG |
| Vitamin B6 | ~ | 0.607 MG |
| Folate | ~ | 33 UG |
| Vitamin B12 | ~ | 2.45 UG |
Whey protein powder is an excellent source of calcium and it has 468 times more calcium than white sugar - white sugar has 1mg of calcium per 100 grams and whey protein powder has 469mg of calcium.
Whey protein powder has 21 times more iron than white sugar - white sugar has 0.05mg of iron per 100 grams and whey protein powder has 1.1mg of iron.
Whey protein powder is an excellent source of potassium and it has 249 times more potassium than white sugar - white sugar has 2mg of potassium per 100 grams and whey protein powder has 500mg of potassium.
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: White Sugar (Sugar, granulated) and Whey Protein Powder (Protein powder, whey based, NFS) .
White Sugar 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 | |||