Lettuce vs Spinach nutrition
Iceberg lettuce has more sugar. Spinach has more protein, fiber and calories.
- Iceberg lettuce100 g
- Spinach100 g
Each row is scaled on its own: the larger amount fills the bar. The numbers on the right are the real amounts.
Each food is weighed the same: 100 grams of each. The longer bar has more.
Show all 15 nutrients
Exact amounts and % Daily Value
| Nutrient | Iceberg lettuce | Spinach | Daily Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 14 kcal (<1%) | 23 kcal (1%) | 2,000 kcal |
| Protein | 0.9 g (2%) | 2.9 g (6%) | 50 g |
| Fat | 0.14 g (<1%) | 0.39 g (<1%) | 78 g |
| Saturated fat | 0.02 g (<1%) | 0.06 g (<1%) | 20 g |
| Carbs | 3 g (1%) | 3.6 g (1%) | 275 g |
| Fiber | 1.2 g (4%) | 2.2 g (8%) | 28 g |
| Sugar | 2 g | 0.42 g | none set |
| Cholesterol | 0 mg (0%) | 0 mg (0%) | 300 mg |
| Salt (sodium) | 10 mg (<1%) | 79 mg (3%) | 2,300 mg |
| Potassium | 141 mg (3%) | 558 mg (12%) | 4,700 mg |
| Calcium | 18 mg (1%) | 99 mg (8%) | 1,300 mg |
| Iron | 0.41 mg (2%) | 2.7 mg (15%) | 18 mg |
| Magnesium | 7 mg (2%) | 79 mg (19%) | 420 mg |
| Vitamin A | 25 µg (3%) | 469 µg (52%) | 900 µg |
| Vitamin C | 2.8 mg (3%) | 28.1 mg (31%) | 90 mg |
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How the numbers are taken. Amounts are per 100 g of the edible part, from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy, public domain), in the state named — raw, boiled, roasted and so on. Percentages use the FDA Daily Values for adults and children aged 4 and over, set around a 2,000-calorie diet; your own needs can be different. This site compares amounts — it does not give diet or medical advice. Sources and limits.
What is being compared
This page compares iceberg lettuce and spinach as USDA FoodData Central lists them: “Lettuce, iceberg (includes crisphead types), raw” (FDC 169248) and “Spinach, raw” (FDC 168462). All figures start from 100 grams of the edible part. A search for “lettuce” is taken here as iceberg lettuce; romaine lettuce, green leaf lettuce and butterhead lettuce are in the comparer above.
Per 100 grams
Per 100 grams, iceberg lettuce has more sugars (2 vs 0.42 g, 4.7 times as much). Spinach has more calories (23 vs 14 kcal, 1.6 times as much), protein (2.9 vs 0.9 g, 3.2 times as much), fat (0.39 vs 0.14 g, 2.8 times as much), saturated fat (0.06 vs 0.02 g, 3.0 times as much), carbohydrate (3.6 vs 3 g), fiber (2.2 vs 1.2 g, 1.8 times as much), sodium (79 vs 10 mg, 7.9 times as much), potassium (558 vs 141 mg, 4.0 times as much), calcium (99 vs 18 mg, 5.5 times as much), iron (2.7 vs 0.41 mg, 6.6 times as much), magnesium (79 vs 7 mg, about 11 times as much), vitamin A (469 vs 25 µg, about 19 times as much) and vitamin C (28.1 vs 2.8 mg, about 10 times as much). They are within 3% of each other for cholesterol.
Read the rest — 4 more sections
Per serving
A serving as USDA measures it is 1 cup, chopped (1/2" pieces, loosely packed) of iceberg lettuce (57 g) and 1 cup of spinach (30 g). The iceberg lettuce serving is 1.9 times as heavy, so per serving its numbers grow relative to the other. Switching to servings changes the leader for calories (now iceberg lettuce), carbohydrate (now iceberg lettuce) and fiber (now iceberg lettuce). One serving is 8 kcal of iceberg lettuce against 6.9 kcal of spinach.
For the same calories
To get 100 kcal you would eat 714 g of iceberg lettuce or 435 g of spinach. At that equal energy, iceberg lettuce carries 6.4 g of protein and spinach 12.4 g. Fiber per 100 kcal is 8.6 g against 9.6 g. Measured per 100 kcal instead of per 100 g, the larger amount moves for carbohydrate (to iceberg lettuce).
Where the calories come from
Roughly, 22% of the energy in iceberg lettuce comes from protein, 8% from fat and 71% from carbohydrate; for spinach it is 39%, 12% and 49%. These shares use the general 4, 9 and 4 kcal per gram and can differ slightly from USDA's own energy factors.
Against the Daily Value
1 cup, chopped (1/2" pieces, loosely packed) of iceberg lettuce reaches its largest shares of the Daily Value in fiber (2%), vitamin C (2%) and potassium (2%); 1 cup of spinach reaches its largest shares of the Daily Value in vitamin A (16%), vitamin C (9%) and magnesium (6%). Daily Values are the FDA label reference amounts for adults and children aged 4 and over, set around a 2,000-calorie diet; they are a yardstick for reading labels, not a target for any one person.