Tofu is a plant based product which is widely consumed by the vegetarian community and is considered a healthy protein alternative to many meats. But how does it stack up against the all-time favourite meat – chicken. In this article we are exploring nutrition comparison between tofu and chicken to see what are the main differences.
Calories
Tofu compared to chicken is quite low on calories. Per 100 grams of tofu you get 76 calories vs 239 calories of the chicken breast.
Fats
Chicken has also a higher concentration of fats at around 14 grams (3.8 saturated fat), whereas tofu has only 4.8 grams (0.7 saturated fat) of total fat.
Protein
Chicken is quite a popular source of protein for heavy lifters, 100 grams of chicken has 27 grams of protein which is 3 times more than tofu which has 8 grams of protein.
Minerals
Tofu is definitely an excellent choice if you are lacking iron or calcium. Tofu contains 40 times more calcium than chicken, around 350mg vs 8mg in chicken. As well as 5 times more iron, per 100 grams of tofu you get 5.4mg of iron. The chicken excels in potassium though, 460% grams more than tofu.
Vitamins
Both protein sources have a low amount of Vitamins like C,A,E. Chicken wins this round since it contains a high amount of B group vitamins, such as B6 and B12. It is worth noting that both tofu and chicken contain a high amount of niacin and thiamine which are important micronutrients for energy metabolism.
Omega 3 and 6
Tofu has a lot more alpha linoleic acid than chicken which is part of Omega 3 and linoleic acid which is part of Omega 6. Recent studies have shown that Omega-3 aids muscle recovery post workout.