Buzz
Do beans match beef in protein? Is a Coke the same as eating a few donuts? Are bagels secretly packed with six slices of bread? We’re debunking those wild nutrition memes making the rounds online. Spoiler: if it seems exaggerated, it’s likely false.
Meat generally packs a much higher protein punch than most plant-based protein sources.
Many comparisons pit meat against vegan proteins, often leaving out key nutrients. For instance, the image above skips over calories, carbs (beans typically have more), or vitamins that meat provides but vegetables lack.
Cholesterol is often mentioned, even though the USDA no longer considers it a 'nutrient of concern.' This is because cholesterol is absent in plant-based foods, making all vegan options naturally free of it.
There's another issue with protein comparisons—they don't account for things like portion size or calories. At first glance, this beef vs. beans graphic seems like a straightforward comparison, but you quickly realize they must be comparing uncooked beef to uncooked beans.
What does that actually mean on your plate? 100 grams of beef cooks down to about 75 grams (due to water loss), leaving you with a 2.6-ounce serving, roughly the size of a steak smaller than a deck of cards, containing 142 calories.
On the other hand, 100 grams of beans absorb water while cooking, expanding to about 230 grams, or 1.5 cups. (I’m referencing this Serious Eats bean investigation.) That’s equivalent to a full can of black beans, drained, which contains 341 calories—more than double the calories in the beef.
So these two foods aren't really comparable at the dinner table. You can absolutely build a tasty, high-protein diet from plant-based foods, but it won't match the protein-to-calorie ratio of meat. And that's okay! Just be mindful of what you're consuming.
Comparing drinks to donuts is misleading.
You’d sip on a Coke, but you wouldn’t devour six donuts, right? Donut-equivalent charts like this one are designed to make you feel guilty about your food choices, but how trustworthy is a donut-based comparison?
A 20-ounce soda contains 65 grams of sugar. That’s correct. And so does a half-dozen donuts (each Krispy Kreme has about 10 grams of sugar, though this varies by brand).
So, why does drinking the soda feel less extreme than eating six donuts? Because they are entirely different items. Six Krispy Kreme donuts add up to 1,140 calories—there’s more than just sugar; there’s also starch and fat. Meanwhile, the Coke has 240 calories, mainly from sugar. Yes, the sugar content matches, but that's about where the similarities end.
What’s the bread equivalent in a bagel?
I hadn’t heard this one before, but my colleagues at The New Yorker swear everyone says a bagel is equivalent to some absurd number of slices of bread. For instance, six slices.
Bagels are essentially made from the same basic ingredients as bread, so this is a straightforward comparison. Both contain flour, water, and not much else.
A typical “regular” bagel, according to the USDA, contains 277 calories and 55 grams of carbohydrates. On the other hand, a “regular” slice of bread has 75 calories, meaning it would take about 3.6 slices of bread to match one bagel.
Breads and bagels differ; the sandwich bread I use at home has 90 calories per slice. Your local bagel shop might make smaller or larger portions than the USDA reference. Either way, a sandwich made with a bagel will pack more carbs, calories, and chewy goodness than one made with two slices of bread. But that’s probably why you went for the bagel in the first place, right?
