We Compared Spinach to Bacon with Google’s Nutrition Comparison Tool (And the Results May Shock You)

Spinach is good, bacon is bad, right? Not so fast, Popeye. Google recently debuted a new tool that makes it easy to quickly compare the nutrients between two different foods, so I decided to use it to pit the so-called healthy green against the much-maligned bacon — and got some very surprising results.

The tool is easy to use; all you do is type “compare A to B” into the Google search bar, and you’ll get an easy-to-read chart that compares many of the major nutrients present in each food. From there, you can adjust the amount of each food and the preparation (cooked, uncooked, fried, etc.) via drop-down menus.

→ See the comparison on Google: Spinach Vs. Bacon

I looked at a package of spinach (10 ounces, or 284 grams) and a package of bacon (15.5 ounces, or 442 grams) because if you are eating anything less than a package of bacon, you’re doing it wrong.

I thought spinach would have bacon beat across the board, but there were a few key ways that bacon was actually better.

One package of bacon provides almost 100% of your daily cholesterol, 120% of your daily sodium, and 112% of your daily protein. Not only that, but it provides more than twice the amount of fat you need in a day, and almost three times the saturated fat needed. Talk about “superfood”! And it’s a time-saver too, allowing you to maximize your nutrient intake with a minimum of time and effort (especially if you bake a whole package of bacon at once).

A package of spinach provides almost a quarter of your daily fiber requirements, while bacon provides none. But you know that fiber is indigestible, right? Why would you want to waste your money, time and limited stomach capacity eating a food you aren’t going to fully digest anyway?

Admittedly, both bacon and spinach are low-carb foods, with a package of each providing just 2% and 3% of your daily needs, respectively. But a package of bacon clocks in at 6 grams of carbs, while a package of spinach is almost twice that at 10 grams of carbs.

As we all know, the easiest way to assess the health benefits of a food is to look at the amount of carbs — fewer carbs means a food is more nutritious and far less likely to make you gain weight. So once again, bacon comes out as the surprising winner in this battle.

After seeing the cold, hard numbers, I’m ready to start incorporating a package of bacon into my daily diet every once in awhile and giving the spinach a rest. How about you? Do these results surprise you?

Wait, you didn’t really think we were serious, did you? From our kitchen to your kitchen… APRIL FOOLS! Did we get you?