Ginger and turmeric are the two rhizome spices most associated with “anti-inflammatory” cooking — but this comparison needs a bigger asterisk than most on this site.
| Nutrient | Ginger | Turmeric |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 80 kcal | 312 kcal |
| Protein | 1.82 g | 9.68 g ✓ |
| Total Carbohydrate | 17.8 g | 67.1 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g | 22.7 g ✓ |
| Total Sugars | 1.7 g ✓ | 3.21 g |
| Total Fat | 0.75 g | 3.25 g |
| Saturated Fat | 0.2 g ✓ | 1.84 g |
| Sodium | 13 mg ✓ | 27 mg |
Notable compounds in each
When to choose each
These numbers need a big caveat before anything else: ginger is shown fresh, as you’d buy the root, while turmeric here is the dried, ground spice — concentrating everything roughly four-fold compared with its fresh form, which is why turmeric appears to dominate on protein and fibre. It isn’t a fair fight on those counts. What’s genuinely comparable: both are warming, earthy rhizomes used in small quantities, a teaspoon or two at a time rather than 100g, valued far more for their bioactive compounds (gingerol in ginger, curcumin in turmeric) than for macronutrients. Neither is meaningfully “more nutritious” than the other in any way that matters at the quantities people actually use them.
Common questions
Why does turmeric look so much higher in calories and fibre than ginger on this page? Because of preparation, not nutritional superiority — turmeric is shown here as the dried ground spice, which concentrates its nutrient content compared with fresh ginger root. If ginger were also measured dried and ground, the numbers would look far more similar.
Is turmeric or ginger better for inflammation? Both have a research base around their signature compounds, curcumin in turmeric and gingerol in ginger, for anti-inflammatory activity, though most of the notable clinical research uses concentrated extracts rather than the amounts typically used in cooking. Neither should be considered a substitute for medical treatment.
Nutrition values are USDA FoodData Central approximations — see our editorial approach for how we source and verify data.