What is Amaranth?

Amaranth is a tall, leafy crop grown for its tiny seeds and its edible greens. The seed is cooked like a grain and is naturally gluten-free. Folk healers also used the plant as an astringent, meaning something that tightens and dries tissue.

The plant on this page is Amaranthus hypochondriacus. It is also called prince's feather and red cockscomb. Close relatives, including pigweed and callaloo greens, are used in much the same way.

As a food, amaranth is well understood and safe for most people. As a medicine, the human evidence is thin. A few small trials have looked at blood fats and blood sugar, with mixed results.

Traditional use tells you that people valued a plant. It does not prove that the plant works, and it does not prove that it is safe. That point applies to everything below, so this page says it once here.

How does Amaranth work?

Most of what is claimed for amaranth comes from lab work and from its make-up as a food, not from trials in people.

The traditional astringent use rests on tannins. Tannins bind to proteins in the lining of the mouth and gut. That is why a strong leaf tea tastes puckering and feels drying.

The seed oil is rich in squalene. In animal studies, amaranth oil appears to shift blood fats a little. Whether it does the same in people is not settled.

Amaranth grain carries fibre, plant sterols and polyphenols such as rutin. In cell and animal studies these appear to slow fat uptake and dampen markers of inflammation. These are early findings, not proof of a health effect.

Some of the grain's starch resists digestion. In small human studies this gives a gentler rise in blood sugar than some refined grains. That is a food effect, and it is modest.

What forms does Amaranth come in?

Amaranth is sold mainly as a food.

Common forms: - Whole grain, cooked like porridge or a side dish - Flour, usually blended with other flours for baking - Popped or puffed seed, used in bars and cereals - Fresh or frozen leaves, cooked as a green - Cold-pressed seed oil, in bottles or capsules - Dried leaf for tea, and tinctures, in herbal shops

The grain needs cooking. Raw seed is hard to digest and tastes bitter.

Supplement oil and leaf tinctures are far less standardised than food. Strength is not consistent between brands.

Where it comes from:

Amaranth has two separate histories: one as a staple food, one as a folk remedy.

It was a major grain in Mexico and Central America long before European contact. Aztec records describe it in both food and ritual use. Spanish rulers suppressed the crop, and it faded for centuries before returning as a health food.

In nineteenth-century American practice, Eclectic physicians listed prince's feather as an astringent. King's American Dispensatory described leaf and root preparations for loose bowels, for sore mouths and throats, and for heavy menstrual bleeding.

It was always a minor plant in that tradition. It was used when stronger astringents were not to hand. These writings record what practitioners believed, not what was tested.

What does Amaranth help with?

• Mild short-term diarrhoea (traditional use): This was the main folk use of the leaf and root. The reasoning is the tannin content, which is drying in the gut. There are no human trials of amaranth for diarrhoea. Rehydration with fluids is what actually matters, and bloody or lasting diarrhoea needs a doctor.
• Sore mouth or throat, as a gargle (traditional use): Eclectic texts recommended an astringent leaf wash for sore gums, mouth ulcers and sore throats. A tannin-rich rinse can feel briefly soothing. No trial has tested amaranth for this. It does not treat an infection.
• Heavy menstrual bleeding (traditional claim, unsupported): Old texts listed it for heavy periods, grouping it with other astringent herbs. There is no human evidence that amaranth reduces menstrual blood loss. Heavy bleeding has causes that need checking, such as fibroids, thyroid problems or low iron. Treat this claim as history only.
• A gluten-free diet, including coeliac disease: This is the best-supported use, and it is a food use. Amaranth grain contains no gluten, so it suits people with coeliac disease. Studies of coeliac diets show it is well tolerated and adds protein, iron and fibre. Buy brands tested for gluten cross-contact, as shared mills are common.
• Raised blood cholesterol (studied, weak evidence): Small trials of amaranth oil and amaranth grain have reported small drops in total and LDL cholesterol. The studies were short, small and of mixed quality, and some found no change. This is not a substitute for a statin or other prescribed treatment. Eating amaranth as part of a high-fibre diet is reasonable; expecting a set result is not.
• Blood sugar control as part of meals (studied, modest): Amaranth grain raises blood sugar more gently than some refined grains in small studies. The effect is similar to other whole grains. It does not lower blood sugar on its own, and it does not replace diabetes medicine.

Which foods are rich in Amaranth?

1. Amaranth grain, cooked as porridge or a side dish
2. Amaranth flour, usually blended for baking
3. Popped amaranth in bars and breakfast cereals
4. Amaranth leaves, sold as callaloo or Chinese spinach
5. Cold-pressed amaranth seed oil

Practical Tips:

Amaranth is an ordinary food, and that is the safest way to meet it. The grain gives protein, iron, magnesium and fibre, with no gluten.

The leaves are a good green, cooked like spinach. Cooking and draining the water lowers the oxalate a little.

One naming trap: the red dye once called amaranth (E123, FD&C Red No. 2) has nothing to do with this plant. It is a synthetic colour, banned in food in the United States and restricted elsewhere.

What are the side effects of Amaranth?

• Wind and bloating, mostly from the fibre
• Loose stools if a lot of new fibre is added at once
• Stomach ache from raw or undercooked grain
• A drying, puckering mouth feel from strong leaf tea
• Hay fever and asthma symptoms from amaranth pollen in the garden
• Rare food allergy, with itching, rash or swelling
• Higher oxalate load from large amounts of leaves, which matters for stone formers
• Nitrate from leaves, a real concern in babies and in drought-stressed plants

Good to know:

For most adults eating amaranth as food, side effects are mild and uncommon. The usual complaint is wind from the fibre, which settles as your gut adjusts.

The two effects worth taking seriously are oxalate and nitrate, and both come from the leaves rather than the grain. Oxalate matters if you form calcium-oxalate kidney stones. Nitrate matters for infants, and plants grown in drought or heavy fertiliser can store a lot of it.

True allergy to amaranth is rare but does happen. Pollen allergy from the growing plant is more common than food allergy.

How much Amaranth should you take?

• Recommended daily: Amaranth is a food first, so most people meet it in meal-sized amounts. A usual cooked serving is about 40 to 60 g of dry grain, which roughly triples in volume once cooked. Leaves are eaten as a cooked green, like spinach. Seed oil capsules on shelves commonly carry 1 to 3 g a day on the label. Leaf teas and tinctures carry no agreed amount, because they have never been studied in people. These are label figures, not advice for you. If you have kidney stones, diabetes or kidney disease, ask your doctor or a dietitian what fits your situation.
• Best time of day: Timing does not matter for the grain or the greens. Eat them whenever you eat. If you take iron, zinc, calcium or thyroid tablets, spacing them a couple of hours from a large amaranth meal is sensible. Phytic acid and oxalate in the plant can bind minerals in the gut.
• With or without food: Amaranth is food, so this question mostly does not apply. Cook the grain well; raw seed is hard to digest and can cause bloating. Seed oil capsules are usually taken with a meal, which helps absorption and reduces burping. For a traditional mouth gargle, the liquid is swilled and spat out, not swallowed in quantity.
• Time to effect: An astringent gargle feels drying and soothing within minutes. That is a local sensation, not healing. In the small trials on blood fats, changes took several weeks to a few months, and were small when they appeared. For the traditional uses, it may do nothing at all. Do not read a settling symptom as proof the amaranth caused it, since most short-lived diarrhoea and sore throats clear on their own.
• How long to take it: As a food, amaranth can be part of the diet indefinitely, the same as rice or oats. Concentrated products are different. Nobody has tested long-term use of amaranth leaf tincture or high-dose seed oil, so no safe duration can be stated. Astringent gargles and folk uses for loose bowels were short-term by nature. If a symptom lasts beyond two or three days, that is a reason to get it looked at, not to keep going.