Amaranth benefits: 5.6 times the iron, and anemia did not budge

Key benefits

1. 01Nutrition data

   248 mg of magnesium, 3.33 mg of manganese — on the table alone, near the top among grains

   Per 100 g of uncooked amaranth:

   • Magnesium 248 mg — 59% of the daily value
   • Manganese 3.33 mg — 145% of the daily value
   • Iron 7.61 mg — 42% of the daily value
   • Phosphorus 557 mg, potassium 508 mg, calcium 159 mg
   • Protein 13.6 g, carbohydrate 65.2 g, fibre 6.7 g, fat 7.02 g
   • Zinc 2.87 mg, copper 0.525 mg, selenium 18.7 µg
   • Folate 82 µg, vitamin B6 0.591 mg
   • 371 kcal, sugar 1.69 g, sodium 4 mg

   Against other grains:

   	Amaranth	Quinoa	Brown rice	Oats
   Magnesium	248 mg	197 mg	143 mg	177 mg
   Calcium	159 mg	47 mg	23 mg	54 mg
   Iron	7.61 mg	4.57 mg	1.47 mg	4.72 mg
   Protein	13.6 g	14.1 g	7.9 g	16.9 g

   The 159 mg of calcium stands out — unusual for a grain. It is still only 12% of the daily value, and calcium from plants does not absorb like the calcium in milk.

   It has no gluten. Amaranth is not a grass but an amaranth, botanically distinct from wheat, barley and rye. That makes it an option for coeliac disease or anyone avoiding gluten. Commercial products are sometimes processed on wheat equipment, so check the label.

   Its amino acid profile is well balanced for a grain. Grains are usually short on lysine; amaranth is not. This is established by composition analysis, which is why this site marks it as nutrition data rather than an evidence grade.

   But something has to be read alongside this table.

   As set out in the next section, the iron in amaranth is not absorbed in proportion to how much is there. Phytate is the reason, and magnesium, zinc and calcium are affected the same way. The figures in a composition table are what you ate, not what you absorbed.

   Cooking. The seeds are tiny, so it does not behave like rice.

   • Two and a half to three parts water, boiled about 20 minutes. It comes out closer to porridge
   • To mix with rice, keep it to 10-20%. More and the rice turns sludgy
   • Toasted in a dry pan it pops like popcorn. Scattering that over food is a common use
   • Soaking or fermenting beforehand lowers the phytate — the reason is below

   Store sealed and cool. At 7.02 g of fat it is high for a grain and goes rancid faster. For long keeping, refrigerate or freeze.

2. 02Early research

   Two iron trials split in opposite directions — and where they split is what matters

   Two trials have looked at amaranth's iron. One found nothing and one found something. That difference is the most useful fact about this grain.

   2012, The Journal of Nutrition — Kenya, no effect.

   • 279 children aged 12 to 59 months, 16 weeks
   • At baseline, 38% anemic and 30% iron deficient
   • Three arms: maize porridge (control), 30% maize + 70% amaranth porridge, maize porridge plus micronutrient powder

   Arm	Iron per meal	Phytate to iron	Result
   Control	4.1 mg	5:1	—
   Amaranth	23 mg	3:1	no change in hemoglobin or iron status
   Powder	6.6 mg	2.6:1	anemia −46%, iron deficiency −70%, IDA −75%

   Read the second and third rows side by side. The amaranth arm ate 3.5 times the iron of the powder arm and nothing changed, while the powder arm cut anemia by 46% on far less iron.

   The paper gives the reason — the meal's phytate-to-iron ratio was high.

   What is phytate? It is how grain and legume seeds store phosphorus. In the gut it binds iron, zinc, calcium and magnesium and blocks their absorption. Amaranth is high in iron, and high in phytate.

   The powder arm used iron as NaFeEDTA, a form built to withstand phytate interference — which is why a smaller amount worked.

   2020, PLoS One — Ethiopia, effect found.

   A cluster-randomised trial in anemic children aged 2 to 5 in southern Ethiopia. Bread containing processed amaranth was compared with maize bread, and benefits were reported on hemoglobin, anemia and iron-deficiency anemia.

   The decisive difference between the two trials is processing.

   Phytate falls with soaking, germination and fermentation. Turning a grain into bread usually involves those steps. The 2012 trial stirred amaranth flour into porridge; the 2020 trial baked processed amaranth into bread.

   So the two do not contradict each other. Read together they say:

   • Amaranth contains a lot of iron — confirmed by composition
   • Simply adding it may not deliver that iron — the 2012 trial
   • Soaking, fermenting or otherwise processing it can change that — the 2020 trial

   Translated into practice:

   • Soak it for several hours before use and throw the water away. Phytate falls
   • Eat it with something containing vitamin C. As set out in this site's guava entry, vitamin C raises absorption of plant iron
   • Keep tea and coffee away from the meal. Tannins interfere with iron absorption
   • If iron deficiency has been diagnosed, do not plan to fix it with amaranth. This is food, not treatment

   The grade is "early research". Both trials studied children in specific settings, the directions diverged, and neither is a basis for transferring the result to adults or to people who are not short of iron.

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3. 03Not established

   Claims about blood pressure, cholesterol and weight are unverified

   Several claims attach to amaranth as it is sold as a supergrain. Most are unconfirmed in people.

   Blood pressure and cholesterol.

   A 2007 randomised trial used amaranth oil in coronary heart disease and hypertension.

   But that is the oil, not the grain. Amaranth oil is rich in squalene and sold as a separate product, and eating the grain is a different intervention from taking the oil. It is the same reason this site separates celery seed extract from the vegetable.

   And this site could not find a trial that fed amaranth grain, measured blood pressure or lipids and compared against a control.

   Weight loss.

   Because it is high in protein and fibre, the story goes that it satisfies. Plausible — but this site found no trial that fed amaranth and measured weight or intake. And it is 371 kcal per 100 g. That follows from it being a grain, but it is not a low-energy food.

   Blood glucose.

   Another line runs that being gluten-free and fibrous makes it good for blood sugar. Amaranth's glycemic index has in fact been reported on the high side. The popped form especially, with its starch already gelatinised, absorbs faster. There is no settled clinical evidence here, but it is worth stating plainly that "no gluten" does not mean "good for blood sugar".

   To summarise:

   • Confirmed by composition: magnesium 248 mg, manganese 3.33 mg, iron 7.61 mg, calcium 159 mg, no gluten, a balanced amino acid profile including lysine
   • Partly confirmed: processed, it helped anemia (2020); simply added, it did not (2012)
   • Not confirmed: blood pressure, cholesterol, weight loss
   • A misreading: gluten-free does not imply favourable for blood sugar

   Amaranth is a grain with a good composition table. But a good table, those nutrients actually entering the body, and something improving as a result are three separate claims. This site marks them at three different grades.

How to eat it well

What to watch out for