Amaranthus hybridus

What is Amaranthus hybridus?

Amaranthus hybridus is a leafy green plant with edible seeds. Cooks use the young leaves as a vegetable. The small seeds are eaten as a grain.

Common names include smooth pigweed and green amaranth. It grows fast in warm, open ground. In Africa, Asia and the Americas it is both a crop and a weed.

This page covers its use as a home remedy, not only as food. Healers in Africa used the leaves and roots for many complaints. Human studies on those uses are few and small.

As food, the leaves and grain give useful nutrients. As a remedy, almost nothing is proven in people. A long record of use is not proof that it works, and not proof that it is safe.

How does Amaranthus hybridus work?

No one has shown how this plant acts in the human body for any named illness. Most of what is claimed comes from lab dishes and from rats.

In test tubes, leaf extracts mop up free radicals. Free radicals are unstable particles linked to cell damage. Whether eating the leaves does this inside you is not known.

In diabetic rats, amaranth leaf and seed feeding has lowered blood sugar. In rats and rabbits, the seed oil has lowered blood fats.

Squalene and plant sterols in the oil may explain that. Human proof is lacking.

In lab tests, leaf extracts slow the growth of some bacteria and fungi. That does not mean they clear an infection in a person.

One effect is plain and needs no hedging. The leaves and grain carry iron, calcium, folate and vitamin A.

Eating them adds those nutrients to your diet. That is nutrition, not drug action.

The leaves also hold oxalic acid. Oxalic acid binds calcium and iron in the gut.

So some of the minerals in the raw leaf are not well taken up. Boiling the leaves and pouring off the water cuts the oxalate load.

What forms does Amaranthus hybridus come in?

Most people meet this plant as food, not as a pill.

Common forms: - Fresh leaves, cooked like spinach in stews and relishes - Dried leaf, sold loose or as a green powder - Leaf tea or decoction, made at home in traditional use - Whole grain, popped or boiled into porridge - Amaranth flour, used in breads and baked goods - Cold-pressed seed oil, sold in bottles or capsules - Leaf extract capsules, sold as a supplement

Supplement products vary a lot. Labels rarely state how much of any marker compound is inside. Amaranth products are also easy to mix up with other species in the same group.

If you buy a supplement, look for the full plant name on the pack. Look for a batch number and a contact address too.

Where it comes from:

Amaranth has been grown for food for thousands of years. Aztec and Inca farmers raised it as a grain crop. African farmers have long grown the leafy kinds as a pot herb.

In traditional African medicine, healers used several amaranth species. Recorded uses included leaf decoctions for diarrhoea and stomach pain. Crushed leaves were put on sores, boils and swellings.

The leaf was also given as a "blood builder" for people who looked pale or weak. That idea fits the plant's iron content, though it was never tested that way.

In Ayurveda and in folk use in India and the Caribbean, amaranth was used in much the same ways. It was seen as a cooling, cleansing green.

These records describe what people did in the past. They are not a reason to treat yourself today.

What does Amaranthus hybridus help with?

• Adding iron, calcium and vitamin A to the diet: This is the clearest reason to eat it. Cooked amaranth leaves are a good source of iron, calcium, folate and beta-carotene. That is measured food content, not a claim. It does not follow that amaranth treats anaemia (low red blood cells). Oxalate in the leaf blocks some of the iron and calcium. If you are anaemic, you need a blood test and proper treatment.
• Mild constipation (as a fibre-rich food): Amaranth leaves and grain carry fibre. Fibre-rich food helps many people stay regular. This is a general effect of vegetables and whole grains. No trial has tested amaranth alone for constipation. Treat it as a useful food, not a laxative.
• Traditional use for diarrhoea and stomach upset: Healers in Africa gave leaf and root decoctions for loose stools. Lab tests show the leaf slows some gut bacteria in a dish. That has not been shown to happen in a person's gut. There are no good human trials here. Diarrhoea in a child or an older adult can turn serious fast. Rehydration drinks and medical advice come first.
• Traditional use on sores and skin swellings: Crushed or boiled leaves were applied to boils, sores and insect bites. Some lab work shows mild action against bacteria and faster wound closure in rats. No human wound trial supports this. Putting plant material on an open wound can bring in dirt and germs. A spreading, hot or pus-filled wound needs a doctor.
• Studied in animals for blood sugar: Rat studies have reported lower blood sugar after amaranth leaf or seed feeding. The effect size varies and the studies are small. Human trials are few and short, and results are mixed. Nothing here supports using amaranth in place of diabetes medicine.
• Studied in animals for high blood fats: Amaranth seed oil contains squalene and plant sterols. In rats and rabbits, the oil has lowered total cholesterol. A few small human studies of amaranth oil or grain exist. Changes were small and not consistent. This is not a substitute for a statin or any other prescribed treatment.

Which foods are rich in Amaranthus hybridus?

Amaranth is itself a food. The leaves are eaten in stews and relishes across Africa, Asia and the Caribbean. The grain is cooked as porridge, popped, or milled into flour. Cooking the leaves and pouring off the water is the usual way to cut oxalate.

What are the side effects of Amaranthus hybridus?

• Wind and bloating from the fibre
• Loose stools when a lot is eaten at once
• Reduced uptake of iron and calcium from the same meal
• Kidney stone risk in people who are prone to oxalate stones
• High potassium load, which matters if your kidneys are weak
• Nitrate exposure from leaves grown in heavily fertilised soil
• Hay fever and skin rash from amaranth pollen in people who are sensitive
• Rare allergic reaction to the food itself

Good to know:

Eaten as a cooked vegetable or grain, amaranth suits most people and causes few problems. Mild wind or loose stools are the usual complaints.

The real risks sit with large or strong doses, such as daily leaf powder, strong leaf tea or raw leaf juice. These concentrate oxalate, potassium and nitrate.

Nitrate-rich leafy greens can be dangerous for babies under about six months. Nitrate can lower the blood's ability to carry oxygen. Grey or blue lips in a baby is an emergency.

How much Amaranthus hybridus should you take?

• Recommended daily: Amaranth is a food, so packs carry serving sizes rather than doses. A cooked serving of leaves is about one cupful. Grain packs often list 40 to 50 g dry per serving. Leaf powder tubs often suggest one or two teaspoons a day. Seed oil capsules are usually sold at 500 to 1000 mg each. These are label figures, shown so you know what is typical. They are not an instruction for you. There is no tested medicinal dose for any illness.
• Best time of day: Time of day does not matter. Amaranth is eaten at any meal. Choose whatever fits your routine.
• With or without food: Cook the leaves before eating them. Boiling and draining the water lowers oxalate and nitrate. Seed oil capsules are usually taken with a meal, which suits any oil. If leaf powder upsets your stomach, taking it with food often helps. If you take iron or calcium tablets, a large serving of amaranth leaf at the same time may cut how much you absorb. Space them out.
• Time to effect: Expect nothing fast. As food, better iron or vitamin A status builds over weeks of regular eating, and you would not feel it directly. Fibre effects on bowel habit may show within days. For the traditional uses, such as diarrhoea or skin sores, there is no reliable timeline because the effect itself is unproven. It may do nothing at all for the problem you bought it for.
• How long to take it: As a vegetable or grain, it can be part of your diet long term, like spinach or rice. For concentrated leaf powders, teas or extracts, no safe length of use has been studied. Long daily use of strong leaf products raises the oxalate load on your kidneys. If you are taking a supplement for a health problem and nothing changes in a few weeks, stop and talk to a doctor.