Health is an integral and important aspect of one’s life. To maintain good health, one needs good amount of exercise and healthy diet which can fuel energy to the body. These days’ various types of diets are being followed by people all over the world to maintain healthy lifestyle, for weight management and sometimes to correct the lifestyle disorders.

Many types of diets are in application these days like Keto diet, gluten free diet, sugar free diet, vegan diet, high protein diet etc. Amongst these gluten-free and ketogenic diet are the most popular ones. Gluten free diet is based on usage of gluten free foods like amaranth seeds, flax seeds, quinoa, millets and many other foods.  Amaranth, a pseudocereal is a type of ancient grain.

What is Amaranth?

Amaranth is a type of ancient grains grown in South America and it has many varieties.  Amaranth is naturally gluten-free unlike wheat, making it a nutritional option for individuals who have gluten intolerance.

Is amaranth gluten-free?

Yes, amaranth is naturally gluten-free. People prefer it for gluten free diets in form of flours, bakery, soups etc.

Nutritionally, amaranth is a powerhouse. 100 g of amaranth seeds contains:

• Carbohydrates: ~65g
• Protein: 14 g
• Fiber: 7.02g
• Fat: 5g
• Calories: ~371 kcal
• Calcium: 153mg
• Iron: 7.59mg

It’s also a complete protein, containing all nine essential amino acids.

Is Amaranth Keto-Friendly?

Normally Keto- friendly diet involves high-fat, medium protein and very less carbohydrates. This helps the human body to go in ketosis where the body burns fat instead of glucose. People on Keto diet are allowed to consume 20–50 grams of net carbs per day.

Why amaranth is not keto-friendly?

1] High in carbohydrates:

• Half a cup of cooked amaranth contains about 23 grams of carbs, with 20 grams coming from starch.
• This amount can easily use up most or all of the daily 20–50 gram carb limit on a ketogenic diet.

2] Net carbs still high:

• Although amaranth contains some fiber that slightly reduces the net carb count, its overall carbohydrate content remains too high for a standard keto plan.

3] High glycemic index:

• Amaranth, especially when popped, has a high glycemic index, meaning it can cause rapid spikes in blood sugar levels.
• Since stable blood sugar is important for staying in ketosis, this makes amaranth unsuitable for a keto diet.

Looking into above amaranth data, amaranth seeds are high in carbohydrates hence amaranth is not keto friendly food.

How many carbs are in amaranth?

One cup of cooked amaranth contains about 46 grams of carbs, with 41 grams of net carbs. Or 100 grams of amaranth seeds has 65 gms of Carbohydrates. People with diabetes or insulin resistance should be mindful of their portion sizes when consuming amaranth.

Amaranth vs. Quinoa: Nutritional Showdown

When you compare amaranth with quinoa, we find below similarities and dissimilarities. Both amaranth and quinoa are gluten-free foods and have good nutritional values.  The dissimilarities are:

From above table we can say that Amaranth is higher in protein and iron, while quinoa has a milder taste and is slightly lower in carbs. Both can be very goods options for a gluten-free diet but cannot be used for keto based diets.

Does amaranth spike blood sugar?

Amaranth is a healthy option for diabetic people or people with insulin resistance. But they must be mindful while selecting the potion size. Below are some options for amaranth usage in daily diet.

• Porridge or hot cereal
• In baking (when ground into flour)
• Pancake
• Soups as a thickener.

If one needs best quality amaranth seeds, they can contact Kisan Agro a leading amaranth seeds supplier OR send an enquiry for organic and conventional type of amaranth seeds.