Get To Know Amaranth, A Nutritious Food Ingredient That Is Good For Diabetics

Illustration of the benefits of amaranth for diabetes (Unsplash/Karolin Baitinger)

JAKARTA – For diabetics, it is very important to choose food ingredients as a daily nutritional intake. If it is wrong once, then the effect is not trivial. Blood sugar can spike up or the body's metabolism does not work properly.

For that, there are alternative ingredients that have good content for diabetics. The ingredient is amaranth, reported by the Whole Grains Council page, Friday, October 22, which in the fairy tales of Aesop and Milton's Paradise Lost was called the 'food of immortality' by the Aztecs.

Amaranth belongs to the Amaranthus genus which contains 70 species. This plant is found on every continent although in some countries it is considered a weed. About 12 species of the genus Amaranthus are cultivated. This type was chosen as the most superior and included in large green vegetables.

Three species that have been domesticated include A. cruentus and A. hypochondriacus from Mexico and Central America, A. caudatus from the Andes, South America. In Indonesia, this plant is known as the spinach family and is consumed as a nutritious vegetable.

Amaranth plant illustration (Unsplash/Melody Zimmerman)

Certain types with purple, red, and gold leaf colors are often planted for ornamental purposes. While amaranth is a plant that can grow up to 3 meters high. From one plant amaranth is able to produce seeds such as corn. Although the size of the seeds is smaller than corn but the nutrition is good for diabetics and cardiovascular.

If traced based on history, it is not known exactly when amaranth was cultivated. However, the most powerful findings are thought to have been since the Aztec empire in the 15th and 16th centuries, the use of these foodstuffs began for ceremonial purposes.

In Central and South America, amaranth seeds – the popular name for amaranth – are processed as a sweet snack mixed with honey.

Amaranth contains nutrients, specifically as an energy-generating protein. The content in amaranth includes 9 types of essential amino acids, peptides that are useful as anti-inflammatory, and gluten-free. Whole amaranth seeds contain fiber, iron, selenium, B vitamins, and vitamin B6, magnesium, phosphorus, and manganese.

One cup of amaranth contains 116 milligrams of calcium. In addition, for diabetics who need to eat foods with a low glycemic index, amaranth can be an option. As reported by NDTV, a nutritionist said the benefits of amaranth.

“Amaranth provides 2 grams of fiber in every 100 gram serving. Amaranth has been found to be beneficial in lowering the hunger-stimulating hormone called ghrelin,” says Nmami Agarwal.

Nmami's advice, when consuming amaranth needs to be mixed so that it can neutralize the amount of glycemic index in it. For example, mixed with whole wheat so that the glycemic index can decrease to 25.