Amaranth vs. Quinoa: a comparison

Both amaranth and quinoa are often cited when it comes to healthy eating. We took a closer look at the food and compared the two pseudo-cereals.

Amaranth vs Quinoa: First the similarities

The two foods look similar.

Both are small grains, with quinoa seeds slightly larger than amaranth.
Both amaranth and quinoa are pseudo-cereals.
As a result, both are gluten-free, so they are well suited for celiac disease, i.e. gluten intolerance.
Both plants belong to the family of the foxtail family, whereby quinoa is a representative of the genus of the goose family.
With regard to the protein content, amaranth and quinoa differ only marginally. The grains of both varieties provide very high quality protein.

In addition to the similarities, there are also subtle differences.

100 grams of amaranth contain around 400 calories and thus slightly more than quinoa with its around 340 calories.
Amaranth and quinoa differ significantly in their fat content. Here, amaranth brings more with just under 9 grams per 100 grams than quinoa with 5 grams per 100 grams.
Amaranth is also ahead in terms of fiber. Here 10 grams per 100 grams contrast the fiber content from 7 grams to 100 grams of quinoa.
Quinoa scores with vitamins B1 and B2. The salary is about four times that of amaranth.
In addition, quinoa contains vitamins C and E, which are missing from amaranth.

In our next post, we'll compare the sweet potato with the potato.