Amaranth + Lovastatin

At least one FDA label for a product containing Lovastatin says to take it with food. If you take Amaranth on an empty stomach out of habit, keep them separate — and take Lovastatin with a meal where the label says to.

This may not be true of your version. Food instructions belong to the product, not the ingredient: two Lovastatin products can carry different directions, and extended-release forms often differ from immediate-release ones. The label we read is quoted below — check the directions on your own box or bottle, or ask your pharmacist, for how to take the exact product you were given.

A food rule is not an interaction — it is about how much of the medicine you absorb. The directions that came with your own product, and your pharmacist, outrank anything on this page.

These two come up together because they touch the same health topic — not because they do the same job. Lovastatin is a prescription medicine with approved uses on its FDA label. Amaranth is a supplement: what follows is what researchers have looked at it for, and how strong that evidence is.

Lovastatin is prescribed for: Lovastatin is used to lower high LDL ("bad") cholesterol and total cholesterol in people whose levels have not improved enough with diet alone. It is also used to slow the buildup of plaque in the arteries (coronary atherosclerosis) in people who already have coronary heart disease. In adults without existing heart disease but with high cholesterol and low HDL ("good") cholesterol, lovastatin tablets are approved to reduce the risk of heart attack, unstable angina, and the need for procedures to open blocked arteries. Lovastatin tablets are also approved for adolescents aged 10–17 with a specific inherited condition called heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (heFH), when diet changes alone haven't been enough.

Amaranth has been studied for:

• Hypercholesterolemia studied, not established Amaranth has been studied for this. Natural Medicines rates the evidence: Possibly Ineffective Read what the research shows

  Amaranth for hypercholesterolemia

  Preliminary clinical research shows that eating muffins made with amaranth flour or taking oral doses of amaranth oil 3-18 mL daily while following a reduced fat diet for 3-4 weeks does not reduce serum cholesterol levels more than the reduced fat diet alone.

  4 sources cited

  1. 6188. Maier SM, Turner ND, Lupton JR. Serum lipids in hypercholesterolemic men and women consuming oat bran and amaranth products. Cereal Chem 2000:77;297-302. DOI ↗
  2. 31069. Martirosyan, D. M., Miroshnichenko, L. A., Kulakova, S. N., Pogojeva, A. V., and Zoloedov, V. I. Amaranth oil application for coronary heart disease and hypertension. Lipids Health Dis. 2007;6:1.
  3. 104834. Dus-Zuchowska M, Walkowiak J, Morawska A, et al. Amaranth oil increases total and LDL cholesterol levels without influencing early markers of atherosclerosis in an overweight and obese population: A randomized double-blind cross-over study in comparison w
  4. 104837. Moszak M, Zawada A, Juchacz A, Grzymislawski M, Bogdanski P. Comparison of the effect of rapeseed oil or amaranth seed oil supplementation on weight loss, body composition, and changes in the metabolic profile of obese patients following 3-week body mass

Effectiveness ratings and the research summaries above are the verbatim record from the Natural Medicines database, which grades evidence from “Effective” down to “Insufficient Reliable Evidence To Rate”. A rating below the top of that scale means researchers have looked at it — not that it works, and never that it can stand in for a prescribed medicine. Do not stop or replace Lovastatin on your own; if you are taking Amaranth for the same health topic, tell your prescriber, especially if the medicine is being adjusted to a target.

These are real questions from readers, answered by the pharmacists at HelloPharmacist — written by a person, not generated from a database. Each one covers Amaranth or Lovastatin, not necessarily both, but if one is close to what you were about to ask it will usually go further than a database entry can:

• Can You Take Red Yeast Rice With Repatha (Evolocumab)? Answered by Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD · August 2026 ›
• Is It Safe to Eat Pomegranate Seeds With Pravastatin? Answered by Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD · July 2026 ›
• Red Yeast Rice vs. Bergamot for Cholesterol: Which Works Better? Answered by Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD · July 2026 ›

Not quite your question? Ask our pharmacists directly — it is free, there is no account required, and answers usually come back within 24 hours.

This page covers Amaranth only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the Lovastatin page lists 184 supplements it has a documented interaction with, worst first, each one explained.

The most serious there right now: Activated Charcoal (major), Apple (major), Beer (major), Grapefruit (major) and Siberian Cocklebur (major).

By severity: 8 major · 140 moderate · 36 minor.

Open the Lovastatin interaction page ›

We hold 404 real supplement products containing Amaranth, each one broken down to its full ingredient list — and combination products often carry several ingredients besides Amaranth. Even though Amaranth itself has no known interaction with Lovastatin, another ingredient on your label might. Find your product and we’ll check every ingredient on its label:

Out of every supplement and medication people look up on HelloPharmacist, here is where these two land this week — and which way each has been moving.

Position among everything looked up on this site, not a measure of how commonly either one is used or how important it is. A supplement can climb this list because of a news story. It counts every request to the page, automated ones included, and nothing here identifies anyone.

Natural Medicines records Lovastatin as a medicine that can lower these. This is not an interaction with Amaranth — it is a separate effect of the medicine, and it is a reason some people are advised to supplement rather than to avoid one:

• COENZYME Q10›

Read the full Lovastatin nutrient depletion report ›

Depletion records come from the licensed Natural Medicines database. Do not start a supplement on the strength of this page — ask your pharmacist or doctor whether it applies to you.