Sorghum flour: a plain grain flour with modest single trials

The strongest result near sorghum comes from a meta-analysis of 13 randomized trials with 1139 people, many of them anemic children. Regularly eating millets, with sorghum counted among them, raised hemoglobin by 13.6% against a 4.8% change in the control groups that was not significant, and sorghum flour was never tested on its own. As an ingredient it is an ordinary flour. Eight USDA samples of white, pearled, unenriched sorghum flour average 10.2 g protein, 3.3 g fiber and 2.2 mg iron per 3.5 oz (100 g), with no sodium. Magnesium in those samples ranged from 56 to 133 mg. The trials that used the flour directly are small and short. Pasta with 30% red sorghum flour lowered the 2 hour glucose response in 20 healthy adults after one breakfast, and they ate about 794 kJ less at lunch than after durum wheat pasta.

The numbers, per 3.5 oz (100 g)

How much is actually in it

• USDA lab samples of white sorghum flour average 10.2 g protein, 3.3 g fiber and 2.2 mg iron per 3.5 oz (100 g), with magnesium ranging from 56 to 133 mg. — USDA Foundation Foods, Sorghum flour, white, pearled, unenriched, dry, raw, FDC 2710840, 8 samples (n = 8 samples) Evidence E source
  Per 100 g: protein 10.2 g (7.9 to 12.4), fiber 3.3 g (2.6 to 4.6), iron 2.2 mg (1.4 to 2.6), magnesium 107 mg (56 to 133), thiamin 0.39 mg (0.20 to 0.52), zinc 1.3 mg (0.85 to 1.66), fat 3.2 g, sodium 0 mg

What your body absorbs

• In a 14-day crossover RCT in 10 adults eating 0.99 oz (28 g) a day of sorghum cereal, the authors concluded that the niacin of whole-ground sorghum appears to be absorbed. — 10 healthy adults, controlled diets, two 14-day periods, 28 g per day of sorghum cereal (n = 10) Evidence B source
  Serum nicotinamide higher with whole-ground than decorticated sorghum; urinary N-methylnicotinamide higher with decorticated

What it does to your health

• In a crossover RCT in 20 healthy adults, pasta with 30% red sorghum flour lowered the 2-hour glucose response and cut energy eaten at lunch by about 794 kJ. — 20 healthy adults, single breakfasts with 50 g available carbohydrate (n = 20) Evidence B source
  Glucose iAUC -651 mg/dL (-36.11 mmol/L) x min (95% CI -67.11 to -5.11); lunch energy intake -794 kJ (95% CI -1275 to -314) vs durum wheat pasta
• In a 12-week RCT in 60 overweight adults on a calorie-restricted diet, 45 g a day of red sorghum biscuits gave no more weight loss than white wheat biscuits. — 60 overweight and mildly obese adults (46 women), energy-restricted diet, 12 weeks (n = 60) Evidence B source
  No difference in weight loss (P = 0.369) or glucose, insulin, lipids, inflammation markers between groups
• In a crossover trial in 14 volunteers in Mali, traditional sorghum and millet porridges took about twice as long to half-empty from the stomach as rice, potato or pasta. — 14 healthy volunteers in Bamako, 8 starchy staples, plus a 6-person validation study (n = 14) Evidence B source
  Gastric half-emptying time about 2-fold longer for sorghum and millet foods (P < 0.0001)

Safety, limits and interactions

• In a clinical series of 20 Chinese people with beer allergy, sensitization to sorghum or sorghum malt was the most common finding. — 20 Chinese individuals with beer allergy tested by skin prick and oral provocation (n = 20) Evidence D source
  15 of 20 reacted to at least one beer ingredient; 9 reacted to sorghum and/or sorghum malt

Who this works differently for

• By a meta-analysis of 13 RCTs, regularly eating millets including sorghum raised hemoglobin by 13.6% against 4.8% in controls. — 13 randomized controlled trials, 590 intervention and 549 control participants, many children with anemia (n = 1139) Evidence A source
  Hemoglobin +13.6% vs +4.8% (control, not significant); SMD +0.68
• In an RCT in 389 Malawian children with severe malnutrition, a soy, maize and sorghum therapeutic food left 12.0% anemic at discharge against 24.5% on the standard peanut-milk food. — 389 children aged 6 to 59 months with severe acute malnutrition, Malawi (n = 389) Evidence B source
  Anemia at discharge 12.0% (milk-free SMS-RUTF) and 18.2% (with milk) vs 24.5% (peanut-milk RUTF), P = 0.023

The bottom line

Pasta made with white sorghum showed no glucose effect in the same trial, so the color of the grain may matter. Over 12 weeks, 60 overweight adults on a calorie-restricted diet who ate 1.6 oz (45 g) a day of red sorghum biscuits lost no more weight than those eating white wheat biscuits, and both groups lost weight. In 14 volunteers in Mali, traditional thick sorghum and millet porridges took about twice as long to half-empty from the stomach as rice, potato or pasta, which tells you about porridge more than about baked goods. An old trial from 1991 in 10 adults over two 14 day periods suggested that its niacin is absorbed, with higher blood nicotinamide (a niacin form) from whole-ground sorghum cereal than from polished, and the abstract gives no sizes. In 389 Malawian children treated for severe malnutrition, a therapeutic food of soy, maize and sorghum left 12.0% anemic at discharge against 24.5% on the standard peanut and milk food, and sorghum was one of three grains in it. Allergy is the one caution we have. In a case series of 20 Chinese people with beer allergy, 9 reacted to sorghum or sorghum malt, which is a signal from beer and not from flour. We found no clinical data here on sorghum and celiac disease, so a gluten-free label is the thing to check. We also found no portion data and no data on what baking does to its nutrients.

Sources

1. sgfl-daily-r8-01 · food composition dataset
   Sorghum flour, white, pearled, unenriched, dry (FDC 2710840): Protein 10.2125 g, range 7.9375-12.4375 | Fiber, total dietary 3.299 g, range 2.64-4.63, n 8 | Iron 2.225 mg, range 1.4-2.61, n 8 | Magnesium 107.0 mg, range 56.1-133.0, n 8 | Thiamin 0.3938 mg, range 0.2-0.52, n 8 | Zinc 1.318 mg, range 0.845-1.66, n 8 | Total lipid 3.238 g | Sodium 0.0 mg
   USDA FoodData Central, Foundation Foods, Sorghum flour, white, pearled, unenriched, dry, raw, FDC 2710840, release 2026-04-30 · checked 2026-10-02
2. sgfl-daily-r8-03 · RCT
   During two, randomly-arranged experimental periods of 14 days each, the 10 healthy adult subjects ate constant, laboratory controlled diets which included 28 g per day of either a ready-to-eat cereal prepared from whole-ground-sorghum flour or one prepared from decorticated (polished) sorghum flour. ... Therefore, it appears that the niacin of whole ground sorghum is absorbed but then the need for niacin is either increased or its urinary excretion is inhibited.
   Plant Foods Hum Nutr, 1991 · checked 2026-10-02
3. sgfl-daily-r8-02 · RCT
   In a randomised crossover design, healthy individuals (n = 20) consumed the following three iso-caloric test meals (each providing 50 g available carbohydrates) as breakfast: control pasta (CP) made from100% durum wheat; 30% red sorghum pasta (RSP) and; 30% white sorghum pasta (WSP). ... Energy intake at ad libitum lunch was significantly lower after the RSP meal than after the CP meal (-794.17 ± 163.25 kJ; 95% CI: -1274.77 ~ -313.57; P = 0.001).
   Eur J Clin Nutr, 2025 · checked 2026-10-02
4. sgfl-daily-r8-05 · RCT
   Sixty subjects (46 females) were randomized to either a sorghum (intervention) or white wheat (control) group, receiving 45 g of flaked cereal biscuits to include daily in their prescribed diets for 12 weeks. ... After 12 weeks, there were no significant differences in weight loss or any clinical variables between a wheat control and sorghum cereal group in an energy-restricted diet.
   J Am Coll Nutr, 2017 · checked 2026-10-02
5. sgfl-daily-r8-06 · RCT
   Fourteen healthy volunteers in Bamako participated in a crossover design to test eight starchy staples. ... In both trials, traditional sorghum and millet foods (thick porridges and millet couscous) had gastric half-emptying times about twice as long as rice, potato, or pasta (p < 0.0001).
   Nutrients, 2018 · checked 2026-10-02
6. sgfl-daily-r8-08 · case series
   Fifteen patients (75%) showed positive reactions to one or more beer ingredients. Of these, 9 individuals, reactive to sorghum and/or sorghum malt also showed positive reactions to other ingredients. ... Sensitization to sorghum and/or sorghum malt was the most common finding in Chinese individuals with beer allergy.
   Int Arch Allergy Immunol, 2014 · checked 2026-10-02
7. sgfl-daily-r8-04 · meta-analysis
   Thirteen published studies featuring randomized control trials involving 590 individuals in the intervention group and 549 control individuals were eligible for the meta-analysis. ... The change in hemoglobin concentration observed in the intervention group was +13.6%, which is statistically significant (p < 0.0005), compared to that in the control group, which was +4.8% and not statistically significant (p = 0.1362).
   Front Nutr, 2024 · checked 2026-10-02
8. sgfl-daily-r8-07 · RCT
   At discharge, nutrition rehabilitation with SMS-RUTF was associated with the lowest prevalence of anaemia [12.0(6.9-20.3)% for FSMS-RUTF, 18.2(11.9-26.8)% for MSMS-RUTF and 24.5(15.8-35.9)% for PM-RUTF; p = 0.023]
   BMC Public Health, 2019 · checked 2026-10-02