Amaranthus spinosus is used as a green food in South Africa, Southern Rhodsia, Porttuguese, East Africa, West Africa, India and the Philippines.
The plant is eaten by livestock and the seed by birds.
The plant has been used as a remedy for menorrhagia, colic and gonorrhoea, as a mild purgative and as a vegetable in the Antilles, India, the Philippines and East Indies. In India and the Philippines it is used for eczema.
Other uses of the plant are: in the Philippines the herb as a sudorific, febrifuge and galactogogue; in Ghana for piles and as an expectorant; in Malaya and Mauritius as a diuretic (Watt and Breyer-Brandwijk, 1962).
In India, it is also used for skin diseases treatment (Yadav et al., 2009; Prakash et al., 2011), as a diuretic and for retention of urine (Punjani, 2010). Amaranthus spinosus is reported to be used in menorrhagia, gonorrhea, eczema, colic and as a lactagogue (Chopra et al., 1956; Banerji, 1980).
In Nigeria the leaves decoction is used for abdominal pain, snake bite and piles (Ige, 2011).

Pollen extract preparation of the plant gave positive clinical allergic reactions (Laserna et al., 1960). Injection of Amaranthis spinosus pollen extract induced production of blood antibodies in rabbits, demonstrated by agglutination of the specific antigens, and a rise in body temperature (Baruah and Chetia, 1965-1966).