They may look gross but turns out cockroaches are responsible for one of the latest superfoods. Yep, a 2016 study has resurfaced and found that cockroach milk (that’s right, milk from cockroaches) is actually pretty good for you.
But before you grab the bug spray and vow to never drink milk again, let’s have a look at some of the benefits of this unusual delicacy.
We’re with you Michelle. (Via Giphy)
First up, we should mention that if you’re game enough to try cockroach milk, it needs to come from a certain type. A research team from the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine in India found that the superfood milk comes from the Pacific beetle cockroach, which gives birth to live young as opposed to laying eggs. And luckily for us, they’re found in Australia.
Feeling grossed out yet? Well maybe this will convince you…
The “milk” is made up of nutrient-rich crystals and have three times the energy of the equivalent mass of your average cow’s milk.
“The crystals are like a complete food — they have proteins, fats and sugars. If you look into the protein sequences, they have all the essential amino acids,” Sanchari Banerjee, one of the main researchers, told the Times of India.
Good for dairy-free people!
Not only that, but cockroach milk is environmentally-friendly too so you could reduce your carbon footprint. South African ice cream company Gourmet Grub have been using entomilk as a main ingredient in their products, which is made from sustainably farmed insects.
“Farming insects as a protein source is 99 per cent more viable then farming cows in terms of harmful gasses. Compared to chickens, pigs and cows, insects require a fraction of the water necessary for farming them,” says their website.
“As an environmentally sustainable source of farmed protein for future and even current generations, insects outdo traditional livestock almost entirely.”
So will we be seeing the stuff on supermarket shelves in the near future? Well the study’s co-author Leonard Chavas told scientific publication Inverse that it would take 10 cockroaches to produce about half a millimetre of milk, and by killing around 1000 cockroaches will only get you 100ml of milk. Plus, scientists are still checking that the crystals aren’t totally toxic for humans!
As for the taste? From what we’ve gathered, it tastes like normal milk. Just try not to think about where it came from!
