This is what you need to know about cockroach milk
There's a lot of hype around cockroach milk and why you should consume it, but what is cockroach milk?
A study has shown that cockroach milk could be good for you as it contains amino acids and three times more energy than normal milk.
The thought of cockroach milk on its own requires a huge stretch of the imagination. Apart from being gross, none of us can imagine how it's harvested...
Yes, you might have read about cockroach milk. But what exactly is it? If you have noticed this superfood trend crawling onto your newsfeed and want to know more about it, then here’s what it’s all about.
It all started back in 2016, when scientists published research about the "cockroach equivalent of human breast milk".
The female Pacific beetle gives birth and provides milk for its children, so researchers decided to dissect baby roaches and found nutrient-filled crystallized milk particles inside.
"The protein crystals contain proteins, lipids, and sugars. If you look into the protein sequences, they have all the essential amino acids," according to Sanchari Banerjee, author of the paper published in the Journal of the International Union of Crystallography.
Obviously, it would take a whole lot of insects to make a glass of milk, and cockroaches die when their fluid is extracted.
Cockroach milk isn't yet available for sale, but some articles have referred to South African-based Gourmet Grubb and its product, EntoMilk, in conjunction with cockroach milk, but these products are not the same.
EntoMilk is made of insects and meant as "a milk alternative that can be consumed in the same way as traditional milk," unlike the protein crystals found in cockroach milk, according to Jean Louwrens, one of the co-founders and head of operations at Gourmet Grubb.
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Watch this fun and simple explanation about the new superfood:
Would you drink cockroach milk?