Don’t have a cow — cockroach “milk” could be the next superfood.
So say an international team of scientists led by India’s Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine which found that bug juice in the Pacific beetle cockroach is crawling with good-for-you protein and calories.
Unlike other insects of its ilk that lay eggs, the Pacific beetle cockroach gives birth to live young. Mama roach lactates protein-rich crystals that also supply fats, sugars and amino acids to nourish the growing baby.
In the journal for the International Union of Crystallography researcher Leonard Chavas explained that the crystals in question have three times the energy a person gets from cow’s milk. So moo-ve over Elsie. Cockroach milk has the potential to be a healthy human protein supplement, despite the gross-out factor.
Tapping cockroach milk for human consumption is in its early phase. Researchers are working to sequence the genes so they can be reproduced in a lab, so don’t expect to gulp cockroach milk-infused protein shake any time soon. So yeah, yuck.
