Cockroach Milk: The Outrageous Food Trend You Should Try

The year 2018 has so far seen a lot of Outrageous Food trends but there is a very high chance that you haven’t heard of people taking cockroach milk.
Yes. You heard right. Cockroach milk is most likely one of the food trends you never thought was possible or even want to imagine taking. Unfortunately however, it is one food fad that doesn’t want to go away, pretty much like the bugs themselves.
Asides thinking of how gross it maybe, there are apparent health benefits of cockroach milk and it is beginning to get much needed publicity. The stomach-churning beverage is making the news and according to multiple outlets, nutrient-rich cockroach milk is the latest superfood you should be on the lookout for.
What Is Cockroach Milk?
The cockroach milk is the equivalent of human breast milk. The female Pacific beetle is one of the rare cockroach species that gives birth to live bugs and feeds her babies milk.
In 2016, researchers dissected baby roaches and discovered that their milk forms tiny crystals after being digested by the babies and these crystallized milk particles are loaded with nutrients.
The crystals are like a complete food that has proteins, fats and sugars and researchers say they have all the essential amino acids.”
In fact, a paper in the Journal of the International Union of Crystallography in 2016 concluded that cockroach milk is one of the most nutritious things you can drink. It has three times more calories than buffalo milk, which contains 236 calories and 9.2 grams of protein per cup.
So Why Is It Trending Now?
The reason for the renewed discussions around cockroach milk seems to be as a result of a South African company Gourmet Grubb. Established in 2017, the company sells ice cream made with insect milk, or entomilk, but it’s not clear whether the milk comes from roaches.
Is Cockroach Milk the Next Big Superfood?
Probably not. It takes a lot of cockroaches to make ample amounts of milk for human consumption. More so, there’s not enough research to make this nauseating food appealing. On one hand, insect farms can be easily greener and more sustainable than bovine farming, but on the other hand, we don’t know what the effect of this food on us in the long term is and if there is a daily maximum amount to consider.
Not to mention, there are plenty of other nutritious foods that more appetizing. Just because it contains nutrients doesn’t necessarily mean we need to rush out and eat it.