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rug

(82,333 posts)
Wed Jul 27, 2016, 09:04 PM Jul 2016

Is cockroach milk the superfood of the future?

By BRIAN MASTROIANNI
CBS NEWS
July 27, 2016, 1:42 PM

Will cockroach milk soon be on the menu? A research team based at the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine in India believes that the "milk" from the Pacific beetle cockroach -- the protein-rich crystals that the insects lactate to feed their young -- could make for the next great superfood. Now, maybe you'll think twice before squashing that pesky cockroach in your apartment.

This particular species of cockroach is the only one that gives birth to live young, as opposed to laying eggs. Their "milk" is made up of protein-infused crystals reported to have three times the energy of the equivalent mass of normal dairy 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.

Cockroach milk is not just a wellspring of nutrients, it is also a "time-released food," added lead study author Subramanian Ramaswamy, meaning that once the crystals' protein is digested, more protein continues to be released through the body at a steady rate.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/is-cockroach-milk-the-superfood-of-the-future/

http://journals.iucr.org/m/issues/2016/04/00/jt5013/index.html

38 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Is cockroach milk the superfood of the future? (Original Post) rug Jul 2016 OP
Hmmmm MFM008 Jul 2016 #1
No. Just no. La Lioness Priyanka Jul 2016 #2
No insect milk for me. boston bean Jul 2016 #3
As long as we continue to overpopulate this planet.... ClairDiamond Jul 2016 #4
Well, OK - but we're going to look awfully silly suckling from such a tiny creature. Solly Mack Jul 2016 #5
Or worse, trying to milk one. Scurrilous Jul 2016 #7
We'll need tiny hands. Finally! Something Trump is qualified for! Solly Mack Jul 2016 #8
WIN!! GaYellowDawg Jul 2016 #25
But I'd feel bad for the cockroach. :( Solly Mack Jul 2016 #29
OMG! Made me laugh again!! GaYellowDawg Jul 2016 #30
I put roaches above Trump, Cruz, several others. Solly Mack Jul 2016 #31
"Hey, don't forget me" says Little Marco Rubio. imanamerican63 Jul 2016 #37
Wooden shoes optional: sl8 Jul 2016 #16
Now, that is too funny! angstlessk Jul 2016 #9
It does. I know I giggled. :) Solly Mack Jul 2016 #11
Dear God almighty vdogg Jul 2016 #6
Thank Ceiling Cat it's not made the way almond milk is made. nt eppur_se_muova Jul 2016 #10
They only call it "Almond Milk" because "Nut Juice" sounds fucky. n/t A HERETIC I AM Jul 2016 #35
all cockroaches need to go extinct JI7 Jul 2016 #12
And if you order now SCantiGOP Jul 2016 #13
A diet of insects would be a... 3catwoman3 Jul 2016 #14
Who knew that roaches had mammaries? MrScorpio Jul 2016 #15
Easy. Cage the cockroaches. Build tiny machines to milk them. Breed trillions... cherokeeprogressive Jul 2016 #17
Little tiny milking machines? pinboy3niner Jul 2016 #20
I think the hardest part will be teaching the aphids to herd them into the barns. cherokeeprogressive Jul 2016 #21
As a guy I may be partial to breasts but dude, you may be going too far pinboy3niner Jul 2016 #22
Mmh, Yummy. Can't wait for a taste of that lovely cockroach milk... n/t Little Tich Jul 2016 #18
If there is a just God, no. Arkana Jul 2016 #19
you can all drink your super roach milk Takket Jul 2016 #23
Does it really matter which creature's secretions you are imbibing? synergie Jul 2016 #36
Sounds odd, but it could happen in the future. Lancero Jul 2016 #24
I can't get past the name. sarae Jul 2016 #26
But nobody in his right mind would volunteer to milk Trump pinboy3niner Jul 2016 #27
Ew. I'd rather be nursed by a roach. Solly Mack Jul 2016 #33
Now that's udderly ridiculous! longship Jul 2016 #28
I HATE cockroaches. GaYellowDawg Jul 2016 #32
Why so worried? pinboy3niner Jul 2016 #34
if it boosts performance and does not show up in a urine test Pro athletes will snap it up dembotoz Jul 2016 #38

Solly Mack

(90,771 posts)
5. Well, OK - but we're going to look awfully silly suckling from such a tiny creature.
Wed Jul 27, 2016, 09:25 PM
Jul 2016



That said...interesting.

Solly Mack

(90,771 posts)
31. I put roaches above Trump, Cruz, several others.
Thu Jul 28, 2016, 03:38 AM
Jul 2016

Feeding the world is more than they could ever do, making the Pacific Beetle Cockroach far superior in character and value.

vdogg

(1,384 posts)
6. Dear God almighty
Wed Jul 27, 2016, 09:26 PM
Jul 2016

I will quit drinking coffee the minute this becomes a thing. Absolutely fucking no. Nope nope nope nope nope!!!@

 

cherokeeprogressive

(24,853 posts)
17. Easy. Cage the cockroaches. Build tiny machines to milk them. Breed trillions...
Wed Jul 27, 2016, 10:16 PM
Jul 2016

Use their excrement for fertilizer. If their milk is that potent, their shit should be pretty bad ass as well. And when they're all used up? Grind them and turn them into flour.

Feed the world.

 

cherokeeprogressive

(24,853 posts)
21. I think the hardest part will be teaching the aphids to herd them into the barns.
Wed Jul 27, 2016, 10:30 PM
Jul 2016

Tiny, matchbox-sized barns.

Tiny milking machines shouldn't be a problem. I read in a science fiction book once about building machines that build smaller machines that build smaller machines that build smaller machines... and so on.

Hookin' 'em up? Different story I guess! Tiny teats!

I wanna be a cockroach farmer!

Takket

(21,577 posts)
23. you can all drink your super roach milk
Wed Jul 27, 2016, 10:35 PM
Jul 2016

I'll be over here with my cow's milk, thank you very much

Lancero

(3,003 posts)
24. Sounds odd, but it could happen in the future.
Wed Jul 27, 2016, 10:49 PM
Jul 2016

Back in the past Lobster was considered a bad catch, only good for fertalizer and bait, and eating it was considered a mark of poverty. The only widespread use of it for food was to feed prisoners because, well... People didn't think that they deserved 'quality' food.

Now, it's considered to be a good food source and depending upon the area and type of preperation it ranges between a middle to upper class food. (Hilariously though, it's actually the middle-class priced lobster that'd be the best - New-shell can't be safely shipped out so it has to be used locally.)

So yeah, given that undesirable food has changed to be desirable, or at the least tolerated, in the past I wouldn't dismiss this claim completely out of hand.

GaYellowDawg

(4,447 posts)
32. I HATE cockroaches.
Thu Jul 28, 2016, 03:42 AM
Jul 2016

HATE them. I lived in Savannah for three years, and I was in an old house (i.e., plenty of places for vermin to enter) and the property was right beside a drainage ditch and there were lots of trees around. So of course I had a constant battle with cockroaches. Didn't matter how clean I kept the place, they were ALWAYS around. And they weren't just any cockroaches. They were the big armored beasts. I called them tankroaches. There were three animals that always were around the house. Tankroaches. Fruit flies (which I couldn't get rid of until I poured bleach down every drain in the house). And for some reason, frogs turned up in my mailbox at least twice a week. I'd open the mailbox and one would leap out. About a quarter of the time, the frog would land straight on my face. But you know what the terrible thing was? The cockroaches were three times the size of the frogs. Even though they were tiny frogs and therefore cute as hell, and I always viewed them landing on my face as just trying to hug me, still. Huge tankroaches.

So yuck. Superfood? I say super HELL NO. If I had a choice between cockroach milk and dying, fit me for a casket.

dembotoz

(16,808 posts)
38. if it boosts performance and does not show up in a urine test Pro athletes will snap it up
Thu Jul 28, 2016, 09:13 AM
Jul 2016

gnc will mark it up a brazillion percent and sell it by the vat

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