Is cockroach milk the next superfood?
Postmedia Network and Washington Post
First posted: Tuesday, July 26, 2016 05:17 PM EDT | Updated: Tuesday, July 26, 2016 05:25 PM EDT
A natural protein crystal that doesn't take like much but contains nature's most powerful energy-packed protein punch could be your next go-to superfood -- if only you can get over the fact it's, well, cockroach milk.
Scientists are taking a longer look at the milk crystals of the Pacific beetle cockroach. Unlike most cockroaches that lay eggs, this one gives live birth and moms provide a food of liquid crystals packed with fats, sugars and proteins to its brood.
According to research published recently in the journal for the International Union of Crystallography, IUCRJ, pound-for-pound, cockroach milk crystals contain three times more energy than buffalo milk, the previous top contender for proteins with the most calories.
"It's a complete food," Subramanian Ramaswamy, a biochemist at the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine in Bangalore, India, told The Washington Post. "I could see them in protein drinks."
Unfortunately, fans who can't wait to gobble up cockroach milk might have to wait a little longer.
Scientists still need to test whether humans can digest it. And since you can't milk a cockroach in the traditional sense, researchers would need to figure out how to extract it another way.
Plus the obvious: "I don't think anyone is going to like it if you tell them, 'We extracted crystals from a cockroach and that is going to be food,'" Ramaswamy said.
Is cockroach milk the next superfood? | Weird | News | Toronto Sun
Postmedia Network and Washington Post
First posted: Tuesday, July 26, 2016 05:17 PM EDT | Updated: Tuesday, July 26, 2016 05:25 PM EDT
A natural protein crystal that doesn't take like much but contains nature's most powerful energy-packed protein punch could be your next go-to superfood -- if only you can get over the fact it's, well, cockroach milk.
Scientists are taking a longer look at the milk crystals of the Pacific beetle cockroach. Unlike most cockroaches that lay eggs, this one gives live birth and moms provide a food of liquid crystals packed with fats, sugars and proteins to its brood.
According to research published recently in the journal for the International Union of Crystallography, IUCRJ, pound-for-pound, cockroach milk crystals contain three times more energy than buffalo milk, the previous top contender for proteins with the most calories.
"It's a complete food," Subramanian Ramaswamy, a biochemist at the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine in Bangalore, India, told The Washington Post. "I could see them in protein drinks."
Unfortunately, fans who can't wait to gobble up cockroach milk might have to wait a little longer.
Scientists still need to test whether humans can digest it. And since you can't milk a cockroach in the traditional sense, researchers would need to figure out how to extract it another way.
Plus the obvious: "I don't think anyone is going to like it if you tell them, 'We extracted crystals from a cockroach and that is going to be food,'" Ramaswamy said.
Is cockroach milk the next superfood? | Weird | News | Toronto Sun
