For as long as we’ve been able to choose what we eat, we’ve been confronted with one of the little ways that life can be unfair.
It’s been said time and time again, but why is it that the foods that are the worst for us immediately taste great while the ones that can actually help us are often an acquired taste?
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Still, as hard as it may be to choke down a kale smoothie for some, it’s probably much easier to convince people to try that than cockroach milk. And yet, there’s a good reason to give it a shot.
First off, it’s important to note that cockroach milk isn’t really “milk” as we understand it.
As The Guardian reported , cockroaches actually secrete this stuff in the form of enough tiny crystals to feed about 50 of its young.
That said, these crystals are actually supposed to taste a little bit like cow’s milk.
And that’s pretty handy, because research from the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine in India suggests that it’s loaded with nutrients.
As Sanchari Banerjee – one of the scientists involved – said , “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.”
However, in terms of cosmetic effects on us, cockroach milk could be more of a mixed blessing at best.
![Image credit: Reddit | [deleted]](https://static.diply.com/TLvD6MnEG4pIENYI7iX1.jpg)
As dermatologist Rachel Nazarian told Marie Claire , its high sugar content has the potential to accelerate skin ageing and might also make acne worse in some cases depending on the growth hormones in it.
At the same time, the protein and fat content are supposed to be good for strengthening hair and nails, so it depends on the look you’re going for.
There’s also one problem with cockroach milk that might disappoint the curious and give comfort to the squeamish.
As The Guardian reported , it takes way more cockroaches than most people want in one place to fill even a glass with this “milk.”
There’s also the issue that we can’t really get this milk without killing the cockroaches.
Because of these factors, it’s unlikely that it would be either sustainable or cost-effective for cockroach milk to end up on store shelves anytime soon.
Even so, it’s still possible to get these benefits from companies like Gourmet Grubb, who make “ice cream” from the milk of sustainably farmed insects.
According to The Guardian , they call this stuff “entomilk” and they say it’s rich in protein, iron, zinc, and calcium.
It’s also becoming less unheard of for people stateside to eat whole insects to similar benefit.
But if the idea of chowing down on this guy is still unappealing, another company called Crunchy Critters has an array of freeze-dried and dehydrated insects to choose from.
h/t: The Guardian
