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Is Cockroach Milk the Ultimate Superfood? (globalnews.ca)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Global News: It may not be everyone's cup of milk, but for years now, some researchers believe insect milk, like cockroach milk, could be the next big dairy alternative. A report in 2016 found Pacific Beetle cockroaches specifically created nutrient-filled milk crystals that could also benefit humans, the Hindustan Times reports. Others report producing cockroach milk isn't easy, either -- it takes 1,000 cockroaches to make 100 grams of milk, Inverse reports, and other options could include a cockroach milk pill. And although it has been two years since the study, some people are still hopeful. Insect milk, or entomilk, is already being used and consumed by Cape Town-based company Gourmet Grubb, IOL reports.
Jarrod Goldin, [president of Entomo Farms which launched in 2014], got interested in the insect market after the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation in 2013 announced people around the world were consuming more than 1,900 insects. As his brothers were already farming insects for fishing and reptile use, Goldin thought it would be a smart business opportunity to focus on food. Goldin adds studies have shown cricket powder can be a high source of protein and B12. The PC version his company produces has 13 grams of protein per every 2 1/2 tbsps. Toronto-based registered dietitian Andy De Santis says for protein alternatives, insects are definitely in the playing field. According to ScienceAlert, Diploptera punctate is the only known cockroach to give birth to live young and has been shown to pump out a type of "milk" containing protein crystals to feed its babies. "The fact that an insect produces milk is pretty fascinating -- but what fascinated researchers is the fact that a single one of these protein crystals contains more than three times the amount of energy found in an equivalent amount of buffalo milk (which is also higher in calories than regular cow's milk)."
Researchers are now working to replicate the crystals in the lab. They are working with yeast to produce the crystal in much larger quantities -- "making it slightly more efficient than extracting crystals from cockroach's guts," reports ScienceAlert.
Jarrod Goldin, [president of Entomo Farms which launched in 2014], got interested in the insect market after the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation in 2013 announced people around the world were consuming more than 1,900 insects. As his brothers were already farming insects for fishing and reptile use, Goldin thought it would be a smart business opportunity to focus on food. Goldin adds studies have shown cricket powder can be a high source of protein and B12. The PC version his company produces has 13 grams of protein per every 2 1/2 tbsps. Toronto-based registered dietitian Andy De Santis says for protein alternatives, insects are definitely in the playing field. According to ScienceAlert, Diploptera punctate is the only known cockroach to give birth to live young and has been shown to pump out a type of "milk" containing protein crystals to feed its babies. "The fact that an insect produces milk is pretty fascinating -- but what fascinated researchers is the fact that a single one of these protein crystals contains more than three times the amount of energy found in an equivalent amount of buffalo milk (which is also higher in calories than regular cow's milk)."
Researchers are now working to replicate the crystals in the lab. They are working with yeast to produce the crystal in much larger quantities -- "making it slightly more efficient than extracting crystals from cockroach's guts," reports ScienceAlert.
According to every metastudy I've ever seen on the subject, while nutrition is important - as long as you're getting a minimum of basic staple foods, and not too much of some things - then you're generally at optimal diet.
Bodies cope with what they get, as long as they start off healthy. Get some organ damage, and yeah - low sodium diet becomes important. The body just gets stupid when it gets too much and runs out of place for something, like fat soluble vitamins or metals, and for some folks, sugars.
"Super foods" are a nice concept - but they almost never have a payoff worth the cost. The closest to a decent return are the simpler ones - oats, veggies, fruits, berries (take your pick) - but the fashionable over-specific ones tend to be single-study hype train events. Other effects end up largely negligible when looked into - for instance diet-based anti-oxidents don't tend to translate to preventing cell damage to a very large extent, other than taking the place of other foods.
Seeking general happiness and quality of life are "healthier" than trying to pick the perfect food.
But, I suppose if eating cockroach extract makes you happy - then cool for you. Just... mention what it is to folks BEFORE you offer it to anyone. And don't don't be terribly offended if people roll their eyes or just walk away when you explain that it is "cruelty free cockroach milk."
Ryan Fenton
You can milk anything with nipples other than robert De Niro
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
So, we have a "food" produced by insects that humans have not consumed until now. Since humans have never eaten it before, it may or may not be fully suitable for human needs. It does, however, have a high concentration of some specific nutrients that humans need.
But actually harvesting the food from insects is difficult so they want to engineer yeast to produce it.
So, if you need to create an artificial "bio factory" to create the substance, why not skip the cockroach step and engineer the yeast to produce a substance that either we know is useful for humans because humans already eat it, or a substance designed to be useful to humans?
Or is genetic engineering just not that sophisticated yet and the best we can do is cut and paste a DNA sequence from cockroaches and hope it does it the same thing in yeast?
Can you imagine trying to get between their back legs to milk them? And for sure you'd keep losing the bucket.
I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
Heading to the patent office to get a jump on the itsy-bitsy teeny-weenie milking machines that will be required by the trillions on the industrial scale cockroach farms......
Donald Trump, on a crusade to make Nixon look respectable
The problem with superfoods is that you can get the same "effect" by eating OHTER foods that you may actually enjoy. And even then, it's likely still just in your head.
How many cockroaches are needed for a grande latte?
One dustpan's worth.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
Well, at least this article got me thinking about cockroach tiddies, which is a first.
You are welcome on my lawn.
...but let's be reasonable: are there really very many people who would rather drink cockroach milk over milk made from soy, rice, almonds, cashews, etc..?
Same with all these new insect 'energy bars' I'm finding. The idea is sustainability. Which I'm all for. But again: are there really a lot of people who'd rather eat insects than plants? Is this just a gimmick/fad, or is there a burgeoning population dying to eat this stuff?
Bugs are only eaten in cultures which have no other dietary options.
I am not so sure about that. I have mostly seen insects eaten as a delicacy or a special treat. Like honeypot ants for dessert, or a bowl of delicious fried crickets as an after dinner snack.
List of objections:
1. No
2. Cockroaches don't have babies
3. No
4. Cows a kind of cute and make great jackets
5. No
6. Cockroaches are gross
7. No No No NO
My ism, it's full of beliefs.
Look at the way hamburger 'meat' in America contains on average 5 to 7% beef ONLY nowadays, depending on brand.
Nonsense. Unless you're buying your meat from the rebels living in the sewers of San Angeles, this isn't even remotely true.
By the way pork tastes gross, eat beef instead.
If you think bacon tastes gross your biology has horribly failed you.
I just don't see the point here. There's already a bunch of plant-based alternatives that don't involved roaches (rice, soy, almond, quinoa, coconut, ect.).
The point is this: There's no such thing as a superfood. It's 100% pure unadulterated marketing wank made up by scammers as a way to extract money from holistic idiots.
Somebody out there is hoping "Cockroach milk" is the new "Royal Jelly". That's all this is.
Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
No sig today...
The do indeed have six legs, but they also bear live offspring and feed them milk. Apart from them not being warm-blooded, that would almost make them mammals...
They would almost be mammals were they not insects and completely different.
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The PC version his company produces has 13 grams of protein per every 2 1/2 tbsps.
But what about the Mac version??
About the same but it costs twice as much.
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