Will Illinois People Start Drinking Cockroach Milk?

It's time to pour out your almond milk, because there's a new kind of milk in town, and it has all the nutrients you could ever want. You may be thinking, “Well, if it's this good for me, I need to try it.” Before you get your hopes up, this milk only comes from one animal, and that animal is the cockroach. You heard that right, cockroaches.

The craziest part is that cockroaches do produce milk. Whether you want to try it or not, this is a fun fact that you can share with your friends, and maybe you can even share a glass of cockroach milk over the conversation.

Not For Everyone

You're not alone on this one. Most people wouldn't even consider trying cockroach milk. But before you start hating, at least consider the benefits of this interesting type of milk. Cockroach milk is among the most nutritious substances on Earth. It's three times richer in calories than buffalo milk, which was the previous contender for the most protein and calorie-rich milk.

Who's Drinking This Stuff?

Barbara Stay, a professor emerita at the University of Iowa, was among the first to study the insects' milk. Stay found that she was able to extract the roach milk in crystal or liquid form through a process that she dubbed “milking a cockroach.”

In another study, which took place at the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine in Bangalore, India, a researcher tasted the substance. The substance tasted like pretty much nothing. Maybe next time you're enjoying your morning coffee, you should add a splash of cockroach milk.

Take My Money

Could a health-food market landscape that already stocks cow, goat, almond, soy, cashew, hemp, rice, and coconut milk now see cockroach milk as the next big superfood? Not yet. Researchers say that, in principle, it should be safe for consumption; however, there is no evidence that it is safe for humans to consume. Along with this, cockroaches aren't the easiest creatures to milk.

The Superfood Put On Hold

While cockroach milk sounds like something straight out of a sci-fi movie, it’s a real scientific curiosity packed with the best nutritional value. For now, it’s more of a fascinating fun fact than a staple for your grocery list. Researchers are still figuring out if it’s safe and practical for people to drink. Until then, you're going to have to stick with your oat latte, and don’t go rolling up to Starbucks and asking to substitute whole milk for roach milk.

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