Whereas this polar bear could easily make a meal out of you, one chew of his liver could possibly be sufficient to ship you to the hospital. Liver has long been a staple in lots of diets. Deep-fried chicken livers are a favorite in components of the American South. In Japan, you'll be able to order a heaping helping of sashimi made with uncooked fish liver. As delicious (or disgusting) as a few of these dishes may sound to you, not every bird, fish or mammal necessarily provides the perfect components for a culinary masterpiece. Travel to Germany and you'll feast on traditional liverwurst. The native peoples of the Arctic have by no means shied away from cooking up some polar bear stew, but they've lengthy known to keep away from eating the livers of assorted arctic creatures. In actual fact, when you ever have the chance to strive polar bear liver, assume twice -- it stands out as the last meal you ever eat. Western explorers, nevertheless, realized the exhausting approach. Perhaps essentially the most horrific symptom they encountered was peeling skin. Even the thick skin on the bottoms of a affected person's ft could peel away, leaving the underlying flesh bloody and exposed. The worst cases ended in liver damage, hemorrhage, coma and loss of life. These explorers suffered from acute hypervitaminosis A, a condition ensuing from the overconsumption of vitamin A during a brief time period. Whereas milder cases merely involved flaking around the mouth, some accounts reported circumstances of full-body skin loss. The polar bear's liver, very like these of arctic seals and huskies, contains extremely excessive ranges of retinol (the type of vitamin A present in members of the animal kingdom). On the subsequent page, we'll discover why polar bears carry round so much vitamin A of their livers and the way crucial their retinol tolerance is to their survival. While some vitamins dissolve in water, vitamin A only dissolves in fats. Instead, it collects in the body's filtration organ, the liver, the place it could possibly reach toxic ranges. Vitamin A is an important constructing block for a lot of animals. Which means that, in contrast to different vitamins, excess vitamin A would not exit the body in urine. People only require it in very small amounts, but it surely plays a vital function in eyesight, reproduction, fetal growth, progress, immune response and the cellular formation of tissue. Vitamin A tolerability in humans varies relying on age, gender and physical condition. With out enough vitamin A in your system, you may easily end up dealing with signs simply as bad as those related to hypervitaminosis A. Deficiencies can result in dry skin, diarrhea, blindness, growth retardation and even loss of life. We typically absorb it through the consumption of foods reminiscent of spinach, broccoli, eggs, milk and numerous meats. The truth is, their physiology evolved to tolerate so much vitamin A for only one reason: to eat seals. Like many animals, polar bears profit from retaining a specific amount of vitamin A of their system, however there's nothing to indicate they actually require such massive quantities. In the event you ate a bearded seal's liver, you'd undergo from hypervitaminosis A, however the polar bear can tolerate and enjoy the feast. The seals retailer high levels of vitamin A with the intention to swiftly grow and nourish their young in a harsh, chilly surroundings. Within the wild, polar bears feed nearly exclusively on bearded seals and ringed seals, both of which retailer excessive ranges of vitamin A in their livers and blubber. Remember, vitamin A plays a key function in progress and natal improvement. So if the blue plate particular at your favorite diner is ever sautéed polar bear liver, you might just wish to follow a salad. The seals rely on this vitamin to rapidly advance them we bare bears soft toy via their vulnerable pup levels. Explore the links on the next web page to be taught more about vitamin A and polar bear liver. One polar bear liver typically incorporates as a lot vitamin A as seventy nine to a hundred and fifteen hen eggs. That award-winning meal is available in at practically twice the tolerable upper limits of human vitamin A consumption. What does global warming need to do with the decline in the polar bear inhabitants? Brown, Dan. "Vitamin A Toxicity." Cornell College Division of Animal Science. AZA Bear Tag. "Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus)." Association of Zoos and Aquariums Standardizes Animal Care Tips. Eliasen, Mogens. "The Harmful(?) Vitamin A." K9joy Schooling. Higdon, Jane. "Vitamin A." Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University. Hicks, R. Marian. "The scientific basis for relating to vitamin A and its analogues as anti-carcinogenic brokers." Proceedings of the Nutrition Society. Worldwide federation of Competitive Eating. Lintzenich, Barbara, et al. Brookfield Zoo Conservation Biology and Analysis Middle. Canadian Journal of Zoology. Penniston, Kristina L. and Sherry A. Tanumihardjo. Mos, Lizzy and Peter S. Ross. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The College of Cambridge Dunn Nutritional Laboratory and Medical Research Council. Rodahl, Ok. and T. Moore. Slaughter, Kip. E-mail interview.
