While this polar bear could simply make a meal out of you, one chew of his liver could possibly be enough to send you to the hospital. Liver has lengthy been a staple in many diets. Deep-fried hen livers are a favorite in parts of the American South. In Japan, you may order a heaping helping of sashimi made with uncooked fish liver. As scrumptious (or disgusting) as a few of these dishes could sound to you, not each chook, fish or mammal necessarily gives the perfect elements for a culinary masterpiece. Journey to Germany and you may feast on conventional liverwurst. The native peoples of the Arctic have never shied away from cooking up some polar bear stew, however they've lengthy known to keep away from consuming the livers of various arctic creatures. Actually, in the event you ever have the prospect to try polar bear liver, assume twice -- it often is the last meal you ever eat. Western explorers, nevertheless, discovered the onerous approach. Perhaps probably the most horrific symptom they encountered was peeling pores and skin. Even the thick pores and skin on the bottoms of a patient's feet could peel away, leaving the underlying flesh bloody and exposed. The worst instances ended in liver harm, hemorrhage, coma and dying. These explorers suffered from acute hypervitaminosis A, a condition resulting from the overconsumption of vitamin A throughout a brief time frame. While milder instances merely involved flaking around the mouth, some accounts reported instances of full-body skin loss. The polar bear's liver, much like these of arctic seals and huskies, contains extremely excessive levels of retinol (the form of vitamin A present in members of the animal kingdom). On the next web page, we'll discover why polar bears carry round a lot vitamin A in their livers and how essential their retinol tolerance is to their survival. Whereas some vitamins dissolve in water, vitamin A solely dissolves in fat. As an alternative, it collects in the physique's filtration organ, the liver, where it may possibly attain toxic ranges. Vitamin A is an important building block for a lot of animals. Which means that, not like other vitamins, excess vitamin A would not exit the body in urine. People solely require it in very small amounts, nevertheless it plays a vital function in eyesight, reproduction, fetal improvement, development, immune response and the cellular formation of tissue. Vitamin A tolerability in people varies relying on age, gender and bodily condition. With weighted teddy out sufficient vitamin A in your system, you could simply find yourself dealing with signs simply as dangerous as these related to hypervitaminosis A. Deficiencies can result in dry skin, diarrhea, blindness, development retardation and even demise. We usually absorb it through the consumption of foods such as spinach, broccoli, eggs, milk and various meats. The truth is, their physiology advanced to tolerate so much vitamin A for just one cause: to eat seals. Like many animals, polar bears profit from preserving a certain amount of vitamin A in their system, however there's nothing to indicate they really require such giant portions. Should you ate a bearded seal's liver, you'd suffer from hypervitaminosis A, but the polar bear can tolerate and benefit from the feast. The seals store excessive ranges of vitamin A with the intention to swiftly grow and nourish their young in a harsh, chilly environment. In the wild, polar bears feed virtually exclusively on bearded seals and ringed seals, each of which store high levels of vitamin A of their livers and blubber. Remember, vitamin A performs a key position in development and natal development. So if the blue plate special at your favourite diner is ever sautéed polar bear liver, you would possibly simply want to keep on with a salad. The seals rely on this vitamin to rapidly advance them by their vulnerable pup stages. Explore the links on the subsequent web page to study extra about vitamin A and polar bear liver. One polar bear liver typically incorporates as much vitamin A as 79 to a hundred and fifteen rooster eggs. That award-successful meal comes in at almost twice the tolerable upper limits of human vitamin A consumption. What does international warming need to do with the decline within the polar bear inhabitants? Brown, Dan. "Vitamin A Toxicity." Cornell College Department of Animal Science. AZA Bear Tag. "Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus)." Affiliation of Zoos and Aquariums Standardizes Animal Care Guidelines. Eliasen, Mogens. "The Dangerous(?) Vitamin A." K9joy Education. Higdon, Jane. "Vitamin A." Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State College. Hicks, R. Marian. "The scientific foundation for concerning vitamin A and its analogues as anti-carcinogenic brokers." Proceedings of the Nutrition Society. Worldwide federation of Aggressive 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 University of Cambridge Dunn Nutritional Laboratory and Medical Research Council. Rodahl, K. and T. Moore. Slaughter, Kip. E-mail interview.
