While this polar bear might easily make a meal out of you, one chunk of his liver could possibly be sufficient to ship you to the hospital. Liver has long been a staple in many diets. Deep-fried rooster livers are a favorite in components of the American South. In Japan, you can order a heaping helping of sashimi made with raw fish liver. As scrumptious (or disgusting) as a few of these dishes could sound to you, not each chicken, fish or mammal necessarily affords the most effective substances for a culinary masterpiece. Travel to Germany and you may feast on conventional liverwurst. The native peoples of the Arctic have by no means shied away from cooking up some polar bear stew, however they've long identified to keep away from eating the livers of assorted arctic creatures. In truth, should you ever have the chance to strive polar bear liver, think twice -- it could be the last meal you ever eat. Western explorers, however, realized the hard means. Perhaps essentially the most horrific symptom they encountered was peeling pores and skin. Even the thick skin on the bottoms of a affected person's toes might peel away, leaving the underlying flesh bloody and exposed. The worst circumstances ended in liver harm, hemorrhage, coma and death. These explorers suffered from acute hypervitaminosis A, a condition ensuing from the overconsumption of vitamin A during a short time frame. While milder instances merely involved flaking across the mouth, some accounts reported circumstances of full-body pores and skin loss. The polar bear's liver, very like those of arctic seals and huskies, comprises extraordinarily high ranges of retinol (the type of vitamin A found in members of the animal kingdom). On the following page, we'll discover why polar bears carry around a lot vitamin A in their livers and how essential their retinol tolerance is to their survival. While some vitamins dissolve in water, vitamin A solely dissolves in fat. As an alternative, it collects within the physique's filtration organ, the liver, where it might reach toxic levels. Vitamin A is an important constructing block for many animals. Which means, in contrast to other vitamins, excess vitamin A would not exit the body in urine. Humans solely require it in very small amounts, but it plays an important function in eyesight, reproduction, fetal growth, development, immune response and the cellular formation of tissue. Vitamin A tolerability in humans varies depending on age, gender and physical condition. Without enough vitamin A in your system, you would simply end up facing symptoms simply as unhealthy as those associated with hypervitaminosis A. Deficiencies can lead to dry skin, diarrhea, blindness, progress retardation and even death. We sometimes absorb it via the consumption of foods similar to spinach, broccoli, eggs, milk and various meats. In actual fact, their physiology developed to tolerate a lot vitamin A for only one purpose: to eat seals. Like many animals, polar bears benefit from keeping a certain quantity of vitamin A of their system, but there's nothing to indicate they actually require such large quantities. In the event you ate a bearded seal's liver, you'd suffer from hypervitaminosis A, however the polar bear can tolerate and benefit from the feast. The seals retailer excessive ranges of vitamin A so as to swiftly grow and nourish their young in a harsh, chilly surroundings. Within the wild, polar bears feed virtually exclusively on bearded seals and ringed seals, both of which store excessive ranges of vitamin A in their livers and blubber. Remember, vitamin A plays a key position in development and natal we bare bears soft toy improvement. So if the blue plate particular at your favorite diner is ever sautéed polar bear liver, you may simply wish to stick to a salad. The seals depend on this vitamin to shortly advance them by way of their weak pup phases. Discover the links on the following page to learn more about vitamin A and polar bear liver. One polar bear liver sometimes contains as much vitamin A as 79 to a hundred and fifteen rooster eggs. That award-winning meal is available in at nearly twice the tolerable upper limits of human vitamin A consumption. What does global warming must do with the decline in 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 Tips. Eliasen, Mogens. "The Dangerous(?) Vitamin A." K9joy Schooling. 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 anticarcinogenic 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 Analysis Council. Rodahl, Okay. and T. Moore. Slaughter, Kip. E-mail interview.
