Whereas this polar bear could easily make a meal out of you, one chunk of his liver may very well be sufficient to send you to the hospital. Liver has lengthy been a staple in many diets. Deep-fried rooster livers are a favourite in components of the American South. In Japan, you'll be able to order a heaping serving to of sashimi made with raw fish liver. As delicious (or disgusting) as a few of these dishes might sound to you, not each bird, fish or mammal necessarily presents the best components for a culinary masterpiece. Travel to Germany and you'll feast on conventional liverwurst. The native peoples of the Arctic have by no means shied away from cooking up some polar bear stew, but they've lengthy identified to avoid consuming the livers of assorted arctic creatures. Actually, if you happen to ever have the chance to attempt polar bear liver, suppose twice -- it stands out as the final meal you ever eat. Western explorers, nonetheless, learned the hard method. Maybe essentially the most horrific symptom they encountered was peeling skin. Even the thick pores and skin on the bottoms of a affected person's feet may peel away, leaving the underlying flesh bloody and uncovered. The worst cases ended in liver injury, hemorrhage, coma and loss of life. These explorers suffered from acute hypervitaminosis A, a condition resulting from the overconsumption of vitamin A during a brief period of time. While milder circumstances merely involved flaking around the mouth, some accounts reported circumstances of full-physique skin loss. The polar bear's liver, very like those of arctic seals and huskies, incorporates extremely high levels of retinol (the form of vitamin A present in members of the animal kingdom). On the following web page, we'll discover why polar bears carry round so much 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 fats. As an alternative, it collects within the body's filtration organ, the liver, where it could actually reach toxic ranges. Vitamin A is a vital building block for many 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 quantities, nevertheless it plays a significant function in eyesight, reproduction, fetal development, growth, immune response and the cellular formation of tissue. Vitamin A tolerability in humans varies relying on age, gender and bodily situation. With out enough vitamin A in your system, you would simply find yourself going through symptoms simply as bad as those related to hypervitaminosis A. Deficiencies can lead to dry skin, diarrhea, blindness, progress retardation and even demise. We typically absorb it by way of the consumption of foods comparable to spinach, broccoli, eggs, milk and varied meats. The truth is, their physiology developed to tolerate a lot vitamin A for only one motive: to eat seals. Like many animals, polar bears profit from maintaining a certain amount of vitamin A in their system, but there's nothing to indicate they really require such giant portions. If you happen to ate a bearded seal's liver, you'd endure from hypervitaminosis A, however the polar bear can tolerate and benefit from the feast. The seals retailer high ranges of vitamin A with a purpose to swiftly develop and nourish their younger in a harsh, chilly setting. In the wild, polar bears feed virtually exclusively on bearded seals and ringed seals, each of which store high ranges of vitamin A of their livers and blubber. Remember, vitamin A performs a key function in progress and natal development. So if the blue plate particular at your favorite diner is ever sautéed polar bear liver, you might simply need to stick with a salad. The seals depend on this vitamin to quickly advance them by their vulnerable pup levels. Discover the links on the following web page to study more about vitamin A and polar bear liver. One polar bear liver typically contains as much vitamin A as 79 to one hundred fifteen hen eggs. That award-successful meal comes in at almost twice the tolerable higher limits of human vitamin A consumption. What does global warming must do with the decline within the polar bear inhabitants? Brown, Dan. "Vitamin A Toxicity." Cornell University Division of Animal Science. AZA Bear Tag. "Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus)." Association of large panda teddy Zoos and Aquariums Standardizes Animal Care Guidelines. Eliasen, Mogens. "The Dangerous(?) Vitamin A." K9joy Schooling. Higdon, Jane. "Vitamin A." Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University. Hicks, R. Marian. "The scientific basis for concerning vitamin A and its analogues as anti-carcinogenic brokers." Proceedings of the Nutrition Society. International federation of Competitive Eating. Lintzenich, Barbara, et al. Brookfield Zoo Conservation Biology and Research Center. 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, Ok. and T. Moore. Slaughter, Kip. E-mail interview.
