Whereas this polar bear may easily make a meal out of you, one chunk of his liver may very well be enough to send you to the hospital. Liver has long been a staple in many diets. Deep-fried chicken livers are a favourite in parts of the American South. In Japan, you can order a heaping helping of sashimi made with uncooked fish liver. As delicious (or disgusting) as some of these dishes may sound to you, not every bird, fish or mammal essentially affords the best elements for a culinary masterpiece. Journey to Germany and you may feast on traditional liverwurst. The native peoples of the Arctic have never shied away from cooking up some polar bear stew, however they've long recognized to avoid eating the livers of assorted arctic creatures. In fact, in the event you ever have the chance to strive polar bear liver, assume twice -- it could be the last meal you ever eat. Western explorers, nevertheless, learned the laborious manner. Maybe the most horrific symptom they encountered was peeling pores and skin. Even the thick pores and skin on the bottoms of a affected person's ft may peel away, leaving the underlying flesh bloody and exposed. The worst instances ended in liver injury, hemorrhage, coma and demise. These explorers suffered from acute hypervitaminosis A, a situation ensuing from the overconsumption of vitamin A during a short time period. Whereas milder instances merely involved flaking across the mouth, some accounts reported cases of full-body skin loss. The polar bear's liver, much like these of arctic seals and huskies, contains extremely excessive ranges of retinol (the type of vitamin A found 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 essential their retinol tolerance is to their survival. Whereas some vitamins dissolve in water, vitamin A only dissolves in fat. Instead, it collects within the physique's filtration organ, the liver, where it could actually attain toxic levels. Vitamin A is a vital constructing block for a lot of animals. This means that, unlike other vitamins, excess vitamin A does not exit the physique in urine. People solely require it in very small quantities, but it performs a significant position in eyesight, reproduction, fetal improvement, growth, immune response and the cellular formation of tissue. Vitamin A tolerability in humans varies relying on age, gender and physical situation. Without enough vitamin A in your system, you could easily end up facing signs simply as dangerous as these related to hypervitaminosis A. Deficiencies can result in dry pores and skin, diarrhea, blindness, development retardation and even death. We sometimes absorb it via the consumption of foods corresponding to spinach, broccoli, eggs, milk and varied meats. In fact, their physiology advanced to tolerate a lot vitamin A for just one reason: to eat seals. Like many animals, polar bears profit from conserving a specific amount of vitamin A in their system, however there's nothing to indicate they actually require such large quantities. 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 excessive levels of vitamin A with a purpose to swiftly develop and nourish their young in a harsh, chilly environment. Within the wild, polar bears feed nearly exclusively on bearded seals and ringed seals, both of which retailer high levels of vitamin A of their livers and blubber. Remember, vitamin A plays a key function in development and natal development. So if the blue plate particular at your favourite diner is ever sautéed polar bear liver, you would possibly just want to persist with a salad. The seals depend on this vitamin to quickly advance them by way of their susceptible pup levels. Explore the hyperlinks on the following web page to learn extra about vitamin A and polar bear liver. One polar bear liver sometimes accommodates as a lot vitamin A as seventy nine to a hundred and fifteen chicken eggs. That award-winning meal is available in at practically twice the tolerable higher limits of human vitamin A consumption. What does international warming should do with the decline within the polar bear population? 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 Guidelines. Eliasen, Mogens. "The Harmful(?) Vitamin A." K9joy Training. Higdon, Jane. "Vitamin A." Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University. Hicks, R. Marian. "The scientific basis for regarding 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 Analysis Middle. Canadian Journal of Zoology. Penniston, Kristina L. and Sherry A. Tanumihardjo. Mos, Lizzy and Peter S. very very big teddy bear Ross. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The University of Cambridge Dunn Nutritional Laboratory and Medical Research Council. Rodahl, Okay. and T. Moore. Slaughter, Kip. E-mail interview.
