While this polar bear could simply make a meal out of you, one chew of his liver may very well be enough to ship you to the hospital. Liver has lengthy been a staple in many diets. Deep-fried hen livers are a favorite in components of the American South. In Japan, you'll be able to order a heaping serving to of sashimi made with uncooked fish liver. As delicious (or disgusting) as some of these dishes may sound to you, not each chook, fish or mammal necessarily offers the perfect ingredients 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, however they've long known to keep away from eating the livers of various arctic creatures. In reality, when you ever have the prospect to strive polar bear liver, think twice -- it will be the last meal you ever eat. Western explorers, nevertheless, discovered 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 feet may peel away, leaving the underlying flesh bloody and exposed. The worst instances 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 cases merely involved flaking across the mouth, some accounts reported instances of full-body pores and skin loss. The polar bear's liver, very like those of arctic seals and huskies, contains extremely high ranges of retinol (the form of vitamin A present in members of the animal kingdom). On the subsequent page, we'll uncover why polar bears carry around so much vitamin A in their livers and the way essential their retinol tolerance is to their survival. Whereas some vitamins dissolve in water, vitamin A solely dissolves in fats. Instead, it collects in the physique's filtration organ, the liver, the place it may well attain toxic levels. Vitamin A is a vital constructing block for many animals. This means that, not like different vitamins, excess vitamin A does not exit the physique in urine. Humans solely require it in very small quantities, but it plays a vital function in eyesight, reproduction, fetal development, growth, immune response and the cellular formation of tissue. Vitamin A tolerability in humans varies depending on age, gender and bodily condition. With out sufficient vitamin A in your system, you might easily find yourself facing symptoms just as unhealthy as these associated with hypervitaminosis A. Deficiencies can result in dry pores and skin, diarrhea, blindness, development retardation and even dying. We sometimes absorb it by way of the consumption of foods comparable to spinach, broccoli, eggs, milk and various meats. In reality, their physiology advanced to tolerate so much vitamin A for just one purpose: to eat seals. Like many animals, polar bears profit from keeping a certain quantity of vitamin A of their system, but there's nothing to indicate they actually require such large portions. When you ate a bearded seal's liver, you'd endure from hypervitaminosis A, but the polar bear can tolerate and benefit from the feast. The seals retailer excessive ranges of vitamin A in an effort to swiftly develop and nourish their young in a harsh, chilly atmosphere. In the wild, polar bears feed nearly solely on bearded seals and ringed seals, each of which retailer excessive ranges of vitamin A of their livers and blubber. Remember, vitamin A plays a key role in progress and natal growth. So if the blue plate particular at your favourite diner is ever sautéed polar bear liver, you may just need to keep on with a salad. The seals depend on this vitamin to rapidly advance them through their susceptible pup phases. Discover the hyperlinks on the dog teddy bear big size following web page to study more about vitamin A and polar bear liver. One polar bear liver sometimes contains as a lot vitamin A as 79 to 115 hen eggs. That award-profitable meal comes in at nearly twice the tolerable upper limits of human vitamin A consumption. What does world warming need to do with the decline within the polar bear inhabitants? Brown, Dan. "Vitamin A Toxicity." Cornell University Department 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 Education. Higdon, Jane. "Vitamin A." Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State College. 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 Consuming. Lintzenich, Barbara, et al. Brookfield Zoo Conservation Biology and Research 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, Okay. and T. Moore. Slaughter, Kip. E-mail interview.
