While this polar bear might easily make a meal out of you, one chew of his liver could possibly be sufficient to ship you to the hospital. Liver has lengthy 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 serving to of sashimi made with uncooked fish liver. As scrumptious (or disgusting) as some of these dishes could sound to you, not each chook, fish or mammal essentially offers the very best components for a culinary masterpiece. Journey to Germany and you can feast on conventional liverwurst. The native peoples of the Arctic have never shied away from cooking up some polar bear stew, however they've long identified to keep away from eating the livers of varied arctic creatures. In actual fact, should you ever have the chance to strive polar bear liver, assume twice -- it would be the final meal you ever eat. Western explorers, nonetheless, learned the onerous manner. Maybe the most horrific symptom they encountered was peeling pores and skin. Even the thick pores and skin on the bottoms of a patient's toes may peel away, leaving the underlying flesh bloody and exposed. The worst instances ended in liver injury, hemorrhage, coma and death. These explorers suffered from acute hypervitaminosis A, a situation resulting from the overconsumption of vitamin A throughout a short time period. Whereas 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, incorporates extraordinarily high levels of retinol (the type of vitamin A present in members of the animal kingdom). On the next web page, we'll uncover 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 only dissolves in fat. As a substitute, it collects in the body's filtration organ, the liver, the place it can attain toxic levels. Vitamin A is a crucial building block for many animals. This means that, in contrast to different vitamins, excess vitamin A does not exit the physique in urine. People only require it in very small amounts, but it plays a significant role in eyesight, reproduction, fetal improvement, progress, immune response and the cellular formation of tissue. Vitamin A tolerability in humans varies depending on age, gender and bodily situation. With out enough vitamin A in your system, you could simply find yourself dealing with signs just as unhealthy as those related to hypervitaminosis A. Deficiencies can result in dry pores and skin, diarrhea, blindness, progress retardation and even dying. We usually absorb it through the consumption of foods comparable to spinach, broccoli, eggs, milk and varied meats. In actual fact, their physiology advanced to tolerate a lot vitamin A for only one motive: to eat seals. Like many animals, polar bears benefit from protecting a specific amount of vitamin A in their system, but there's nothing to indicate they really require such massive quantities. In case you 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 store excessive levels of vitamin A with a purpose to swiftly develop and nourish their younger in a harsh, chilly environment. In the wild, polar bears feed almost solely on bearded seals and ringed seals, each of which retailer high ranges 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 special at your favorite diner is ever sautéed polar bear liver, you might just wish to keep on with a salad. The seals rely on this vitamin to rapidly advance them by their vulnerable pup phases. Explore the links on the subsequent web page to be taught extra about vitamin A and polar bear liver. One polar we bare bears soft toy bear liver sometimes incorporates as a lot vitamin A as seventy nine to 115 chicken eggs. That award-winning meal comes in at nearly twice the tolerable higher limits of human vitamin A consumption. What does global warming need to do with the decline in 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 Pointers. Eliasen, Mogens. "The Harmful(?) Vitamin A." K9joy Education. 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. Worldwide federation of Aggressive Eating. Lintzenich, Barbara, et al. Brookfield Zoo Conservation Biology and Research Heart. 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 Analysis Council. Rodahl, K. and T. Moore. Slaughter, Kip. E-mail interview.
