Whereas this polar bear may easily make a meal out of you, one chunk of his liver could 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 parts of the American South. In Japan, you possibly can order a heaping helping of sashimi made with raw fish liver. As scrumptious (or disgusting) as some of these dishes could sound to you, not every chicken, fish or mammal essentially offers one of the best substances for a culinary masterpiece. Journey to Germany and you can feast on traditional liverwurst. The native peoples of the Arctic have by no means shied away from cooking up some polar bear stew, however they've lengthy identified to keep away from consuming the livers of various arctic creatures. In actual fact, should you ever have the chance to strive polar bear liver, assume twice -- it may be the final meal you ever eat. Western explorers, however, realized the hard means. Maybe probably the most horrific symptom they encountered was peeling skin. Even the thick pores and skin on the bottoms of a affected person's feet might peel away, leaving the underlying flesh bloody and uncovered. The worst instances ended in liver injury, hemorrhage, coma and dying. These explorers suffered from acute hypervitaminosis A, a condition resulting from the overconsumption of vitamin A throughout a short time frame. Whereas milder instances merely involved flaking around the mouth, some accounts reported cases of full-physique pores and skin loss. The polar bear's liver, very similar to those of arctic seals and huskies, comprises extremely excessive levels of retinol (the form of vitamin A present in members of the animal kingdom). On the next page, we'll discover why polar bears carry around so much vitamin A of their livers and the way 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 in the physique's filtration organ, the liver, the place it will probably attain toxic ranges. Vitamin A is an important building block for many animals. Which means, not like other vitamins, excess vitamin A would not exit the body in urine. People solely require it in very small amounts, nevertheless it performs a significant function in eyesight, reproduction, fetal improvement, development, immune response and the cellular formation of tissue. Vitamin A tolerability in humans varies relying on age, gender and bodily situation. Without sufficient vitamin A in your system, you can simply find yourself dealing with signs just as unhealthy as these related to hypervitaminosis A. Deficiencies can result in dry skin, diarrhea, blindness, development retardation and even loss of life. We usually absorb it by means of the consumption of foods comparable to spinach, broccoli, eggs, milk koala bear soft toy and varied meats. Actually, their physiology developed to tolerate so much vitamin A for only one cause: to eat seals. Like many animals, polar bears profit from retaining a certain quantity of vitamin A in 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 high levels of vitamin A as a way to swiftly grow and nourish their younger in a harsh, chilly surroundings. Within the wild, polar bears feed almost solely on bearded seals and ringed seals, each of which retailer excessive levels of vitamin A of their livers and blubber. Remember, vitamin A plays a key function in growth and natal development. So if the blue plate particular at your favourite diner is ever sautéed polar bear liver, you might just wish to keep on with a salad. The seals depend on this vitamin to rapidly advance them by their susceptible pup levels. Discover the links on the following page to study extra about vitamin A and polar bear liver. One polar bear liver usually contains as a lot vitamin A as 79 to 115 rooster eggs. That award-profitable meal comes in at practically twice the tolerable higher limits of human vitamin A consumption. What does international warming must do with the decline within the polar bear population? 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 Harmful(?) 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 agents." Proceedings of the Nutrition Society. International federation of Aggressive Eating. Lintzenich, Barbara, et al. Brookfield Zoo Conservation Biology and Analysis 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 University of Cambridge Dunn Nutritional Laboratory and Medical Research Council. Rodahl, Okay. and T. Moore. Slaughter, Kip. E-mail interview.
