Will I Die If I Eat Polar Bear Liver? Big Panda Teddy

Whereas this polar bear could easily make a meal out of you, one bite of his liver may very well be enough to send you to the hospital. Liver has lengthy been a staple in lots of 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 raw fish liver. As scrumptious (or disgusting) as a few of these dishes could sound to you, not each chook, fish or mammal essentially gives the best components for a culinary masterpiece. Travel 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, but they've long identified to keep away from consuming the livers of various arctic creatures. In truth, if you ever have the prospect to strive polar bear liver, assume twice -- it stands out as the last meal you ever eat. Western explorers, nonetheless, realized the onerous approach. Maybe the most horrific symptom they encountered was peeling skin. Even the thick pores and skin https://coub.com/d4063b4c1638d3f5afbc 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 harm, hemorrhage, coma and demise. These explorers suffered from acute hypervitaminosis A, a condition ensuing from the overconsumption of vitamin A throughout a short time period. While milder circumstances merely involved flaking around the mouth, some accounts reported cases of full-physique pores and skin loss. The polar bear's liver, much like these of arctic seals and huskies, incorporates extraordinarily excessive ranges of retinol (the form of vitamin A present in members of the animal kingdom). On the following 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 fat. Instead, it collects within the body's filtration organ, the liver, the place it will probably reach toxic levels. Vitamin A is an important constructing block for many animals. Which means, not like other vitamins, excess vitamin A does not exit the body in urine. Humans solely require it in very small quantities, however it performs an important position in eyesight, reproduction, fetal growth, progress, immune response and the cellular formation of tissue. Vitamin A tolerability in people varies relying on age, gender and bodily condition. With out enough vitamin A in your system, you could easily find yourself going through signs just as unhealthy as those related to hypervitaminosis A. Deficiencies can lead to dry pores and skin, diarrhea, blindness, growth retardation and even dying. We sometimes absorb it via the consumption of foods equivalent to spinach, broccoli, eggs, milk and varied meats. Actually, their physiology evolved to tolerate a lot vitamin A for just one purpose: to eat seals. Like many animals, polar bears benefit from conserving a certain quantity of vitamin A in their system, but there's nothing to indicate they actually require such large portions. If you happen to ate a bearded seal's liver, you'd suffer from hypervitaminosis A, however the polar bear can tolerate and enjoy the feast. The seals retailer high levels of vitamin A with the intention to swiftly develop and nourish their young in a harsh, chilly setting. Within the wild, polar bears feed almost exclusively on bearded seals and ringed seals, each of which store excessive levels of vitamin A in their livers and blubber. Remember, vitamin A performs a key function in progress and natal improvement. So if the blue plate particular at your favorite diner is ever sautéed polar bear liver, you may simply need to follow a salad. The seals rely on this vitamin to rapidly advance them via their weak pup phases. Explore the links on the next page to learn more about vitamin A and polar bear liver. One polar bear liver usually accommodates as much vitamin A as 79 to one hundred fifteen chicken eggs. That award-winning meal comes in at practically twice the tolerable upper 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)." Association of Zoos and Aquariums Standardizes Animal Care Guidelines. Eliasen, Mogens. "The Dangerous(?) Vitamin A." K9joy Training. Higdon, Jane. "Vitamin A." Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University. Hicks, R. Marian. "The scientific foundation for concerning vitamin A and its analogues as anti-carcinogenic brokers." Proceedings of the Nutrition Society. Worldwide federation of Aggressive 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 University of Cambridge Dunn Nutritional Laboratory and Medical Research Council. Rodahl, Ok. and T. Moore. Slaughter, Kip. E-mail interview.