Will I Die If I Eat Polar Bear Liver? Peter Rabbit Teddy Bear

While this polar bear might simply make a meal out of you, one chunk of his liver could possibly be enough to ship you to the hospital. Liver has long been a staple in lots of diets. Deep-fried rooster livers are a favorite in parts of the American South. In Japan, you possibly can order a heaping helping of sashimi made with uncooked fish liver. As scrumptious (or disgusting) as a few of these dishes may sound to you, not every chook, fish or mammal essentially offers the very best elements 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 lengthy recognized to avoid consuming the livers of various arctic creatures. The truth is, if you happen to ever have the prospect to attempt polar bear liver, suppose twice -- it will be the giant panda teddy last meal you ever eat. Western explorers, nevertheless, learned the onerous method. Maybe the most horrific symptom they encountered was peeling skin. Even the thick pores and skin on the bottoms of a affected person's ft could peel away, leaving the underlying flesh bloody and uncovered. The worst circumstances ended in liver injury, hemorrhage, coma and demise. These explorers suffered from acute hypervitaminosis A, a situation resulting from the overconsumption of vitamin A throughout a brief time period. While milder instances merely concerned flaking around the mouth, some accounts reported cases of full-body pores and skin loss. The polar bear's liver, much like those of arctic seals and huskies, contains extremely high levels 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 round a lot vitamin A in their livers and the way essential their retinol tolerance is to their survival. While some vitamins dissolve in water, vitamin A only dissolves in fat. Instead, it collects in the physique's filtration organ, the liver, where it may possibly reach toxic levels. Vitamin A is a crucial building block for a lot of animals. Which means, in contrast to different vitamins, excess vitamin A doesn't exit the physique in urine. People solely require it in very small quantities, but it surely performs a significant function in eyesight, reproduction, fetal improvement, development, immune response and the cellular formation of tissue. Vitamin A tolerability in people varies depending on age, gender and bodily situation. Without enough vitamin A in your system, you can simply end up facing symptoms just as unhealthy as these related to hypervitaminosis A. Deficiencies can lead to dry skin, diarrhea, blindness, growth retardation and even loss of life. We typically absorb it by the consumption of foods equivalent to spinach, broccoli, eggs, milk and various meats. In actual fact, their physiology evolved to tolerate so much vitamin A for just one motive: to eat seals. Like many animals, polar bears profit from maintaining a specific amount of vitamin A of their system, but there's nothing to indicate they really require such large quantities. For those who ate a bearded seal's liver, you'd undergo from hypervitaminosis A, however the polar bear can tolerate and benefit from the feast. The seals retailer excessive ranges of vitamin A in order to swiftly grow and nourish their young in a harsh, chilly environment. In the wild, polar bears feed almost solely on bearded seals and ringed seals, both of which store excessive levels of vitamin A in their livers and blubber. Remember, vitamin A plays 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 would possibly just want to follow a salad. The seals rely on this vitamin to shortly advance them through their susceptible pup phases. Discover the links on the next page to be taught extra about vitamin A and polar bear liver. One polar bear liver sometimes accommodates as a lot vitamin A as 79 to one hundred fifteen hen eggs. That award-profitable meal is available in at almost twice the tolerable upper limits of human vitamin A consumption. What does global warming need to do with the decline in the polar bear inhabitants? 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 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 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 College of Cambridge Dunn Nutritional Laboratory and Medical Research Council. Rodahl, Ok. and T. Moore. Slaughter, Kip. E-mail interview.