Will I Die If I Eat Polar Bear Liver? We Bare Bears Soft Toy

While this polar bear may simply make a meal out of you, giant koala teddy one bite of his liver could be sufficient to send you to the hospital. Liver has long been a staple in many diets. Deep-fried rooster livers are a favorite in elements of the American South. In Japan, you can order a heaping helping of sashimi made with raw fish liver. As delicious (or disgusting) as a few of these dishes may sound to you, not each hen, fish or mammal necessarily provides the best components for a culinary masterpiece. Journey to Germany and you'll 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 recognized to keep away from eating the livers of various arctic creatures. The truth is, in case you ever have the chance to strive polar bear liver, assume twice -- it could be the final meal you ever eat. Western explorers, nonetheless, discovered the laborious approach. 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 might peel away, leaving the underlying flesh bloody and exposed. The worst cases ended in liver injury, hemorrhage, coma and death. These explorers suffered from acute hypervitaminosis A, a condition resulting from the overconsumption of vitamin A throughout a short time period. While milder cases merely involved flaking across the mouth, some accounts reported cases of full-body 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 found in members of the animal kingdom). On the following page, we'll uncover why polar bears carry round a lot vitamin A in their livers and how crucial their retinol tolerance is to their survival. Whereas some vitamins dissolve in water, vitamin A only dissolves in fat. Instead, it collects in the physique's filtration organ, the liver, where it can reach toxic levels. Vitamin A is a crucial building block for a lot of animals. Because of this, not like other vitamins, excess vitamin A does not exit the body in urine. Humans only require it in very small quantities, however it plays an important position in eyesight, reproduction, fetal growth, development, immune response and the cellular formation of tissue. Vitamin A tolerability in people varies depending on age, gender and bodily situation. With out sufficient vitamin A in your system, you would easily end up going through symptoms just as dangerous as those related to hypervitaminosis A. Deficiencies can result in dry skin, diarrhea, blindness, growth retardation and even death. We usually absorb it by the consumption of foods resembling spinach, broccoli, eggs, milk and varied meats. In actual fact, their physiology advanced to tolerate so much vitamin A for just one purpose: to eat seals. Like many animals, polar bears benefit from protecting a certain quantity of vitamin A of their system, however there's nothing to indicate they actually require such massive quantities. If you happen to 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 levels of vitamin A as a way to swiftly develop and nourish their younger in a harsh, chilly surroundings. Within the wild, polar bears feed virtually solely on bearded seals and ringed seals, each of which retailer excessive levels of vitamin A in their livers and blubber. Remember, vitamin A plays a key function in development and natal growth. So if the blue plate special at your favorite diner is ever sautéed polar bear liver, you might just want to keep on with a salad. The seals rely on this vitamin to quickly advance them through their vulnerable pup levels. Discover the hyperlinks on the subsequent page to learn more about vitamin A and polar bear liver. One polar bear liver typically contains as a lot vitamin A as 79 to one hundred fifteen chicken eggs. That award-winning meal is available in at practically twice the tolerable higher limits of human vitamin A consumption. What does international warming should 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)." Affiliation of Zoos and Aquariums Standardizes Animal Care Guidelines. Eliasen, Mogens. "The Harmful(?) Vitamin A." K9joy Schooling. Higdon, Jane. "Vitamin A." Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State College. Hicks, R. Marian. "The scientific basis for concerning vitamin A and its analogues as anti-carcinogenic agents." Proceedings of the Nutrition Society. Worldwide federation of Aggressive Consuming. Lintzenich, Barbara, et al. Brookfield Zoo Conservation Biology and Analysis 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 Analysis Council. Rodahl, Ok. and T. Moore. Slaughter, Kip. E-mail interview.