Whereas this polar bear may simply make a meal out of you, one chunk of his liver may very well be enough to ship you to the hospital. Liver has long been a staple in lots of diets. Deep-fried chicken livers are a favourite in components of the American South. In Japan, you may order a heaping serving to of sashimi made with uncooked fish liver. As delicious (or disgusting) as some of these dishes could sound to you, not every fowl, fish or mammal essentially affords the very best components for a culinary masterpiece. Journey to Germany and you'll feast on traditional liverwurst. The native peoples of the Arctic have by no means shied away from cooking up some polar bear stew, but they've lengthy recognized to avoid eating the livers of assorted arctic creatures. In actual fact, in the event you ever have the prospect to strive polar bear liver, suppose twice -- it stands out as the last meal you ever eat. Western explorers, however, learned the hard way. Maybe probably 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 could peel away, leaving the underlying flesh bloody and exposed. The worst instances ended in liver harm, hemorrhage, coma and death. These explorers suffered from acute hypervitaminosis A, a situation resulting from the overconsumption of vitamin A during a brief time period. While milder circumstances merely involved flaking around the mouth, some accounts reported cases of full-body skin loss. The polar bear's liver, very like these of arctic seals and huskies, accommodates extremely excessive ranges of retinol (the form of vitamin A found in members of the animal kingdom). On the next web 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. As a substitute, it collects within the body's filtration organ, the liver, where it might attain toxic ranges. Vitamin A is an important building block for a lot of animals. This means that, unlike different vitamins, excess vitamin A doesn't exit the physique in urine. Humans solely require it in very small quantities, however it plays a significant role in eyesight, reproduction, fetal development, progress, immune response and the cellular formation of tissue. Vitamin A tolerability in people varies relying on age, gender and bodily situation. Without sufficient vitamin A in pooh teddy bear online your system, you might easily find yourself facing symptoms just as bad as these related to hypervitaminosis A. Deficiencies can result in dry skin, diarrhea, blindness, growth retardation and even death. We sometimes absorb it via the consumption of foods resembling spinach, broccoli, eggs, milk and numerous meats. In reality, their physiology advanced to tolerate a lot vitamin A for only one purpose: to eat seals. Like many animals, polar bears benefit from maintaining a specific amount of vitamin A in their system, however there's nothing to indicate they actually require such massive portions. If you ate a bearded seal's liver, you'd suffer from hypervitaminosis A, but the polar bear can tolerate and enjoy the feast. The seals store excessive ranges of vitamin A as a way to swiftly grow and nourish their young in a harsh, chilly surroundings. In the wild, polar bears feed almost exclusively on bearded seals and ringed seals, both of which store excessive levels of vitamin A of their livers and blubber. Remember, vitamin A plays a key role in development and natal growth. So if the blue plate particular at your favourite diner is ever sautéed polar bear liver, you may simply need to stick with a salad. The seals depend on this vitamin to shortly advance them by way of their weak pup phases. Discover the hyperlinks on the subsequent page to study more about vitamin A and polar bear liver. One polar bear liver usually accommodates as a lot vitamin A as seventy nine to a hundred and fifteen rooster eggs. That award-profitable meal comes in at almost twice the tolerable higher limits of human vitamin A consumption. What does world warming must do with the decline in the polar bear inhabitants? 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 Pointers. 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 regarding vitamin A and its analogues as anti-carcinogenic brokers." Proceedings of the Nutrition Society. International federation of Competitive Eating. Lintzenich, Barbara, et al. Brookfield Zoo Conservation Biology and Research 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, Ok. and T. Moore. Slaughter, Kip. E-mail interview.