From: Mermaid . (britannica@hotmail.com)
Date: Tue Feb 26 2002 - 11:16:53 MST
[Kirk]let's think about it from a biologist perspective.
[Mermaid]What about thinking from an archeologist's perspective? It was the
year 1973, when a jumble of assorted bone heap found on a river bed was
sorted out. What turned up was the partial skeletal remains of KNM-ER 1808.
Kenyan Museum -somehting something specimen #1808. She was approx 1.7
million years old. It was an adult, female, homo erectus. She was the first
housed specimen of the missing link!! She was loved and made to feel very
very welcome. The bones were deformed and diseased. It was later found out
that it was a case of hypervitaminosis A or Vitamin A poisoning which
occured because of an excessive carnivore diet. Especially the ingestion of
the livers of carnivorous animals. A decade late, in 1984, Leaky and his
team would discover the full skeletal remains of the first intact Homo
Erectus, the Turkana Boy by Lake Turkana, Kenya.
It was always known by Eskimos and arctic hunters that polar bear livers
should not be touched. It was just not polar bear livers, but this applied
to all carnivorous animals. This is because these animals do not break down
Vit A<they cant break down Vit K either>. The vitamin A remains in the
liver...not destroyed and unsynthesised. The liver is very rich in Vit A.
Eating the liver of carnivorous is like eating concentrated Vit A. So
concentrated that it leads to Vit A poisoning.
What do we know about hypervitaminosis in humans? In 1912, a team went on an
expedition to Antartica. Out of that team, only one returned to Base Camp.
Sir Douglas Mawson..who is something of a mini celebrity in the land down
under...he is right 'up there' on currencies and stamps..someone who people
adore like Sir Edmond Hillary of NZ. He was seperated from his team along
with his companion. They got lost and had no food supplies. They killed
their sled dogs. The meat was tough and leathery. The liver was soft and had
a better texture. His companion ate the liver. Mawson didnt. Soon
hypervitaminonsis set in..and there was loss of co ordination, dizziness,
nausea, peeling skin, falling hair and most importantly...severe,
excruciating pain of the joints. He also probably suffered from liver damage
and kidney failure. He died when he was only a short distance from Base
Camp. Mawson reached Base Camp. The bones and skull of KNM-ER 1808 suggests
that she also suffered from acute hypervitaminosis.
[Kirk] Predators primarily eat meat, raw. What is it about the liver of a
predator that makes it high in these things? What cold blooded animals have
toxic livers?
[Mermaid]The liver simply doesnt break the vitamins down. Vit A is fat
soluble. Maybe someone else can provide the details of how this works. About
cold blooded animals having toxic livers...hmm...there was also a theory
which was making its rounds that KNM 1808 actually died from vit A poisoning
from fish consumption. I didnt quite follow that one. Aquatic Ape theory?
Again, I wouldnt speak much about it because I am not 100% sure of those
details.
[Kirk]COME ON FOLKS!!!! We say we praise Darwin. But how many of us practice
his intellectual modalities?
somebody surf and find out what it is about liver that makes it toxic, then
find out what it is about a predator's metabolism that makes it's liver more
so.
[Mermaid]Simple. The vitamins get dumped in the liver because it doesnt get
broken down beyond that in animals that are flesh eaters. The human body
requires very minimal quantity of Vit A for nutrition which is sufficiently
derived from plants..esp those which are orange/yellow/red..carrots..esp..
[Kirk]Let's shift our information exchange modus from belief to knowledge.
[Mermaid]*rolls her eyes heavenwards* belief to knowledge?? There it
is...'belief' that cursed word! Any hunter worth his salt knows not to touch
the liver of carnivores. Anyone who has survived in the wild during winter
should have been instructed ..not once..not twice..but again and again in
their survival classes that LIVERS should be avoided. Eskimos and arctic
hunters have known this for several years and this warning is passed on from
generation to generation...Sometimes its ok to take other's word for it,
Kirk.
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