poisonous Venison

Olaf

Well-Known Member
Hi, does anyone know why an animals liver and Kidneys are not poisonous for humans ? Given that toxins etc are filtered out of the blood by the liver, and disposed of by the kidneys, it just strikes me as a little odd that one can eat them without ill effect or harm.
I appreciate that deer that have been given certain medicines cannot be entered into the food chain and even remember being told of an incident involving a tranquillised deer and how its blood caused some dogs to fall unconscious, but what about other harmful 'food' stuffs or pesticides etc that deer may come into contact with ?
The thought occurred to me after watching a Muntjac foraging for food in amongst some poisonous fungi in some woodland on one of my permissions. Does anyone have any knowledge or experience of this ?
Kind regards, Olaf
 
the concentrations of unwanted stuff is never very high in the animal to start with or the deer would be 'poisoned' itself, but also once filtered the body quickly gets rid of it. The organs don't store it really
 
The toxins don't stay in the liver and kidneys though, they are continually excreted!
 
hi,

i think the answer is that it filters the waste and releases through natural process but it does not store it.
medicine is ingested and is retained in cell structures

 
JRoe,

It isn't poisonous. It doesn't contain any poison. You just overdose on Vitamin A.

Water isn't poisonous but if you drink too much in a short time it will kill you by rupturing cell walls.

​Stan
 
Yes smullery is on it here. A polar bear liver has an excessively high, to humans, vitamin A concentration and would be dangerous to eat.
 
JRoe,

It isn't poisonous. It doesn't contain any poison. You just overdose on Vitamin A.

I think I'd rephrase this.

Polar Bear liver is poisonous to humans. It does contain poison. The poison is too much vitamin D.

As Paracelsus hath said:
All substances are poisons; there is none which is not a poison. The right dose differentiates a poison...
 
It doesn't contain poison.
It contains something that would proof toxic if consumed to excess just the same as chocolate is toxic to humans. Though you would "normally" need to eat over 22lbs in one sitting to have an adverse effect.
 
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