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Chapter 8: Problem 21

Make a list of the advantages polar bears enjoy from their nonpolar diet. Why wouldn't juvenile polar bears thrive on an exclusively nonpolar diet?

Short Answer

Expert verified
Polar bears benefit from a nonpolar diet as it provides them with high caloric content, insulation, buoyancy, and nutrient storage for lean periods. However, juvenile polar bears wouldn't thrive on this diet because they require a more balanced diet for growth, haven't developed necessary hunting skills to consistently catch seals, and do not have the energy reserves of adults.

Step by step solution

01

Understanding Polar Bear Diet

Polar bears predominantly eat seals, which have a high fat or nonpolar content. This is beneficial for polar bears due to several reasons: \n\n1. High Energy Content: Fatty food provides high caloric content which is necessary for preserving body heat in the Arctic environment. \n\n2. Insulation: Stored fat from this diet provides a thick layer of blubber which insulates polar bears against the arctic cold.\n\n3. Buoyancy: This blubber layer also helps them in swimming by providing buoyancy.\n\n4. Nutrient Storage: Since food is scarce in water frozen arctic, this high-fat diet allows polar bears to store surplus nutrients for lean periods.
02

Why Juvenile Polar Bears Can't Thrive on Nonpolar Diet

While a nonpolar diet is advantageous for adult polar bears, juveniles wouldn't thrive on such a diet because: \n\n1. Growth Requirements: Juvenile polar bears need a more balanced diet for growth, including proteins and other nutrients that aren't abundant in a exclusively nonpolar diet.\n\n2. Hunting Skills: Juvenile polar bears haven't yet fully developed the hunting skills necessary to consistently catch seals. \n\n3. Energy Expenditure: Young polar bears do not have the energy reserves of adults and would exhaust their energy stores quickly if they attempted to maintain the same diet.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

Mayonnaise is mostly vegetable oil and vinegar. So what's the essential difference between oil and vinegar salad dressing and mayonnaise? Learn for yourself: Combine a half cup of pure vegetable oil (olive oil will work) with two tablespoons of vinegar in a bottle, cap it securely, and shake the mixture vigorously. What do you see? Now let the mixture sit undisturbed for an hour. What do you see now? Add one egg yolk to the mixture, and shake vigorously again. Let the mixture stand as before. What do you see after an hour? After two hours? Egg yolk is rich in phosphatidylcholine. Explain why the egg yolk caused the effect you observed.

If most plant-derived food products contain plant sterols and stanols, would it be as effective (for cholesterol-lowering purposes) to simply incorporate plant fats in one's diet as to use a sterol- or stanol-fortified spread like Benecol? Consult a suitable reference (for example, http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/phytochemicals/sterols/ #sources at the Linus Pauling Institute) to compose your answer.

If you are still at the grocery store working on problem \(8,\) stop by the cookie shelves and choose your three favorite cookies from the shelves. Estimate how many calories of fat, and how many other calories from other sources, are contained in 100 g of each of these cookies. Survey the ingredients listed on each package, and describe the contents of the package in terms of (a) saturated fat, (b) cholesterol, and (c) trans fatty acids. (Note that food makers are required to list ingredients in order of decreasing amounts in each package.)

Describe all of the structural differences between cholesterol and stigmasterol.

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