What Does The Liver Do?

The liver is actually the largest organ in the body, weighing in the region of 2.5-3.5 lb (1.1-1.6 kg). It is one of the most important organs in the body, performing over 500 functions. These range from storing vitamins and carbohydrates to taking waste products from the bloodstream.
In addition, the liver also produces bile. This helps us to digest food and makes faeces brown. It also helps to metabolise proteins and carbohydrates as well as control the amount of sugar in the bloodstream. The liver also produces cholesterol and 'deals with' drugs, alcohol and toxins in the bloodstream. Vitamin A is synthesised in the liver and it removes red blood cells in the bloodstream which have ceased to function effectively.
Amazingly, the liver can repair itself and unless complete liver failure occurs, the liver can be badly damaged but heal itself. Alcohol can significantly impair the liver and this is why health care professionals advise at least one or two days of abstinence from alcohol per week.

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Every time we examine an organ of the human body, its structure and the way it works almost seems like a miracle to us. The liver is no exception. It is the largest gland of the body and, next to the brain, the heaviest organ- The average human liver weighs about The liver has to be so large because of the work it does. It not only manufactures digestive juices, it is also a filter in which all the food received from the intestine (except fat) goes through a chemical process. It is like a blood-tilled sponge which absorbs the food digested in the intestine.
What happens to food in the liver is that it is "reconstructed". The foreign protein is rebuilt to form human protein.
The liver also "detoxifies" food. When the body takes in nicotine and caffeine, the liver transforms these "poisons" into harmless compounds. Liver cells also destroy bacilli that may enter the body.
Because the liver is located between the intestine and the heart, it acts as a kind of dam for the liquids we take in. If you drink a large amount of liquid, the liver swells up soon after.
The liver cells manufacture the digestive fluid known as bile. (It is sometimes called "gal!".) One of the things bile does is emulsify fat. It divides the large fats drops contained in digested foods into very fine droplets and thus makes it possible for the body to absorb fat.

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