Why is the liver important?
The liver is the largest organ in the body and it plays a vital role, performing many complex functions that are essential for life. Your liver serves as your body's internal chemical power plant. While there are still many things we do not understand about the liver, we do know that it is impossible to live without it, and the health of the liver is a major factor in the quality of one's life.
The liver has important functions, including:- Converting the food we eat into stored energy, and chemicals necessary for life and growth;
Acting as a filter to remove toxic substances, including alcohol, from the blood and converting them to substances that can be excreted from the body;
Processing drugs and medications absorbed from the digestive system, enabling the body to use them effectively and ultimately dispose of them;
Manufacturing and exporting important body chemicals used by the body. One of these is bile, a greenish-yellow substance essential for the digestion of fats in the small intestine.
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NULives is a program of the Hepatology Division of the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University