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How your liver works

Introduction

  • Your liver has around 500 different jobs that keep your body working at its best. The two most important jobs are cleaning your blood and helping with digestion
  • Filters the good stuff that your body can use, and gets rid of the things that are no use or are harmful (alcohol, toxins etc)
  • Makes and stores vitamins and minerals
  • Assists in hormone production which helps to regulate our mental health
  • Regulates your energy levels by storing and releasing sugars
  • Produces the building blocks your body needs to make cells.

How to look after your liver

To keep your liver in tip-top shape, so it can do all the heavy lifting your body needs:

  • Eat a balanced diet
  • Exercise regularly
  • Use alcohol responsibly
  • Ask your GP if you should have a liver test.

Why your liver is important

  • Your liver is the powerhouse of your body – processing almost everything you eat and drink. It cleans your blood and helps with energy and digestion, fights infection, and gets rid of harmful toxins.
  • Can repair itself and create new healthy liver tissue
  • It is the largest organ inside your body – even bigger than your brain. Weighing in at an average of 1.5kg (or 1% of a persons body weight)
  • It’s in the upper right-hand side of your abdomen, behind your ribcage.
  • It processes almost everything you eat and drink. Even chemicals that touch your skin and toxins that you breathe in pass through your liver.
  • A healthy liver also helps with energy, fights infection, and gets rid of harmful toxins. But a damaged liver can’t do these jobs properly. So it’s vital to keep your liver healthy.
LiverLine
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We acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands where we work - the lands of the Woi-Wurrung Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nations. We express our gratitude to them for their continued care and curation of these lands and waters. We pay our respects to Elders past and present.

LiverWELL observes and honours the Kulin Nation's intrinsic connection to land, sky and water, and the creator Bunjil. LiverWELL is committed to being led and informed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders on bridging health outcomes for communities and improving liver health.