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.
