Science
How does the liver work?
The liver works as the body's chemical processing plant, filtering blood, breaking down toxins, and managing nutrients. It cleans the blood coming from your gut, stores energy, makes proteins, and neutralizes alcohol and drugs — all at once.
See it in motion.
Watch a 2-minute animated lesson that shows exactly how the liver works.
Step by step
- 1It filters blood arriving from the digestive system.
- 2It breaks down toxins, alcohol, and old drugs into safer forms.
- 3It stores sugar as glycogen and releases it for energy.
- 4It makes bile to digest fats and key proteins for the blood.
- 5It's the only human organ that can regrow lost tissue.
Frequently asked questions
- What does the liver do?
- It filters the blood, detoxifies alcohol and drugs, stores and releases energy, makes bile and key blood proteins, and processes nutrients.
- Can the liver regenerate?
- Yes — it's uniquely able to regrow; even after losing a large portion, it can rebuild itself to nearly full size.
- How does the liver handle alcohol?
- It uses enzymes to break alcohol down step by step into harmless products, but only at a limited rate — which is why drinking faster than that causes intoxication.