Question: How does a liver work?

Sean Murphy answered on 22 Mar 2012:

One of the largest functions of the liver is to filter the blood that runs through your body. Liver cells are arranged as such that when harmful substances such as drugs, alcohol, metabolic waste, and chemicals are ingested and reach the liver, they are at least partially filtered out before the rest of the nutrients hit the blood stream.

Your liver is also a vital component of your digestive system. After you eat a meal, your liver is stimulated to produce a special digestive enzyme called bile. Bile is created in the liver and then stored in the gallbladder. Once the food reaches your intestines the gall bladder releases the bile into your duodenum aiding in digestion. The bile is used to break down the complex amounts of fats in our diets.

the liver also has other important functions such as storage of vitamins, energy, and minerals, metabolism of carbohydrates lipids and proteins and creating blood clotting substances.