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MAY 1, 2026
BODY PARTS: THE OCCASIONAL SERIES
AIKEN-AUGUSTA’S MOST SALUBRIOUS NEWSPAPER • OUR 20th YEAR
AUGUSTARX.COM
THE OVERACHIEVER The liver doesn’t get a lot of publicity, but that doesn’t stop it from being the body’s utterly amazing overachieving multitasking master-working powerhouse. We really should say more, but our thesaurus is in the shop. The liver does a lot more than most of us realize. Considering that it performs more than five hundred essential functions that keep us alive, it would be a rare person indeed who could name even half of the liver’s vital tasks. Weighing about 3 pounds in an adult male, the liver is the largest of the body’s internal organs and the most complex (although the brain might want to argue that point). Even so, it’s tiny considering everything it does. It’s like a full-scale chemistry lab and extremely sophisticated filtration system packed into a package about the size of a football. Within its confines at any moment in time is about 10% of the body’s entire blood volume, passing through and being cleaned and filtered at the rate of about one and a half quarts of blood per minute, around the clock. Its elaborate filters remove bacteria, dead cells and other metabolic waste, playing a major role in immune support. The liver detoxifies alcohol, drugs, and various environmental toxins, converting them into safer compounds and then sending them out for elimination. The liver is a key component in digestion and metabolism, helping the body to absorb key vitamins and nutrients. It converts carbohydrates into glucose, and then stores it away (as glycogen), releasing it as needed. We could go on. And on. And on. We probably still have another 490 functions to extol. But here is one last amazing fact: the liver can regenerate itself. Even if as much as 75% of it is removed, it can grow back to full size and full function. Obviously every liver owner should jealously guard and protect this precious organ. What are the best strategies? The top three are: 1. Limit (or avoid) alcohol. 2. Prevent hepatitis. Vaccines are available for hep A and B, and handwashing and food safety also help prevent hep A. 3. Maintain healthy weight, a major factor since it reduces the risk of fatty liver disease. What more can we say about the liver? A lot. But we’ll have to leave it with these three words: the liver delivers.