The liver is a large, reddish-brown organ inside your body that does hundreds of important jobs to keep you healthy. Located on the right side of your abdomen, just below your ribs, it's about the size of a football and weighs around three pounds, making it one of your body's biggest organs.

Your liver works like a chemical processing plant and filter combined. It cleans your blood by removing harmful substances and waste products. It produces bile, a greenish fluid that helps digest fats from your food. It stores vitamins and energy in the form of a substance called glycogen, which it can convert back to sugar when your body needs quick fuel. The liver also makes proteins that help your blood clot when you get a cut.

What makes the liver especially remarkable is its ability to regenerate. If part of it gets damaged or even surgically removed, it can grow back, like a starfish regrowing an arm. Doctors can transplant part of a liver from one person to another, and both livers can eventually grow to normal size.

People also use liver to describe this organ as food. Many cultures eat beef liver, chicken liver, or other animal livers. Some people consider it delicious and nutritious, though it has a strong, distinctive taste that not everyone enjoys.