What does my liver look like?
Your liver is a dark reddish-brown colour. A healthy liver looks smooth on the outside. But if you have a liver condition your liver can look rough or lumpy.
Livers are divided into two main sections called “lobes”. You have a right lobe and left lobe. The right lobe is a bit bigger.
Your gallbladder is a smaller organ that sits just under your liver and is joined to it by tubes called bile ducts. More bile ducts join up with your pancreas and digestive system.
Your liver is also joined up to some important arteries and veins that bring blood into and out of your liver.
Your liver is really important for keeping your blood healthy. You have about 10 pints of blood in your body. At any time, more than a pint of your blood will be passing through your liver.
What does my liver do?
Your liver has over 500 jobs. These include:
Digesting your food. Your liver makes proteins called enzymes that are important for breaking down your food and getting the nutrients out.
Producing energy. By digesting your food your liver also releases energy from it for all the things your body needs to do every day.
Storing energy. When you eat carbohydrates (like bread and potatoes) your liver can store some of it as a sugar called glycogen. If your body needs energy quickly, your liver turns glycogen into glucose for instant fuel.
Storing vitamins, iron, and other nutrients. Your liver stores vitamins A, D, E, K and B12 as well as other important nutrients. This helps to make sure you always have them when you need them.
Fighting infections. Your liver is on the front line in the fight against infections. It is an important part of your immune system and helps to stop dangerous bacteria and viruses from attacking your digestive system.
Removing toxins. Your liver and kidneys are your very own detox experts. Together they remove toxins from your blood and send them out of your body when you go to the loo.
Helping you heal. Your liver makes blood clotting proteins. These are really important in stopping the bleeding if you get a cut. Your liver also helps you to heal any damage.
Can my liver repair itself?
Yes! Your liver is the only organ in your body that can heal itself if it gets damaged.
Your liver is made up of thousands of cells. Because they are so busy, each cell will eventually get damaged or just worn out. Your liver is always on the look out for damaged or dying cells and will tidy them away and grow new liver cells to take over.
But there is only so much it can take. If your liver keeps on getting lots of damage for a long time, for example from things like an autoimmune disease, alcohol or a hepatitis virus, then eventually it can’t keep up with the repairs. This is when serious liver disease happens.
But even then, taking away the cause of the damage can stop the liver disease getting worse and might even let your liver do some repairs.
Find out more about the different stages of liver disease.
How can I look after my liver?
Our livers are working hard for us all the time. There are lots of things we can do to help keep them healthy. Find out more using the links below:
- Worried about your liver?
- Myths about liver disease
- Eating, drinking and keeping active
- Alcohol and liver disease
- Find out if you are at risk with our free online screener
Special thanks
We would like to thank the British Liver Trust specialist liver nurses who helped with this information.
Published April 2025