WEBVTT

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JOAN CARTAN-HANSEN, HOST: The
liver is an important part of

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your body and the digestion
system.

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The liver performs more than 300
different jobs in the human

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body.

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Let's look at some of them.

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In the small
intestine, blood picks up

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nutrients and heads to the
liver.

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The liver removes any harmful
matter or waste and then sends

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the filtered nutrients out to
the rest of the body.

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Here's something
else the liver does.

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It produces a yellowish green
liquid called bile.

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Your body uses bile to help
break down fats from your food.

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Any extra bile is stored in
another organ called the gall

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bladder.

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If you eat a lot of fatty food,
the gall bladder sends bile into

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the small intestine to help with
digestion.

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One of the most
important jobs of the liver is

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to produce, store and release
vitamins and minerals into the

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blood.

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The liver pulls these out of the
foods we eat and releases them

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as needed, vitamins like B12
that helps with growth, or

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vitamin D that helps you absorb
calcium for your bones, or

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vitamin K that's used to prevent
bleeding and allow your blood to

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clot.

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For more information about the
digestive system check out the

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Science Trek website.

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You'll find it at Science Trek
dot org