The liver is the largest organ in the body, responsible for many processes and functions. I will talk about 8 of the main functions.1. Carbohydrate Metabolism – Metabolism in the liver cannot occur without nutrients. Energy from carbohydrates is essential for this reaction to occur. The liver only processes excess glucose from food which is absorbed during digestion. This excess glucose is transformed into glycogen which is stored in the liver and in the muscles. This is important for the body because if blood sugar levels drop, glycogen would convert back into glucose. This reaction is controlled by hormones called insulin and glucagon (produced by the pancreas). Glucagon is secreted into blood vessels when blood sugar is low and sends the information to the liver and other organs that store glycogen.2. Protein metabolism – excess amino acids are not stored by the body. Therefore, in the liver a process called deamination occurs, in which excess amino acids are broken down. During deamination, the amino group is removed to form ammonia. Next, the ammonia is modified into urea, the least toxic. Urea is removed from the liver via the hepatic vein where blood is carried to the heart. From the heart to the kidneys, urea travels via the following blood vessels, from the aorta to the renal artery. From the kidney is eliminated with urine.3. Lipid metabolism-Excess fatty acids are also stored by the liver, but if glycogen fills the store, the fatty acids will be exported in the blood to other organs like the kidneys (on the surface) and to other adipose tissue. . Excess carbohydrates will also be transformed into fatty acids by the liver. The liver produces cholesterol. If a person eats foods that also contain cholesterol, the body will have an excess of it. If this happens, cholesterol will be excreted into the bile. This helps the liver prevent the body from building up LDL cholesterol in artery walls, which can cause a heart attack or stroke.4. Bile production – hepatocytes in the liver produce bile. Bile contains bile salt, the bile pigment (called bilirubin and produced by the breakdown of red blood cells, namely heme). Cholesterol, water, sodium chloride and sodium hydrogen carbonate also cause the green-yellow color of the fluid which is then stored in the gallbladder and secreted into the duodenum..