 Hello, I am Dr. Rajeev Lochil, liver transplant surgeon here at Manipal Hospital. Today, I am just going to discuss a few aspects of the function of one of the largest organs in the body with you all. The liver, as you know, is a vital organ. What do we mean by vital is that, you know, it is extremely important for a person to stay alive. So, just like the heart and the brain and the lungs, without the liver, the human body will cease to exist. This does not mean to say that, you know, organs like the hands and the feet are not important, but they are non-vital organs. So, why is the liver vital? The liver is vital because it provides energy for all activities of the human body. So, when we eat food or when we ingest anything, drink water, whatever we take into the body, it reaches the liver, it goes to the intestine and from the intestine, the blood carries it to the liver. So, the liver is unique because there is a big vein which carries all these nutrients from the intestines to the liver and here is where the energy is, you know, made for the body to function. Everything that we see in the body, right from the hair and the nails, the most important muscles and every part of our body is actually synthesized by material which is provided by the liver. So, this happens for us by our mother's liver when we are in our mother's tummies and when we are born and we begin to function as independent human beings, our own liver makes all these things for us. So, no wonder the liver is considered the engine or the battery of the human body. So, this is one of the most important functions of the liver. So, there are various other functions, you know, apart from this important function and one of the most important things is it gets rid of all the toxic material. Lots of toxic material which the body provides, the liver gets rid of it by means of the bile which the liver secretes. So, a lot of people associate liver function with bile excretion. This is quite normal. Bile is the greenish fluid which sometimes when we feel sick, which we bring out along with our vomitors. So, this is secreted by the liver but this is actually a secondary function of the liver. It is also important but compared to its providing energy for us, this is a secondary function. Suffice to say that, you know, the liver is the most important organ of the human body.