Your liver offer several essential functions -- it serves as a metabolic hotspot in your body, stores essential vitamins and minerals for future use, clears toxins from your body and helps you process drugs.

The kidneys and liver are organs in your body that help to perform vital functions, such as filtration, storage of nutrients and digestion. When these organs are functioning at an optimal level, you are able to derive the most benefit from the foods you eat.

Oil obtained from the liver of the codfish contains large amounts of Vitamin A, D and omega-3 fatty acids. It is used as a dietary supplement and can be found at most major pharmacies in the vitamin/supplement section. Cod liver oil helps to improve certain diseases of the skin, rashes or lesions.

The concept of a liver fat flush was first introduced in 1988 by Dr. Ann Louise Gittleman, who then wrote a book solely on fat flushing in 2002. The basic idea, according to Bodybuildingforyou.com, is that your liver is the major fat burning organ in your body and maintaining its health is vital for weight loss.

Duck liver, commonly called foie gras, is a delicacy made by force feeding cornmeal to ducks in a process known as gavage in an effort to make their livers larger and richer. This food is not without controversy, as some feel this amounts to animal cruelty.

Cholesterol plays a vital role in cell membranes, movement of fat through the blood and the synthesis of certain hormones. Because cholesterol is such an important molecule, the human liver synthesizes cholesterol and distributes it throughout the body via the bloodstream.

People who abuse alcohol may develop niacin deficiencies. Alcoholism is the leading cause of niacin deficiency in the United States, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center. Small amounts of niacin supplements may reverse deficiencies.

Castor oil is extracted from the seed of the castor bean plant. The oil has been used for therapeutic purposes since ancient times. Historically, its principle use has been as a cathartic agent, stimulating the bowels with strong laxative action. A gentler use of castor oil is through topical application. Dr.

Your liver is the largest solid organ in your body. It converts nutrients from foods into forms your body can use and produces bile, which sends waste products to your intestines. Your liver also helps digest fat and stores carbohydrates as glycogen.

The gallbladder is a small sac located beneath the liver that stores bile, which is made by liver cells. When you eat a meal, muscles in its wall contract to expel bile into your small intestine, where it plays a crucial role in digestion.

Bile is a digestive fluid the helps break fats into fatty acids that the body can absorb. Your liver produces bile from cholesterol and a byproduct of the breakdown of red blood cells called, bilirubin.

Your liver and kidneys are vital organs that help process and filter out food, medications, alcohol and other substances that enter your body. What you take into your body can pollute your liver and kidneys, make it hard for them to function properly.