Human body
Liver
Anatomy · Digestive system
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Why does blood from your gut take a detour through your liver before it reaches your heart?
Your liver is your biggest internal organ and your body’s chemical factory. Blood full of nutrients from your gut flows in through the portal vein, the liver stores, builds and cleans what it needs to, and then sends the blood on to the heart. It also makes bile, a green juice that helps you digest fat.
The liver is the largest internal organ and the metabolic hub of the body, receiving a dual blood supply from the hepatic portal vein and the hepatic artery. Blood and bile run in opposite directions through it: blood flows from the portal triads to the hepatic veins, while bile flows from hepatocytes back toward the hilum and out through the biliary tree.
Key facts
- Mass, adult
- ≈ 1.2–1.6 kg (≈ 2% of body mass)
- Blood flow
- ≈ 1.4–1.5 L/min (≈ 25% of cardiac output)
- Inflow split
- ≈ 75% portal vein, ≈ 25% hepatic artery
- Bile secretion
- ≈ 0.5–1 L/day
- Gallbladder capacity
- ≈ 30–50 mL
- Functional segments
- 8 (Couinaud classification)
Parts you can explore (14)
- Right lobe
- Left lobe
- Caudate lobe
- Quadrate lobe
- Falciform ligament
- Gallbladder
- Hepatic portal vein
- Hepatic artery
- Hepatic veins
- Inferior vena cava
- Intrahepatic bile ducts
- Extrahepatic bile ducts
- Blood flow
- Bile flow
In the 3D model
Rotate and take apart the model, follow a guided tour of what each part does and why it’s needed, change it with a live slider, and test yourself with a short quiz. Free, no sign-up.
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