Reported in the May 2004 issue of the “International Journal of Biochemistry and Cell Biology” the liver plays a prominent role in regulating blood glucose levels (See Reference 5). After a meal carbohydrates are broken down to glucose in the small intestine and glucose is absorbed into the bloodstream. After absorption glucose is directly transported to the liver. The liver removes excess glucose from the blood and stores the glucose as glycogen, which is a polymer of glucose units. In between meals, hepatocytes break down the glycogen and release glucose back into the bloodstream for use by other cells of the body. If the body requires more glucose than what is stored as glycogen the liver will make glucose from other molecules like fatty acids and amino acids.