What does our pancreas do?

If you're not sure what the pancreas does, you're not alone. A lot of people aren't sure why we have a pancreas! The pancreas is a special organ in our bodies, like the stomach, the kidneys, the liver, or the heart. Each of these organs does something to keep us alive and healthy. The pancreas actually has two jobs!

First, the pancreas creates special chemicals called hormones. Different hormones do different things in our bodies. These special hormones control the amount of sugar in our blood. Our bodies use this sugar as energy! It's a different type of sugar from the kind we eat though. Often sugary foods are more unhealthy than healthy.

The second job of the pancreas is to make another kind of chemical, enzymes. These enzymes travel into the small intestine and help digest the food we eat! That food will become energy for us to live and grow! Now that you know what a pancreas does, aren't you glad you have one?