Just how much of your body mass is made up by your vital organs? Find out what the heaviest organs in the human body are, and what they do, here. 1. Skin Average weight: 4,535g Function: Protects against pathogens; provides insulation; synthesizes vitamin D; regulates temperature; provides sensation 2. Liver Average weight: 1,560g Function: Breaks down toxins; produces hormones, proteins and digestive biochemicals; regulates glycogen storage 3. Brain Average weight: 1,500g Function: Drives executive functions such as reasoning; coordinates responses to changes in environment 4. Lungs Average weight: 1,300g Function: Supplies oxygen to be distributed around the body; expels carbon dioxide that is created around the body 5. Heart Average weight: 300g Function: Pumps oxygenated blood from lungs around the body; pumps deoxygenated blood to the lungs 6. Kidneys Average weight: 260g (pair) Function: Remove waste products; regulate sodium and water retention; filter blood; produce urine and hormones 7. Spleen Average weight: 175g Function: Filters blood; holds a reserve supply of blood; recycles iron; synthesizes antibodies; removes bacteria 8. Pancreas Average weight: 70g Function: Produces insulin and glycogen; secretes enzymes that assist in the absorption of nutrients in the small intestine 9. Thyroid Average weight: 20g Function: Controls body’s energy use; makes proteins; controls hormone sensitivity 10. Prostate gland Average weight: 11g Function: Secretes an alkaline fluid that constitutes 50-75 per cent of the volume of semen Source
