What organ lies just below the liver and stores bile?

• A. Stomach
• B. Liver
• C. Gall bladder
• D. Pancreas

Answer: (C)

Bile storage and release is the job of the gallbladder. Bile is produced in the liver, then travels through ducts to be stored and concentrated in the gallbladder, which sits just underneath the liver in the upper right abdomen. When you eat fatty foods, hormones signal the gallbladder to contract and push bile through the bile ducts into the small intestine to help emulsify fats.

The other organs have different roles: the stomach stores and breaks down food; the liver makes bile but does not store it; the pancreas produces digestive enzymes and bicarbonate and does not store bile.