What... is the point of the pancreas?
Your pancreas is as long as a small ruler (15 centimetres) and shaped a bit like a tadpole. In humans it lies just behind the stomach. The purpose of this organ is two-fold. Firstly, it’s one of the places where your body releases hormones (special chemical messengers in the body) into the blood. The hormones it releases includes those that help to control the amount of sugar in your blood, ensuring your blood doesn’t have too much or too little. Secondly, it helps to digest our food. It does this by releasing chemicals called enzymes into the small intestine. These enzymes (called pancreatic juices) help to break down our food so it can be absorbed into the blood and sent to where it’s needed.