What is . . . ?

Acanthosis nigricans (pronounced: ah-kan-THO-sis NY-gruh-kans) is a skin condition. It appears gradually with thicker and dark, velvety patches of skin in body creases and folds, usually on the sides and back of the neck, in armpits, elbow pits and groin. It can be found on other parts of the body, including the face, chest, elbows, knees, and knuckles.

Acanthosis nigricans is most commonly caused by high blood insulin levels, a condition called insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is seen in people who are overweight or obese and makes them more likely to develop type 2 diabetes. It is also associated with other endocrine conditions, such as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

Losing weight will help acanthosis nigricans fade. 

Some foods, like fruits and milk, naturally contain sugar. Other foods (think processed items, fruit juices, candy, and baked goods) have sugars, syrups and sweeteners added to them during the preparation process.

The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, the reigning authority on nutrition recommends that sugar make up no more than 10% of daily calorie intake. The American Heart Association recommends that no more than half of daily discretionary calories comes from added sugars—that’s about 6 teaspoons or 100 calories for women, 9 teaspoons or 150 calories for men.

Healthy hint: Added sugars come in many forms. Some names for added sugars include brown sugar, cane sugar, corn sugar, corn sweetener, corn syrup, dextrose, fruit juice concentrates, high-fructose corn syrup, honey, invert sugar, lactose (when not in milk or dairy products), maltose, malt syrup, molasses, raw sugar, and sucrose.

Adipose tissue (commonly known as body fat) is found all over the body: under the skin (subcutaneous fat), packed around internal organs (visceral fat), between muscles, within bone marrow and in breast tissue.

Men tend to store more visceral fat, leading to obesity around the middle of their abdomen. However, women tend to store more subcutaneous fat within the buttocks and thighs. These differences are due to the sex hormones produced by males and females.

Adipose tissue is a very important and active endocrine organ; 𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑝𝑜𝑐𝑦𝑡𝑒𝑠 (or fat cells) play a vital role in the storage and release of energy throughout the body. In addition to adipocytes, adipose tissue contains numerous other cells that produce certain hormones in response to signals from the rest of the organs throughout the body. Through the actions of these hormones, adipose tissue plays an important role in the regulation of glucose, cholesterol and the metabolism of sex hormones.

Both too much (obesity) and too little (anorexia nervosa) adipose tissue can have severe health implications.

Amino acids are the building blocks of protein. Proteins are long chains of amino acids. Your body has thousands of different proteins that each have important jobs. Each protein has its own sequence of amino acids. The sequence makes the protein take different shapes and have different functions in your body.

You can think of amino acids like the letters of the alphabet. When you combine letters in various ways, you make different words. The same goes for amino acids — when you combine them in various ways, you make different proteins.

Your body needs 20 different kinds of amino acids to function correctly. These 20 amino acids combine in different ways to make proteins in your body.

Your body makes hundreds of amino acids, but it can’t make 9 of the amino acids you need. These are called essential amino acids. You must get them from the food you eat. The 9 essential amino acids are: histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, valine.

Your body produces the rest of the 11 amino acids you need. These are called nonessential amino acids: alanine, arginine, asparagine, aspartic acid, cysteine, glutamic acid, glutamine, glycine, proline, serine, and tyrosine.