Does Chocolate Cause Acne?

Every time you get a stray pimple on your forehead or cheeks, your mother bellows from top of her lungs "It's because of all the chocolates you keep gorging on!" And you think, "Come on! What is the chocolate-acne connection in this?" But then when the pimples keep coming in quick succession and you are at your wit's end wondering what's to be done, a thought forces itself upon you, "Really...does chocolate cause acne?!" Even though you want to keep it miles away 'cause you are giving in to fear and suspicion, you still cannot stop yourself from thinking the same. Then what is one to do?

The Chocolate-Acne Myth

So the guilt finally comes huh? For having had too many chocolates and causing a spurt of pimples to invade your face? Now before you bawl your eyes out and vow to stay away from 'the devil that is chocolate', read the title carefully. Notice how I have used the word myth? So what does that say? Correct! That it is in fact a myth. Now you'll say. "OK, maybe not normal chocolate, but does dark chocolate cause acne?" Again, that would be a no. Chocolate of any type, does not cause acne.

But I'm sure that my ending this article at this juncture will not have satisfied your curiosity one bit. You'll be thinking. "That can't be it!" "There has to be more to it!" "Why would someone start this rumor and put us through hell?!" Well, honestly, I can't say why and who started the rumor, but it is believed that the medical journals in the 50s went on record to say that chocolates led to pimples. Now why they would record something like that, I don't know. But let me clear the misconception anyway about this subject.

To understand the concept of why chocolates cannot cause acne, it is necessary to understand what are the causes of acne in the first place.

Acne Causes

Acne could be caused due to a few things. Firstly, the genetics. What is your skin type that you are born with and how it functions; and secondly hormones. Abnormal production of hormones is the main reason that people get acne. This is because, an increase in hormone production (mainly testosterone) will cause the skin to produce more oil. When there is excess oil on the skin surface, it will block the pores and therefore the sebum that needs to be released through the pores and onto the surface of the skin will get blocked in the semi-open pores. The oil will become trapped and gather bacteria and then finally sprout out onto the surface of the skin causing a pimple.

The question therefore is, does eating chocolate cause acne by producing too much sebum? What is the connection?

The Answer

By a study that was conducted in the USA by doctor Natasha Cook, a man who recorded an average count of sebum in his body (178 milligrams) went on a chocolate diet for a week to see if the consumption of all that chocolate would lead to an increase in sebum and therefore acne. But after one week and having completed the diet, there was no increase in his sebum content (body fat was a different story, of course). In fact it was lower (138 milligrams) than what it was when it was first recorded. More over, his face was as clear as it had been before the experiment was conducted. Thus it was proved that this theory was absolutely baseless. It has in fact been proved that chocolate is good for health.

Then why did this chocolate acne connection come about? And more importantly, why did it stay for this long and why does it still continues to haunt us? The answer is that while individually chocolate may not cause acne, the diet that we follow can. Having an unhealthy diet of overly spicy, oily, processed and fatty foods leads to an increase in hormone production. Which then automatically leads to more sebum being produced and therefore leads to acne.

So if one is really concerned about breaking out into acne, pay special attention to the overall diet that you eat and try to inculcate a balanced diet into your lifestyle. Also following a healthy beauty regime will help immensely to avoid this problem.

Have you got a satisfactory answer to the question - 'Does chocolate cause acne'? I sure hope you have. So go grab that bar of chocolate and let it melt into your mouth in slow torturous swirls...and while you are at it, play the music a little louder to drown your mum's screams in the background.