Is Chocolate Causing Your Pimples?

[Monique]

Is there a connection between the two or not? According to a quick browse on the internet people have a very strong opinion against it and refute the connection (supposedly backed up by research). But I am 90% sure there is a connection, so I'm puzzled. I don't even eat chocolates anymore :sad:

 

[hypatia]

I don't think its the chocolate{coaco}, but the things they can put in it..like the fats.

 

[Monique]

There was a time I was eating 1-2 bars a day and would get really bad pimples. Not many, just a few, but bad enough that a band-aid wasn't a redundant luxury. I try to avoid chocolate now, when someone gives me a box I can write on a piece of paper that my skin will break out within a few days. I'll try and keep track of it now (which will allow me to eat some chocolate again, for testing sake )

There is a 'myth' that pork gives rise to pimples, which also seems to be disproven by 'science'. There was a professor on television today claiming that pork had no connection to pimples - hence bringing up the topic.

 

[Moonbear]

I had come across some article by accident (you know how once in a while something odd comes up when you search PubMed that seems unrelated to anything you're looking for), and it was about the link between acne and chocolate. It was a fairly recent article and was actually refuting the studies that showed there was no link between chocolate and acne because they weren't properly controlled. I think they were claiming it could be the cocoa proteins or whatever it is that makes dark chocolate dark, but the studies only really tested and controlled for the cocoa butter content. When I looked at what they described, it seems they were right, that the old studies had given everyone some amount of chocolate, and then one group got more cocoa butter or just more chocolate, but there was no group that truly had no chocolate, so they then concluded that because all the groups had acne, chocolate didn't make it worse. I wish I had saved it.

I know I've experienced the link first-hand myself, but was never totally certain because I also crave chocolate more during the times of the month when I'm more likely to break out with acne anyway. (I swore I was told it went away when you stop being a teenager, so how come I still break out?) I've noticed the same thing if I drink a lot of cola...not just any soda, and not just caffeinated drinks, but specifically cola. I don't know if there's something else in cola that's similar to something in chocolate though, or just another unrelated cause.

 

[Lisa!]

I think there's a relation because I too get bad pimples when I eat too much chocolate!

 

[loseyourname]

How old are you people? I haven't had acne in at least 7 years. Interestingly enough, I didn't have many problems growing up, but suddenly flared up everywhere my junior year of high school and am still lightly scarred from it. My dermatologist concluded that I had an allergic reaction to something (prednisone pretty much got rid of the worst of it and I was only broken out for a few months then went back to normal), but we never figured out exactly what it was. Whatever it was, it was far worse than chocolate.

 

[Monique]

I had come across some article by accident

I looked through pubmed but couldn't find anything.

How old are you people? I haven't had acne in at least 7 years

I never had acne, I think every teenager goes through a period of having break-outs. The only thing that would come close are the pustules that appear after eating chocolate. I'm surprised that so many people claim it's a myth, but if they perform the experiments as Moonbear describes it's not wonder.

 

[Astronuc]

Some common misconceptions about the causes of acne.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acne#Misconceptions_about_causes

When I was 16-17, I would occassionally get pimples, but I changed my diet to dark breads like rye and pumpernickel, and away from processed foods, particluarly those with wheat gluten, and that seemed to reduce the occurrence of pimples. I also had fairly oily skin.

The other part of it is hormones, which are fairly strong influences late teens and early 20's.

 

[Moonbear]

Hormones are definitely part of it...both around puberty, and for women, during the week leading to menstruation (even adult women who don't get much acne can break out with a pimple or two during that time). Oily skin is certainly a contributor (though, hormones can be the underlying cause of the oily skin too).

What I wonder about chocolate, and other food-related breakouts, is whether it's really that chocolate causes acne, or that it's a mild food-allergy that some people have that results in a breakout. If I eat too much chocolate and break out, it's a different type of breakout than the regular little pimples I would otherwise get. (I'll risk it, I'm not giving up chocolate. )

 

[Curious3141]

I have the same problem, and it's largely unaccounted for by (Western) medical science. Eastern "medical" thought has it that chocolate (among other foods) is "heaty" so it's prone to cause pimples, again, that's not really explaining anything.

It could be a mild allergic reaction. I also have a fair bit of itching and very slight difficulty in breathing. Interestingly, I take mild non-sedating antihistamines after a heavy chocolate meal, and the symptoms are much alleviated. There could be something to this.