Chocolate makes acne worse

Posted on Wed, 25 Jun 14

The link between chocolate and acne has long been controversial but a new study has found that pure cocoa, even without added sugar or fat, can indeed aggravate acne.

Although it might seem obvious to those who notice chocolate make their acne worse, there has been surprisingly little research on the link between chocolate and acne, and the few studies that exist had important flaws in their design (1).

In an attempt to set the record straight, a research group performed a pilot study (2) and then set-up a more rigorous trial to test the effects of single-dose of pure cocoa in a capsule against placebo in people with existing acne (3).

Administering pure cocoa helped to rule out the effects of added sugar and fat often found in chocolate and cocoa containing foods. Independent of cocoa, concentrated sources of sugar and fat could exacerbate acne by affecting your gastrointestinal health and increasing your blood sugar (4,5).

So did cocoa make acne worse? Well, within just 4-days those who took the cocoa had a significant increase in acne lesions (comedones, papules, pustules, and nodules). 

The study also looked at the effects of increasingly high doses, and found that there was a trend towards worse acne in those consuming more cocoa.

This discovery is further supported be a recent experiment suggesting that cocoa can increase inflammation in the skin of acne prone individuals (6).

So if you have acne, it might be best to skip the chocolate and avoid cocoa, especially if you are eating it with added sugar and fat.

And keep in mind that even cocoa products in the guise of health food are often still sugar laden and fat rich, hidden behind the health halo of ingredients like coconut oil and agave syrup.

References:

1. Goh W, Kallianpur KJ, Chow D, Almeida PG, Brown AC, Pager S, Sil P. Chocolate  and acne: how valid was the original study? Clin Dermatol. 2011 Jul-Aug;29(4):459-60.
2. Block SG, Valins WE, Caperton CV, et al. Exacerbation of facial acne vulgaris after consuming pure chocolate. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2011;65(4):ell4–ell5.
3. Caperton C, Block S, Viera M, Keri J, Berman B. Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Study Assessing the Effect of Chocolate Consumption in Subjects with a History of Acne Vulgaris. J Clin Aesthet Dermatol. 2014 May;7(5):19-23.
4. Bowe WP, Logan AC. Acne vulgaris, probiotics and the gut-brain-skin axis - back to the future? Gut Pathog. 2011 Jan 31;3(1):1.
5. Mahmood SN, Bowe WP. Diet and acne update: carbohydrates emerge as the main culprit. J Drugs Dermatol. 2014 Apr;13(4):428-35.
6. Netea SA, Janssen SA, Jaeger M, Jansen T, Jacobs L, Miller-Tomaszewska G, Plantinga TS, Netea MG, Joosten LA. Chocolate consumption modulates cytokine production in healthy individuals. Cytokine. 2013 Apr;62(1):40-3.