This is a question that has been asked for decades – “does eating too much chocolate affect my acne?”. Certainly as a teenager I used to wonder about it myself, and due to the “old wives tales” being rife, I certainly did think so. How about you, what do you believe?

Most people either like chocolate or simply adore chocolate. There is something orgasmic about the experience of letting a piece of chocolate melt in your mouth and then slip down the throat. And to be honest its one of those je ne sais quoi sort of things – there is no real explanation as to why it is simply so delicious!

Anyways, back to the point.

I will happily put your mind at ease right now and tell you its something of a myth that chocolate does cause acne. So go ahead, enjoy your chocolate, no need to feel guilty about the potential for waking up the next morning covered in acne.

But hang on. Let’s delve a bit deeper here. All is perhaps not as clear as it may seem…

What causes acne? There is a gland below the outer skin level that produces sebum, which is an natural oil. The sebum passes up the length of a hair follicle and when it reaches the outer skin level it moisturizes and nourishes. However, if the sebum becomes trapped within the follicle then this often leads to acne. And this can happen – the sebum becoming trapped – for various reasons such as overproduction of oil or the pore being blocked by dirt and grease.

Thus, chocolate is not going to block a pore or cause overproduction of sebum. Or can it? A poor diet can affect hormone levels which in turn can affect sebum production. High fat levels in a diet or high sugar levels can impose upon hormonal fluctuations. So in a very round-about sort of way, chocolate can therefore be accountable for acne.

Chocolate in moderation will not give you acne. Chocolate as a thoroughly regular part of your diet can affect your acne. This is a bit like saying too much of any one thing is not a good thing, so don’t let it put you off your enjoyment of chocolate.

I always think to myself that life is to be enjoyed and not simply endured. Enjoy your diet just try not to over-indulge. Its most probably not the chocolate that is causing acne but something else that’s imbalanced within your diet. Take time to think about this. Remember too that acne is not merely related to diet. A healthy life style will have a beneficial effect on many things, acne being one of those.

So do yourself a favor, if acne is your concern then focus on changing your lifestyle rather than focusing specifically on your face. But don’t worry so much about the chocolate giving you acne. Its your diet as a whole that has to be questioned.