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why does chocolate give you pimples?

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Answer by isepiq
Submitted on 1/26/2004
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I am 53 years old. Since I was a teenager I have been able to produce pimples by eating a lot of chocolate. I can eat chocolate for 3 days, and produce one or more pimples on my face every time without fail. The same goes for my son and daughter. I hypothesis that this may be genetic, and not true for everyone. Maybe more of an allergy to one of the ingredients in chocolate, such as the caffeine or another chemical that is present in chocolate (forget the name at the moment) that is a 'stimulant', which is one of the reasons chocolate is addicting and makes you feel good. Every time I get my daughter off of chocolate, her face clears up really well. Every time she reads that chocolate does not cause pimples and she starts eating it again, her face breaks out like crazy. Everyone is different. I think there is NOT one answer for everyone. My theory. Since this can be reproduced in myself and my two children every time without fail, that tends towards being scientific evidence/fact. Remember, some people can die if they eat some kinds of 'nuts', but my family does perfectly fine with them. I think we need to stop this 'one size fits all' because, like with my daughter, it does a great amount of harm. Also, I think the research done on chocolate and pimples, if I recall the last time I checked, was paid for by people that have a $vested$ interest in chocolate sales, just like the tobacco companies had 3rd party 'tests' done showing that cigarettes were good for you. IMHO isepiq

Answer by funnyface
Submitted on 3/25/2004
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any food with an excess of sugar ingredients can cause spots for many people. some lucky folks can eat what they like and not suffer. being chinese i was taught not to eat crisps, to restrict my consumption of roasted or barbecued food(burgers and kfc are no no's). if we eat these types of food our internal systems become too "heated" and we need to "cool" our internal systems down by eating fruits e.g. apples, pears, melons etc and drinking lots of boiled water that has cooled down to cleanse our systems. when i was a kid i found this to be a real pain but it works. i have just started eating chocolate again and guess what?.......spots have appeared all over my face!!!! it does not help being the vainest chinese guy in the world ha ha.

Answer by :::::::::MK::::::::
Submitted on 4/13/2004
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YOU GUYS ARE CRAZYYYY UM FIRST I WANNA SAY Carl:)IS YOUR ZODIAC SIGN AQUARIUS>>? LOLL WELL I'M 14 YEARS OLD AND THE LAST TIME I EVER GOT A PIMPLE WAS ABOUT 4 MONTHS AGO.. I DON'T CARE WAT I EAT LET IT BE CHOCOLATE OR NOT BUT IF U EAT AT LEAST ONE APPLE OR A FRUIT EVERYDAY AND WASH YOUR FACE AT LEAST THREE TIMES EVERYDAY WITH DOVE SOAP THEN YOUR NEVER GONNA GET PIMPLES!! BELIEVE ME!! And a good advise would be to NEVER use tooth paste for pimple it makes it worse... and if u pop a pimple then you are to wash your hands and your face or the bacteria can spread and cause more pimples.. I'm sure about this one Cuz my friends go thru this a lot "PIMPLES" !! they all think I'm lucky cuz i never get pimples! peace I'M OUT! ~MK

Answer by ern
Submitted on 4/21/2004
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omg!u guys r freaks!i mean everyone has pimples!but let me end this discussion with the real truth!ok during puberty u crave sweets ...(horomones) and so therefore u eat candy or chocolate...then as usual u get pimples so thats y people think thats what causes it is because about the tiem u crave sweets is about the time u start to break out!omg!chocolate causing pimples?o puuuuuleeeez! my mother is a dermatoligist and i think she would no mo about it the soem little 13 year old who thinks chocolate is poisinous!good lord!well u guys r...like weird to b talkin about pimples cuz everyone has em no matter when they pik on u or w.e. they gunna have pimples someday 2 jus wait by the time they do urs will prolly clear up !well anywho ...jus remember chocolate does NOT cause acne! people that beleive that r the kind of people who will someday shut hershys factory down!and who couls live without hershys? i mean forget nestle! well neways...g2g i have better stuff to do then to right about grease and dirt all day!bye yall! anonomous hehe

Answer by SFP
Submitted on 4/27/2004
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After reading some of the posts in this forum and doing some of my own research here is what I have to say: Sugar does not cause pimples, it is a basic source of energy for the body along with starches and grains. Sugar has the potential take give you energy and make you fat, but it won't give you pimples. What you eat is what you are - eating oily or fatty foods can in crease the amount of sebum that the skin produces. If this sebum is at such a quantity that it clogs up pores, then it becomes infected and turns into a pimple. Bacteria also contribute to pimples as do hormones. Here are the types of food that do cause pimples: Fatty foods, dairy products (lactose), most fast-food, soft drinks (coke, etc). Here are the types of food that do not cause pimples: fruits/veggies. Lean meat cooked without excessive oil, bread/pasta/rice, most soy products. As far as chocolate goes, it depends on the type of choc, and your genetic tolerance to it. If the chocolate is oily then it is reasonable to assume that it would affect you more than a dry chocolate. I know that my family is prone to breakouts after chocolate, but I know many people who eat it by the handful and never have a spot.

Answer by PaulTech
Submitted on 4/27/2004
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While there is no pinpoint answer to the cause of acne, here is what chemically occurs throughout the body. The oil glands "come to life" around puberty. Unfortunately the glands are located just below the surface of the skin. If the glands continue to secrete oils, they escape through the openings in the pores. The oils, by nature are meant to lubricate and protect the skin. During certain circumstances too many oils attempt to escape through the pores and the oil glands block the openings. The blockage causes oil build-up under the skin's surface. As the oils block the pores, bacteria feeds on the off the oil and multiply causing surrounding tissues to inflame. If the inflammation is local, near the surface of the skin a pustule develops. (Pustule: A pustule is a small collection of pus in the top layer of skin (epidermis) or beneath it in the dermis. Pustules frequently form in sweat glands or hair follicles. Pus is a mixture of inflammatory cells and liquid.) If the inflammation is deeper, it creates a papule, frequently referred to as a pimple. (Papule: A small solid rounded bump rising from the skin that is usually less than 1 centimeter in diameter, less than 3/8 inch across.) If the inflammation is more compact and yet deeper than a papule, the result is a cyst. (Cyst: A closed sac or capsule usually filled with fluid or semisolid material.) In the event the oil break through the skin's surface, a whitehead forms. (Whitehead: A familiar term for what is medically called a closed comedo. A whitehead is a comedo that has an obstructed opening to the skin. A closed comedo may rupture and cause a low-grade skin inflammatory reaction in the area.) Once the oil is oxidized, it forms a blackhead. (*Blackhead: A familiar term for what is medically called an open comedo. By contrast, a closed comedo has an obstructed opening to the skin and may rupture to cause a low-grade skin inflammatory reaction in the area. The common name for a closed comedo is a whitehead.) All along you thought you had a pimple! Contrary to popular belief acne is not caused by heredity, food, dirt, or stress. In extreme cases, a child MAY inherit acne from a parent. Acne is more a universal condition than hereditary. Just because a family member suffers from severe acne, does not mean you have to as well. Food does not cause acne, not matter how greasy it is. Avoiding junk food is better for all-around health, but not specifically better for acne. Stress does not have a direct link to acne. Acne may cause stress, not vice versa.

Answer by Boku
Submitted on 5/20/2004
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People who says chocolate doesn't cause acne and still insist that they don't are lacking of knowledge and experience. My sister and I have this problem when eating chocolate, and I can reproduce the problem. When I don't eat chocolate not a single acne surfaces on my face, tried not eating one for a couple of months. Eat a couple, 2 days later it's surfacing. Once, I ate a whole lot in a day, 3 acne appeared. But this wasn't ordinary, each acne had multiple "cores"! You know the white stuff that comes out when u squeeze them, well, it had like 4 on each of them close together and definitely painful. I squeezed them out altogether with the blood till they stop coming out. 2 days later more cores appeared. Gaah!! I hate chocolate, but I want them!! If you don't get acne from eating chocolate, then it's not in your genes, simple as that! And you should be happy. I'm 24 now, but when I was teenager, I didn't get problems from eating chocolate, never I had acne.My older sister is also getting acnes from chocolate. To summarize, some people get acnes from eating chocolate and other don't. Don't say that since you don't get acnes from eating chocolate, that means chocolate don't cause them.

Answer by spotted
Submitted on 5/20/2004
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I'm 32 and have had spots forever. I also got spots after eating chocolate and I also read the billion of stories saying that chocolate does not cause pimples. However, I read somewhere that dairy products also cause pimples. So I stopped eating all kinds of dairy products and my spots virtually disappeared (I wish I had known earlier...). So I developed a theory: Most chocolate contains dairy products, so its the milk in the chocolate that causes the pimples (maybe the chocolate amplifies the effect) and not the chocolate itself. To test this I should start eating pure chocolate but I haven't done that yet so at this moment I cannot support my claim. So my advice is, cut the dairy and eat only pure chocolate without milk.

Answer by Ben'inem
Submitted on 9/14/2004
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People's are caused by genes that you get from your parents.. My dad eats more hot and spicy food than me, yet he doesn't get as many pimples.. -.-;; My mom has alot of pimples yet she eats not much spicy food.. I try just eat nothing and just drink water and eat a sandwich, salad, and drink some water every day.. Some soaps cause more pimples cause they have a certain chemical, that when you wash your face with it, it may react.. Try not touching the other parts of your body without washing your hands, after you have just popped a pimple(don't do this unless told to..)/touched one/found one.. May cause more.. Sometimes pimples come because they ails are stuck in the pores of your face and/or body.. Oil just sometimes come.. Either that or they come from the food you eat... If you go to school and sometimes you just get oil out of no where during class.. Maybe you should ask your teacher if you can bring a wet towel to school.. Don't be so rough on your pimples, blackheads,acne.... I'm just bored right now... And I had some time in my hands...(which are washed.. ^-^;;)

Answer by Ben'inem
Submitted on 9/14/2004
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People's are caused by genes that you get from your parents.. My dad eats more hot and spicy food than me, yet he doesn't get as many pimples.. -.-;; My mom has alot of pimples yet she eats not much spicy food.. I try just eat nothing and just drink water and eat a sandwich, salad, and drink some water every day.. Some soaps cause more pimples cause they have a certain chemical, that when you wash your face with it, it may react.. Try not touching the other parts of your body without washing your hands, after you have just popped a pimple(don't do this unless told to..)/touched one/found one.. May cause more.. Sometimes pimples come because they ails are stuck in the pores of your face and/or body.. Oil just sometimes come.. Either that or they come from the food you eat... If you go to school and sometimes you just get oil out of no where during class.. Maybe you should ask your teacher if you can bring a wet towel to school.. Don't be so rough on your pimples, blackheads,acne.... I'm just bored right now... And I had some time in my hands...(which are washed.. ^-^;;)

Answer by joshua
Submitted on 9/24/2004
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i have battled acne for ages and have worked in many places like The Body Shop and for a clinic. Ive been on medication (tetracycline) and on Acutane, but the one thing that i have seen is that dairy products do have an adverse affect on your skin. My skin is more dry than oily and i still get it and i have used Tea Tree Oil products for eternity and seen very little result, but when i started using a full skin care routine from LUSH i found my acne problem taking a lovely turn for the better. Flax seed oil is also heavy in my diet as it produces Omega 3 acids which help your body's production of natural oil. Using a moisturizing facial wash and moisturizer has helped me tremendously and getting onto something consistently helps your skin start to balance. if you want to help your skin realize that it takes 27 days to complete a full skin cycle which is where your skin rejuvenates itself. wash your face and moisturize at least twice (morning and before bed) keep dairy products to a minimal if you are not working out or exercising because they will build up and produce bad oils. chocolate has milk products in it and i eat them and then work out to burn off any fatty acids or anything unhealthy for my body. eating fish is also a healthy bonus. make sure no matter how oily your skin feels or how acne covered...not to pop your pimples, it breaks the skins surface and you will end up with scars..it also pushes the dirt and oil deeper into your skin as well as up out of your pores..BIG NONO resist you will have a whitehead for one or two days,,and eternity of good skin if you can resist, i recommend also using The Body Shop's tea tree oil cover stick if you cant help poking them because you aren't strong enough to handle not popping them...pure cocoa butter oil is also good for your skin (most people only use it for really dry skin) but in the purest form it actually pulls the dirt and oils from your skin and gives your skin the much needed moisture it craves. hope this isn't too much to do.