Do chocolates or greasy foods cause acne?

We all have grown up hearing this: “Eating chocolates and oily foods cause breakouts. So if you have acne-prone skin, avoid it like plague.” I have always had my own doubts about the veracity of this statement. I have an acne-prone skin and I have observed that whenever I eat chocolates or other fried stuff, it didn’t seem to have any obtrusive effect on my skin. What I mean to say is that it neither worsened already existing acne nor did it cause sudden breakouts when my skin was clear. And indeed my observation was correct. Recent studies have shown that eating chocolates and grease-laden food may pile on the calories, but blaming oily food alone for acne breakouts is incorrect. Leading dermatologists believe that pimples are caused by several factors like extreme stress, heredity or hormonal disturbances and not by oily food or chocolates. In fact, it has been found that dark chocolate is loaded with antioxidants and hence is beneficial for health.





Likewise, fruits like plums, pomegranates, black grapes and citrus fruits with high vitamin-C content like oranges are found to promote healthier complexion. So it looks like this all-time, oft repeated and clichéd advice about cutting down on junk/fast food and having more of fruits, green veggies and foods with omega-3 fatty acids seems to be one of the best and sure-fire ways of getting a healthy, youthful, blemish-free and even-toned skin.

But you might have heard from several people how some of their acne problems are actually connected with chocolate/oily food in some way or another -- some actually swear that milky and sugar-laden chocolates worsen their acne. Their perception isn’t entirely wrong as certain foods are known to aggravate acne. As per some studies, too much fat, too much sugar, dairy products like milk, a high glycemic diet and any other food that affects your individual hormone production can affect your sebum oil production and could possibly result in acne. However,  chocolate/oily food on its own cannot cause acne but a bad diet could be associated with acne. And though certain research and surveys point out an association between diet and acne, the researchers themselves conclude that these studies have their own limitations and more evidence is needed to prove this association and positively conclude that what we eat can cause or prevent acne. So until research conclusively proves that certain type of diet causes acne, the statement that eating chocolates/oily food causes acne is a myth.