can chocolate affect my hormone levels and give me acne? everyone says but it s

1. 49

   andyfposted 14 years ago

   can chocolate affect my hormone levels and give me acne? everyone says  but it seems to for me.
   
   everyone always tells me that chocolate doesn't give you acne. however, my face will completely clear up and then i will eat a bar of chocolate and the next day my face will breakout with painful acne. (not so much white heads, but painful swollen red spots with no head.) could i maybe be allergic to fat? or the chocolate is affecting my hormone levels or something?

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2. 56

   SpaceAgeposted 14 years ago

   no, i never heard of such a thing. i'm a chocolate eater, & i never had any trouble

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3. 68

   She-rahposted 14 years ago

   I can't touch anything chocolate. Break out within a few hours. Chocolate contains caffeine which I can not have AT ALL, due to my hormone problems. Caffeine causes the body to not be able to process/convert and use estrogen. Most people do not have problems from the small amount in chocolate but I am extremely sensitive to it because of the little caffeine content. Alcohol does the same thing to me because it also keeps the body from being able to use estrogen. I'm on an estrogen treatment and I'm not allowed to have any kind of caffeine or alcohol because it lowers the effect of my treatment. Easier said than done, lol. Men also have estrogen, more than women after a certain age. The body uses some of it to convert to testosterone and as the man ages, the conversion of estrogen and aldosterone  to testosterone minimizes. My guess is that it does have something to do with hormones or maybe just some kind of sensitivity.

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4. 85

   alishareneeposted 11 years ago

   While I've never really heard of chocolate being an actual cause of acne, I can think of some things that chocolate might contain that can definitely exacerbate acne.  For one thing, caffeine can trigger acne in some individuals and is found in some chocolate products.  Caffeine increases adrenaline, which is also tied to an increase in testosterone, which could cause or worsen hormonal acne. 
   
   The major thing you want to look for is if the chocolate you are consuming contains dairy.  Lactose intolerance was the cause of my acne, and as soon as I stopped consuming dairy my hormonal acne cleared up.  Milk has a lot of hormones in it that can throw of your hormonal balance.  I quickly realized that almost every chocolate product I consumed had dairy in it, although there is some dark or fine chocolates that don't contain dairy.  Other than that I can't think of any other reason could cause hormonal acne, unless of course you're actually allergic to cocoa itself.  That's a different story and you would need to get checked by a doctor for that kind of allergy.  Best of luck to you!

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5. 49

   Notnewsposted 11 years ago

   People  are ridiculous. Obviously if 'you've never heard of it' you need not respond to the question.. And on that same note, just because you've never heard of it, does not make it impossible. I experience the exact same thing.. I eat Greek yogurt daily, and I can have a coffee whenever I want.. But something about chocolate does it.. Milk chocolate.. 90% cocoa, doesn't matter. Same type of acne as well.. Still haven't figured it out.

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