One of the greatest myths of all times, particularly amongst teenagers, is that chocolate causes acne. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is an established fact that chocolate does not cause pimples. Poor diet is the real culprit, but in the past, it has always been easy and convenient to blame chocolate.

Hormonal changes at puberty coupled with a diet lacking in zinc and high in iodine are also high on the list of suspects. Acne usually begins in the adolescent years when there is an increase in hormone levels causing glands to secrete a substance called sebum. Sebum flows naturally to the surface of the skin but if the flow is blocked, the oily sebum accumulates to form a pimple.

The claim that chocolate causes acne has been around for 50 years or more. However, research findings showed that there is no discernible difference in acne prevalence when comparing chocolate bar consumption to a control bar containing no chocolate. Hence, the conclusion is that the "ingestion of high amounts of chocolate did not materially affect the course of acne vulgaris or the output or composition of sebum."

So you can be assured that when it comes to pimple, chocolate is 'not guilty'. Blame those hormones.