Chocolate versus Skin Health

The great debate to eat or not to eat chocolate, what kind of chocolate should we eat and is it really that bad for our skin?....As a teenager growing up i suffered from acne and despite having access to great skin care and facial treatments, my mum would always chastise me for eating chocolate saying it would make my skin worse.

Let me put to bed some myths and shed some light on some truths when it comes to chocolate and how it affects our skin!

FACT: Sugar prematurely ages the skin. It does this by hardening the collagen and elastin in our skin, causing “trauma” to the skin tissue in the symptom of lines and wrinkles.

FACT: Chocolate has skin-friendly antioxidants. Dark chocolate (yep you heard me no more milk and white chocolate) contains about 70 percent cocoa polyphenols, which are terrific anti-oxidants. This means it stops cellular deterioration...bonus!

MYTH: All chocolate is bad. As i just mentioned dark chocolate is good IN MODERATION due to its high antioxidant content.

FACT: Chocolate stimulates the brain. Just like coffee, milk chocolate has a stimulant affect even in moderate consumption, which for an acne-prone skin is not ideal. It results in triggering an inflammatory response causing more redness in an already irritated skin.

MYTH: Chocolate doesn't give us pimples. People who are acne-prone should avoid eating this delicious indulgence as it can be a trigger for breakouts. It does this by stimulating excessive sebum (oil) flow in the follicle, bacteria thrives and as a result creates more inflammation and breakouts.

With Easter just around the corner, let’s all grab the dark chocolate and hop into Celcius (8274 1111) for a Hydropeptide Purifying Facial or the Ion Active Facial to de-congest and restore our skin!

Happy Easter! xx