Got Zits? Don’t Blame the Chocolate

The belief that pizza, chocolate, and other teen-favored foods can cause acne has persisted for decades, even though most dermatologists maintain it’s a myth. But a new study suggests that some foods really do promote this scourge of young and old alike—only they’re not the usual suspects.

In a recent review of the dietary history of more than 47,000 women, it was “nature’s perfect food”—milk—that was linked to higher rates of teenage acne, not pizza and chocolate. The study found that those who drank more than three glasses a day as teens were 22 percent more likely to report severe acne than those who drank much less. The rate was even higher (44 percent) for women who had favored skim milk. (The researchers aren’t sure why skim milk would be more likely to cause pimples, but say that processing may cause certain problem components to become more active in the body.) They also found a link between acne and several other dairy foods, such as sherbet, cream cheese, and cottage cheese.

How does milk wreak havoc on your skin? The study authors think hormones may be the culprit. Most milk comes from pregnant cows, they say, which produce a laundry list of hormones that make it into their milk, including some that are known to trigger acne.

So what to do if you’re a pimply teen in need of calcium for healthy bones? You don’t need to swear off milk entirely, says Clement Adebamowo, study author and research associate at the Harvard School of Public Health; just get to know—and use—alternative sources of calcium. He also says the study found no connection between acne and yogurt and cheeses other than cottage and cream cheese. If you do cut back on dairy, be aware that it can take a few weeks for any improvement to show up.