Continuous Dark Chocolate Consumption Affects Human Facial Skin Surface by Stimulating Corneocyte Desquamation and Promoting Bacterial Colonization.

Background

Nutrition can influence skin health. Dark chocolate possesses health promoting properties, but its consumption can exacerbate acne vulgaris in young people.

Objective

We evaluated effects of continuous dark chocolate intake on morphological characteristics of the residual skin surface components (RSSCs) collected from the facial skin of young and middle-aged men.

Methods

RSSC samples were taken from 17 young and 16 middle-aged men before and after a four-week consumption period of dark chocolate (10g per day). Lipid droplet size, corneocyte desquamation, and microbial presence levels were measured in the collected RSSC. The project was registered as ISRCTN89815519 in the ISRCTN registry (https://www.isrctn.com/).

Results

Chocolate consumption caused a significant increase in corneocyte desquamation only in the group of young men, whereas Gram-positive microorganism presence significantly increased in both the young and middle-aged men, though this effect was noticeably stronger in the young men.

Conclusion

Dark chocolate consumption appears to affect the facial skin of young men by enhancing corneocyte desquamation and promoting bacterial colonization of the RSSC. These changes might potentially contribute to acne development.