You nestle into your couch on a comfy Friday night along with your comfort movie on the TV and your favorite chocolate bar in hand. All is well. But just a number of short days later you notice a brand latest pimple in your face, and also you’re frightened that little treat is likely to be the perpetrator. But does chocolate really cause pimples?

The skin-care myth that eating chocolate results in breakouts has been circulating for therefore long that we are able to’t blame anyone who’s assumed it was the case. While it’s true that the road to healthy skin may be just as much about what goes into your body as what goes on top, the link between chocolate and pimples is somewhat more complicated. So, we asked some dermatologists to clarify the connection.

Meet the experts:

• Mrs. BoakyeM.D. is a board-certified dermatologist in Recent Jersey
• Mona GoharaM.D. is a board-certified dermatologist in Recent York City

On this story:

• Does chocolate cause acne?
• Why am I breaking out while eating chocolate?
• So, how do I make this breakout go away?
• TikTokkers say chocolate is good for your skin. Is there any truth to that?

A study published within the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology gave one group of 28 college students one milk chocolate bar and one other group of equal 15 jelly beans. 4 weeks later, they swapped the candy that every group would receive. Forty-eight hours after each instances, a dermatologist assessed photos of the participants and noted that the chocolate groups “had a statistically significant increase in pimples lesions” compared with the jelly bean eaters. The authors of that study hypothesized that it’s because chocolate flavonoids could cause your body to release more cytokines, a protein that tells your immune system to create more inflammation to fight off potential infection.

While this one small study sure seems to pit milk chocolate against jelly beans, it’s likely a bit more complicated. (The study concludes with a note that more research is required — including studies that monitor the participants’ total diets more diligently — to succeed in a real consensus.) The dermatologists we spoke to for this story explain that it’s not fair to position the blame on chocolate alone; there are many treats that would play an element in a sudden breakout. “High glycemic foods, processed foods, and sugar are definitely triggers for pimples,” says board-certified dermatologist Mrs. BoakyeM.D., who confirms that chocolate with high milk and sugar content falls into these categories. “It’s not chocolate alone, it’s the group of foods to which it belongs as an entire,” says board-certified dermatologist Mona Gohara, M.D.

To grasp what exactly about sugar and milk in chocolate causes pimples, we have now to get a bit science-y. “Whey protein isolates within the milk are principally binding to insulin-like growth aspects,” says Dr. Boakye. “There’s this huge inflammatory cascade that happens that causes your sebum to extend and causes microcomedones (pimples) to occur.” In response to the American Academy of Dermatologythat “inflammatory cascade” can occur when your blood sugar spikes too. The inflammation, in turn, causes your skin to make more sebum (oil) and, in turn, you can find yourself with a breakout.