Don’t Bother With Cocoa Butter
At last, a scientific study that takes a stance on whether the much lauded cocoa butter does work. The bottom line is that it doesn’t. I’m glad I didn’t bother with the stuff. I kept scouring different websites looking for evidence that it did work, right before I started showing. I didn’t find any. I found many anecdotal stories of cocoa butter working, but nothing remotely appearing scientific. When the stretch marks did appear at 8th month, I briefly regretted it. But I consoled myself with my conviction that stretch marks is mostly diet and genes. My skinny mother got stretch marks when she got pregnant so I resigned to getting them.
In the linked study, Dr. A. H Nassar and his team prescribed cocoa butter to half of 210 pregnant subjects, and a placebo to the other half. They then studied any resulting stretch marks on the stomach, and other areas. Of the 210 women, 83% completed the study successfully.
The result? 45% of he women who had the cocoa butter treatment developed stretch marks. For the placebo team, 49 percent of women developed stretch marks. The scientists attribute the slight difference to chance, and not to anything inherently preventive in the cocoa butter.
I, for one, am not joyful to report this. Stretch marks are mothers’ proud battle scars, but if it can be prevented, a lot of mothers-to-be, and once-again moms would rejoice!
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Teresa says...
I wish it had worked for me, but I have the stretch marks to prove that it doesn’t!
Dawn A says...
Well, now I don’t feel guilty about buying a big jar of the stuff and forgetting to use it! LOL
Anyone have any evidence (anecdotal or otherwise) on Shea butter?
I have to say, I just entered my eighth month and the stretch marks aren’t nearly as bad as I had feared, although I got a few in odd spots. (Like on my arms. WTH?!) I lost a bunch of weight in my college years and *those* stretch marks just faded about two years ago, so I was really expecting the worst.
I also read recently that getting enough fat (the good kinds, from olive oil, avocado, etc.) in your diet can increase skin elasticity which, in theory, can minimize stretch marks.
Dawn As last blog post..The Bunko Babes, A Review
Cathy says...
I’m not surprised by this finding at all, but that’s mostly because in doing my research I have only noticed that Cocoa Butter was said to help minimalize stretchmarks, but I never read anything that said it would prevent stretch marks.
MrsH says...
Hi Cathy, I failed to include the fact that there was no difference in severity between the two groups. Sorry for that oversight. So yea, it doesn’t work either to prevent or minimize.
ttt says...
I was intrigued to learn that the study focused on cocoa butter ‘lotion’. Just about every single ‘cocoa butter lotion’ product I’ve seen on the shelves has ‘cocoa butter’ listed near the end of the ingredient list…..meaning the amount of cocoa butter is neglible.
Apparently no one’s aware that 100% COCOA BUTTER is sold in stores. The 100% natural product is sold in stick form and is nothing like the Palmer’s sticks. I’ve never seen it in jarred form because its consistency is alot like pure shea butter.
I use this when my seborrheic dermatitis goes into remission, and it flattens the raised areas where outbreak occurred and makes the areas smooth and soft. I used 100% cocoa butter on my tummy and never got any stretch marks.
I’d be interested in seeing a study involving 100% solid cocoa butter, not just an extremely diluted ‘lotion’.