Kissing is a uniquely human trait that is thought to have become a way to spread germs from one person to another, eventually building immunity. But that’s very unromantic, isn’t it? Although it seems plausible that kissing has an underlying biological function, there is no doubt that it plays a role in bonding or overall health.
Kissing doesn’t just feel good, it’s good for you too. It relieves stress and releases adrenaline into your bloodstream, making it pump faster, which can lower your LDL cholesterol. Kissing may even be a new way to get certain hormones, such as testosterone:
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“The mucous membranes of the mouth are permeable to hormones such as testosterone. During an open-mouth kiss, a man injects testosterone into a woman’s mouth, which “is absorbed through the mucous membranes … and increases the likelihood of sexual arousal and her reproductive behavior.”
Interestingly, Andréa Demirjian, author of Kissing: Everything You Wanted to Know About One of Life’s Sweetest Pleasures, believes that “a kiss a day can really keep the doctor away.” She recently shared eight reasons with CNN:
1. It dilates your blood vessels, which helps reduce your blood pressure:
According to Andrea Demirjian, author of Kissing: Everything You Wanted to Know About One of Life’s Sweetest Pleasures, kissing increases heart rate by dilating blood vessels.
When your blood vessels dilate, your blood flow increases and causes an immediate drop in blood pressure. So that means kissing is good for the heart, literally and figuratively!
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2. It can boost your immune system:
Changing your saliva can boost your immunity by exposing you to new bacteria that boost your immune system. A 2014 study found that couples who kiss often share the same microbiome in their saliva and tongue.
3. It boosts your ‘happy hormones
Kissing causes your brain to release a cocktail of feel-good chemicals, igniting the pleasure centers of your brain.
These chemicals include oxytocin, dopamine, and serotonin, which can make you feel euphoric and promote feelings of attachment and intimacy. It can also lower cortisol (stress hormone) levels
4. Boost Your Self-Esteem:
A study found that men who had a passionate kiss before going to work earned more money. This suggests that kissing (and possibly the happy family life that comes with it) makes people happier, boosts self-esteem, and ultimately increases productivity at work.
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5. Tone Your Facial Muscles:
A strong kiss can help shape the neck and jaw by exercising some facial muscles.
6. Check Out Your Partner’s Compatibility:
Kissing can be a powerful indicator of your initial attraction to someone, so the majority of men and women surveyed said first kisses are more likely to disappoint. Especially women value kisses more as a “partner evaluation tool” and a means of “starting, maintaining and monitoring a relationship with a long-term partner.”
7. Kissing May Even Boost Your Immune System and Provide Significant Stress Relief:
The average person kisses more than 20,000 minutes in their lifetime, and for good reason. In addition to the above benefits, kissing strengthens the immune system and reduces allergic reactions in people with skin or nasal allergies. Another study also found that those who spent six weeks kissing their partner reported significantly lower levels of stress. In addition to improvements in stress, kissers also reported greater relationship satisfaction and improvements in total cholesterol. But there may actually be a more fundamental reason for the development of “kissing”. Since kissing is not part of mating rituals in some cultures, the first kiss may be a gift from a mother to her child, rather than shared between couples.
