5 Benefits of Kissing

Kissing is great for romantic bonding and just as

awesome for your health. 

We know kissing as a social pleasantry, the

appropriate ending to a date and a means of

connecting with our main squeeze. The collision of

lips and tongues that we often take for granted has a

whole lot more bubbling under the surface than

what meets the eye. Swine flu scares and mono

aside, kissing actually does a body very, very good.

1. Kissing boosts immunity. A recent study reported

in the journal Medical Hypotheses says kissing may

increase a woman’s immunity from Cytomegalovirus.

Cytomegalovirus, contracted through mouth to mouth

contact, can cause infant blindness and other birth

defects if the mother is a carrier during pregnancy.

Otherwise, the bug is relatively harmless in adults.

Kissing has long been thought to be a way to pass

along bugs and thus strengthen the body’s defenses.

2. Kissing helps you pick the best mate.

Anthropologist Helen Fisher describes kissing as a

“mate assessment tool.” Much of the cortex is

devoted to picking up sensations from around the

lips, cheeks, tongue and nose. Out of 12 cranial

nerves, five of them are picking up the data from

around the mouth. It is built to pick up the most

sensitive feelings—the most intricate tastes and

smells and touch and temperature. And when you’re

kissing somebody, you can really hear them and see

them and feel them. So kissing is not just kissing. It

is a profound advertisement of who you are, what

you want and what you can give.

Other researchers note that kissing is biology’s way

of determining who in nature you are most

genetically compatible with. “At the moment of the

kiss, there are hard-wired mechanisms that assess

health, reproductive status and genetic

compatibility,” says Gordon G. Gallup Jr., a professor

of evolutionary psychology at the State University of

New York at Albany who studies reproductive

competition and the biology of interpersonal

attraction. “Therefore, what happens during that

first kiss can be a make-or-break proposition.”

3. Kissing burns calories! Depending on different

reports, anywhere from 2 to 6 calories a minute. Not

quite a jog on the treadmill, but an hours worth of

smooching may burn off half a handful of M&Ms or

half a glass of wine. Hey, it’s something . Being On

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4. Kissing keeps facial muscles strong. Sure tight

abs or cellulite-free thighs may be first on the Tone

Up list, but don’t underestimate the workout your

mouth gets during a makeout session. Researchers

say you use 30 muscles while kissing and the

smooching helps keep your cheeks tight. Nice. We’ll

take what we can get.

5. Kissing naturally relaxes you. Scientific reports

say kissing increases the levels of oxytocin, the

body’s natural calming chemical and also increased

endorphins, the body’s feel-good chemicals.

Swapping spit is also noted to increase dopamine,

which aids in feelings of romantic attachment.