When was the last time you had a passionate kiss? Recently? Never? Kissing is a way to express affection. Whether with babies, friends or lovers, kissing is essential for social bonding. Beyond its pleasure, there are health benefits; let’s talk about them.
Improves Lungs Health
We breathe faster after kissing, and that faster inhaling and exhaling of air prevents a number of lung-related disorders.
Improves your Relationship Satisfaction
Romantic kisses strengthen the bond between you and your partner, and this brings about relationship satisfaction. When you kiss your lover, your brain increases the level of oxytocin, giving a calming power and strengthening the bond.
Boosts Self-Esteem
Kissing does boost self-esteem. A kissing couple is a happy couple. Each person in the relationship feels better, is more motivated, and more productive as a result of the emotional effects of kissing.
Enhances Sexual Arousal
Kissing is a fantastic pre-sex activity which stimulates you and your partner with before sex. The hormones for sex drive in both men and women are released during kissing.
Makes you More Alert
Kissing boosts the release of adrenaline, increasing your heart rate, and making you feel more excited and alert.
It Burns Calories
Because facial muscles are involved in kissing, calories are burnt. By passionately kissing, you can burn about 2 to 26 calories. Of course, this cannot make up for working out.
Relieves Stress
Stress relief is a vital health benefit of kissing. Kissing effectively reduces stress levels because of the positive feelings derived from it. When people kiss, the brain releases the hormone called serotonin, which improves the mood. It also releases a hormone called dopamine, which regulates the feelings of desire and bonding.
Fights Cavities
Kissing brings about an increased production of saliva in the mouth, and this helps you wash away plaque, which is considered the main cause of cavities and tooth decay.
Relieves Pains
Kissing relieves pains — back pain, headaches, and menstrual cramps because it releases a hormone called endorphins.
Improves Cardiovascular Health
Kissing improves your cardiovascular health because it keeps your cholesterol and blood pressure at a low level. What’s more? Kissing can bring about a healthy heartbeat, helping in dilating the blood vessels to get a healthy blood flow to all the essential body organs. While kissing, a hormone called adrenaline is released, and it helps the heart by stimulating it to pump more blood. And then the blood pressure and circulation will be well controlled.
Are there Disadvantages?
- Kissing can be addictive. During kissing, the body produces more dopamine, which makes us feel happy and relaxed and this can make many people want to kiss their partners.
- Kissing can transmit bacteria, as a long kiss can transmit nearly 10 million bacteria
- Kissing can cause painful gums and throat because the bacterium, streptococcus, attacks somebody and passes on to their partners through saliva
- Kissing can also transmit diseases such as acute respiratory infection, hepatitis, and tuberculosis.
How Can Kissing be Made Better?
- Maintain oral hygiene by brushing the teeth every morning and every night before bed or after the meal.
- Avoid kissing if you or your partner has a disease or injuries on the lips.
Interesting Facts about Kissing
- The insulting slang, “kiss my ass” dates back at least to 1705.
- Lips are 100 times more sensitive than the tips of the fingers.
- Approximately two-thirds of people tip their head to the right when they kiss.
- The mouth is full of bacteria. When two people kiss, they exchange between 10 million and 1 billion bacteria.
- The most important muscle in kissing is the orbicularis oris, also known as the kissing muscle.
- French kissing involves 34 facial muscles.
- It is possible for a woman to reach an orgasm through kissing.
- The term “French kiss”, also called a tongue kiss or a soul kiss came into the English language around 1923.
- The Romans created three categories of kissing, they are osculum, a kiss on the cheek; basium, a kiss on the lips; and savolium, a deep kiss.
- Passionate kissing burns 6.4 calories a minute.
- Some studies speculate that the way a person kisses may reflect whether s/he was breastfed or bottle fed.
- Kissing is good for teeth. The anticipation of a kiss increases the flow of saliva to the mouth, giving the teeth a plaque-dispersing bath.
- Some people are more particular about who they kiss than who they have sex with. This shows that kissing could be considered more intimate than sex.
- Kissing may have originated when mothers orally passed chewed solid food to their infants during weaning.
- Common chimpanzees kiss with open mouths, but not with their tongues.
- The first on-screen kiss was shot in 1896 by the Edison Company. The film, titled The May Irwin-John C. Rice Kiss, lasted 30 seconds and consisted entirely of a man and a woman kissing intimately.
- Back in the day, in the Trobriand Islands, lovers went through phases of sucking and biting in a variation of the French kiss, and biting off each other’s eyelashes.
- Contraction of HIV through kissing is unlikely, though it was recorded that a woman was infected in 1997 when she and an infected man both had gum disease. Transmission must have been through the man’s blood and not his saliva.
- A medieval manuscript warns Japanese men against deep kissing during the female orgasm because a woman might accidentally bite off part of her lover’s tongue.
- Cunnilingus is a type of sexual kissing whereby a person stimulates the external female genital organs with the mouth or tongue. The word “cunnilingus” originates from the Latin cunnus (vulva, vagina) and lingua (tongue) or lingere (to lick up).
- On July 16, 1439, King Henry VI banned kissing in England to prevent the spread of the plague.
- Our brains have special neurons that help us find each other’s lips in the dark.
- “Basorexia” means an overwhelming desire to kiss
Are there Types of Kisses?
Yes, there are, let`s take a look.
Forehead Kiss
A kiss on the forehead is a gentle way of expressing admiration. A forehead kiss is one of friendship.
Kiss on the Hand
This is a chivalrous act that shows admiration and passion for someone. It is done by lifting someone`s hand and kissing the back of the palm
Eskimo Kiss
This is a romantic practice for those who live in cold climates. It is done by being so close together, that the noses rub against each other as the couples kiss.
French Kiss
The French kiss involves heavy tongue action. It requires and arouses passion, romance, and desire
Butterfly Kiss
This involves two people getting so close to each other`s face that their eyelashes connect while they kiss.
Cheek Kiss
This is a short peck on the cheek, often in combination with a hand on the arm or a half embrace. It is usually used for greetings.
Lizard Kiss
This involves the rapid movement of the tongue in and out of the mouth. It is a kiss done by passionate lovers.
Final Words…
Kissing is an act which has got some benefits for physical and emotional wellbeing. As you must have seen, it is not a mere pleasurable act. LAs advised on more sexual acts, it is important that care is taken as the act of kissing is practiced. So after putting all necessities in place, why not just enjoy that passionate kiss. Your health will thank you.
