Top 10 Reasons to Kiss

…there are actual Kiss Scientists who study kissing.

I’ll admit it, I have a beautiful professionally framed copy of “The Kiss” by Gustav Klimt hanging in my home. I was fortunate to travel a lot while growing up, and I spent a lot of time in museums. For some reason, I became fascinated with seeing paintings of people kissing.

Was it something that people did everywhere?

I began to notice how open to PDA people were country to country in their kissing. I couldn’t stop watching.

By junior high, I remember asking my friends how often they saw their parents kissing and was surprised many said never. See, I loved seeing my parents kiss each other: It made them seem more real to me. I didn’t realize at the time, but there are actual Kiss Scientists who study kissing. They are called Philematologists and they have discovered a wide range of benefits of kissing such as:

1. Kissing lowers stress.

It decreases the stress hormone cortisol and increases serotonin levels in the brain. Kissing has also been measured to lower anxiety and has similar benefits to meditation.

2. Kissing makes us happier.

It improves our mood by increasing endorphins, which are our feel-good hormones.

“Happiness is like a kiss – it feels best when you give it to someone else.” ~ Author Unknown

3. Kissing keeps us healthy.

It improves our immunity by releasing antibodies that kill bacteria. And kissing helps us prevent cavities by increasing saliva that washes our teeth. It has also been shown that our saliva secretes natural antibiotics when we kiss.

“Never a lip is curved with pain?That can’t be kissed into smile again.”? ~ Brete Harte

4. Kissing calms us down and promotes pleasure.

It increases levels of oxytocin otherwise known as the “love hormone” which calms us. Kissing also reduces pain through our saliva which contains a kind of anesthetic and increases pleasure by releasing dopamine.

“Your hugs and kisses are like the stars that light up my life when things get dark.” – Author Unknown

5. Kissing strengthens our relationships.

It promotes togetherness and couples who kiss regularly live five years longer than those who don’t.

“A kiss seals two souls for a moment in time.” ~ Levende Waters