Lifestyle
Kissing is obviously pretty awesome and most of us enjoy the process. It makes us feel good and generally, the idea of kissing or being kissed by a person you like is pretty appealing. But do you know what actually happens to your body when you kiss? What chemical reactions take place, how does kissing affect you on a physical and on a psychological level? Did you know that kissing can actually be beneficial to your health? Well, you’re about to find out and we’re pretty sure that afterwards, you’ll want to make kissing a way bigger part of your life and dedicate more time to it.
1. Happy Hormones
This is one of the obvious things that most of you will probably know about. Many of us have heard that you get happy hormones from kissing. But what does it actually mean? Well, when you’re kissing your brain essentially tells your body to release a whole bunch of hormones like dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin, which are pretty powerful and can make you feel actually euphoric.
2. Less Stress
If you’re feeling a lot of stress ( and oh boy are we this year) your best course of action is to go make out with your partner. Kissing actually lowers cortisol levels which literally translates to less stress. There have been studies made that have actually proved that just 15 minutes of making out can actually visibly lower your cortisol levels.
3. Higher Self-Esteem
Another cool side-effect of kissing is that your self-esteem actually gets better. The combination of happy hormones and the lowering of stress hormones really has a beneficial effect on a person’s wellbeing and people who kiss often generally have higher self-esteem and their understanding of self-worth is much better.
4. Less Anxiety
Kissing can also help with anxiety. Since it lowers the levels of stress, you actually become less anxious and feel calmer after a makeout session. Now if only we could all just have a person to make out with in any stressful and anxiety-inducing situation.
5. Lower Blood Pressure
Another health benefit of kissing is that it can actually lower your blood pressure. When you kiss, your heart rate will go up a little and that, in turn, will dilate your blood vessels, which means that your blood pressure will go down. So you know, if you have high blood pressure maybe you just need a good kissing session now and then. Who knew kissing was actually physically good for your heart?
6. Less Cramps
Your blood vessels dilating can actually have a positive effect when you’re experiencing cramping, be it just a random cramp or period cramps. So you know, perhaps next time you experience cramps it might be worth it asking your partner to bring not only a hot water bottle for you but to also deliver a few smooches your way too. It also works the same way for headaches.
7. Immunity Boost
Kissing means you’re exchanging saliva with a person and that also means you’re exchanging all sorts of germs and bacteria too. Yeah, it sounds gross when you think about it that way, but the good news is that it basically has a similar effect on your body as a flu shot. You’re getting and fighting off new germs and your immune system is getting stronger.
8. Dental Health
When you’re kissing your body produces more saliva, which again, sounds a bit gross, but more saliva means better dental health. Saliva basically cleans your teeth, so the more the better. So you know, you could say kissing is a great way of preventing tooth decay and cavities.
9. Tones Muscles
We’re not going to say that kissing can give great biceps, but kissing does require the participation of quite a few facial muscles. So in a way kissing is like a workout for your face, it can tone your facial muscles, improve collagen production in your skin and if you’re really good and passionate about kissing it can help tone your neck too.
