Are you in a relationship and you have noticed that you don’t really kiss your partner much anymore? Do you dread the idea of having to kiss all of your friends on the cheek as you greet them? Are you the type of person who would try to avoid certain aunts and uncles in family gatherings so you won’t have to endure their kisses? Well, maybe you would want to give this article a read. It turns out that kissing is actually very good for your physical and mental health. So perhaps, you should really consider puckering up. Here are just a few of the benefits that come with kissing – and what you’re about to read may surprise you.
1. Kissing actually helps boost your body’s happy hormones. When you kiss with someone – particularly someone you love – your body is triggered to release certain chemical compounds that really ignite the pleasure centers of your brain. These are chemicals like oxytocin, serotonin, and dopamine. These chemicals are not only designed to give you pleasure, but they aid in lowering your overall stress levels as well.
2. Kissing helps you in establishing a better bond and connection with the person that you’re kissing. As has already been established by the previous entry, oxytocin is released within the body whenever two people kiss. And oxytocin is also the chemical that is responsible for leaving someone to feel attached and affectionate towards another person. When you kiss with your partner, it can significantly improve the overall satisfaction of the dynamics of your relationship as a whole.
3. Kissing can really help your sense of self-esteem. Yes, kissing has already been proven to significantly improve your mood by releasing happy hormones in your body. But to add onto that, kissing has also shown to lower the cortisol levels in the body. This means that you are less likely to feel insecure and vulnerable. And when you don’t have many insecurities plaguing you, that means that you are more likely to fall in love with yourself hereby improving your self-esteem.
4. In connection with lowering the levels of cortisol in the body, kissing can significantly help you manage your stress better. Just the same way as it is with hugging, communicating, and saying “I love you”, kissing can do wonders for stress management.
5. The same way that kissing can help reduce stress in a person’s life, it can also help reduce the level of anxiety that you might be feeling. Oxytocin is a chemical that decreases anxiety in the body; not just stress. So if you’re feeling like the world is a little too overwhelming and you’re a little anxious about it, go ahead and ask your partner for a kiss. You’ll feel loads better afterward.
6. Kissing can actually help you lower your blood pressure by aiding in the dilation of your blood vessels. When you kiss your partner – especially in a passionate manner – it can help increase your heart rate. And when your heart is pumping at a faster rate than it is used to, your blood vessels increase in and your blood flow becomes more efficient. When there is better blood flow in the body, there is lower blood pressure. And this can really help in lessening the risks of heart disease.
7. Kissing helps relieve menstrual cramps for women. You might not know this but kiss not only releases hormones that make you feel happy and satisfied but they also somehow help in pain relief. These chemicals that are released in your body are the same kinds of chemicals that you would find in medicinal pain relievers. So you can think of kissing as something of a natural pain reliever that you can use whenever you are going through uncomfortable physical stress.
8. The same what that kissing can help relieve menstrual cramps, it can also help soothe headaches. The chemicals that help relieve pain in the body can really do wonders for migraines. Along with that, you also get lower stress levels which means you are less likely to get headaches as a result of stress as well.
9. Kissing helps boost your immune system – contrary to popular belief. You might think that since you’re swapping saliva with someone, you are opening yourself up to having so many germs enter your body. However, what you might be surprised to know is that exposing yourself to the germs that are involved in kissing can actually help strengthen the germ-fighting bacteria in your body.
10. A recent study has also found that couples who engage in constant kissing experienced substantial improvement in the cholesterol levels of their body.
11. Kissing also aids in saliva production. And while that may not mean anything to you right now, it should. Dentists say that when you increase saliva production in your mouth, it lessens the chances of you getting cavities in your teeth.
