Did You Know These 12 Benefits Of Smooching?

Do you know the best thing to start your day with? A kiss! No, not kidding - you read it right. You'd be startled to know how many benefits something as simple and easy as a kiss or a smooch can have on your physical as well as mental health. It doesn't matter whom you kiss. As long as you pucker your lips, you're on the receiving end of the benefits.

Some days we wake up happy and some days we wake up grumpy as ever. This grumpiness reflects in all the activities we carry out that day. But here's some good news - kissing or smooching will actually help alleviate that grumpy feeling. Well, that's what science has to say. Still not convinced? Then dive right into this article which explains the benefits of kissing or puckering your lips.

So if you're someone who doesn't enjoy kissing already, here's why you should, and if you're someone who can't get enough of kissing, here're more reasons to rejoice - 12 reasons why you should smooch more!

1.) It kicks in the happy hormones

2.) It reduces anxiety

3.) It helps reduce blood pressure

4.) It improves bonding

5.) It improves self-esteem

6.) It eases headaches

7.) It improves the total cholesterol profile

8.) It improves the sex drive

9.) It helps to choose a partner

10.) It boosts the immune system

11.) It reduces allergies

12.) Kissing reduces oral cavities

1.) It Kicks In The Happy Hormones

Our body contains certain hormones which are released to make us feel happier and more pleasant. These include oxytocin, serotonin and dopamine, which not just bring about a feeling of happiness and affection, but also lower the cortisol (the body's stress hormone) levels in the body. When you kiss or smooch, the activity stimulates the areas of the brain responsible for triggering the specific hormones and thereby releasing the same, leaving you feeling happy and positive. In general, all kinds of affectionate activities, even saying words like 'I love you', have a physiological impact on our bodies and help to get rid of the stress to a large extent. No wonder people in love seem so happy-happy!

2.) It Reduces Anxiety

Are you someone who suffers from anxiety? Or do you find it hard to manage stress and anxiety? Then you should try puckering your lips more. When kissing, oxytocin hormone is released in the body, which helps reduce anxiety and makes you more relaxed, giving you a feeling of overall wellness. Moreover, there's nothing that some affection and love can't cure.

3.) It Helps Reduce Blood Pressure

When you kiss, your heart rate (the speed at which the heart beats) increases. As this happens, the blood vessels in the body dilate, i.e., they become wider and more open. When this happens, your blood gets more space and pace to flow, thereby decreasing blood pressure. But wait, there's more - this also relieves cramps! So next time you're feeling grouchy and battling those period cramps, a kiss could be a good option to get rid of the cramps as well as some feel-good hormones kicked in, uplifting your mood.

4.) It Improves Bonding

It is not unknown that kissing your loved one or partner makes you feel closer to them. As discussed above, kissing helps release oxytocin, which is one of the feel-good hormones. Due to that rush of oxytocin in the body, we get a feeling of attachment and affection with the person that we kissed.

5.) It Improves Self-esteem

Yes, believe it or not, kissing helps in improving your self-esteem and confidence. According to a study, people who were unhappy with themselves or with certain attributes like appearance usually had higher levels of cortisol - the hormone that causes stress. As kissing triggers happy-hormones and significantly reduces the levels of cortisol, the two processes together help increase the feeling of worth, self-confidence and self-esteem.

6.) It Eases Headaches

If you're a tea lover, you're sure to contest this claim suggesting that there's no headache a good cup of tea can't solve. But well, a kiss isn't a bad idea either. Why? Like mentioned above, kissing triggers the feel-good hormones, reduces stress and lowers blood pressure by dilating the blood vessels. And stress and high blood pressure are commonly associated with headaches. So, just kiss away when you're having a bad day!

7.) It Improves The Total Cholesterol Profile

In a study conducted in 2009, it was found that couples who kissed more reported an improvement in their total serum cholesterol levels. Cholesterol plays a key role in deciding our vulnerability to most cardiac diseases. And keeping it under control ensures that we're leading a healthy life. Not just that, kissing also helps us burn unhealthy calories.

Depending on how you kiss, you can burn anything between 2 to 6 calories every minute using 2 to 34 facial muscles. Well, 6 calories may not seem like much. But when you're burning those calories doing something that you love and don't have to put much effort into, 6 calories are good enough. In addition to toning down the facial muscles, it also stimulates the production of collagen, making your skin look healthier and younger.

8.) It Improves The Sex Drive

Romantically kissing improves your sex drive - that's obvious, right? This is because saliva contains testosterone which plays a major role in sexual arousal. The longer you kiss, the better it get. Now, an improvement in sex drives brings along with a number of other benefits. Having sex frequently increases the levels of IgA or Immunoglobulin A which boosts the immune system and ensures that you're less prone to diseases. In addition to that, it is also a form of exercise which has been proven to improve heart health, lower blood pressure and reduces leg and back pain. It has also been proven effective in reducing migraines and menstrual cramps.

9.) It Helps To Choose A Partner

Would you believe that kissing helps you assess the suitability of a romantic partner? Majority of the women who took part in a survey reportedly suggested that the first kiss can make a huge difference in how attracted they feel with the person and whether or not they'll continue seeing their love-interest. But it's not all talk - there's some science behind it. The cortex, a part of our brain, picks up impulses and sensations from the areas around the tongue, lips, nose and cheeks. The most sensitive feelings of touch, smell, etc., come under the radar. While kissing, the cortex does the same activity. It helps in assessing more about the person we're kissing and vice versa, and thereby, makes us subconsciously decide if a specific person is a compatible match or not.

10.) It Boosts The Immune System

When you kiss, you and your partner, both exchange saliva. When this happens, germs from your partner's saliva enter yours. This triggers a response from your immune system which identifies the germs and prepares the body to fight the new germs, thereby strengthening your immune system. For instance, in some cases, Cytomegalovirus (a virus which causes birth defects if the mother gets affected by the virus during pregnancy) may be exchanged in small amounts during kissing. As a result, the immune system of a woman works out its defenses in fighting the virus, so that the next time it hits in full force, the body will be prepared in advance to fight the virus altogether.

11.) It Reduces Allergies

How can a kiss reduce allergies? Well, it actually can and has been proven that kissing reduces the allergies like hives (aka urticaria), dust and pollen allergies. Moreover, stress is another factor commonly linked with things that trigger allergic responses. Since kissing reduces stress, it also has an impact on allergies.

12.) It Reduces Oral Cavities

Fact: Cavity-causing bacteria can spread from your mouth to your partner's mouth while kissing. If you're a mother, even your baby or child could get those-cavity causing bacteria from you while kissing. Therefore oral health is very important and you shouldn't ignore it. Again, kissing can play a key role in improving your oral health. How? Kissing improves the function of salivary glands which in turn help in reducing cavities by producing more saliva to clean food particles from the teeth and mouth. As this happens, the glands produce more saliva, which in turn makes the mouth well-lubricated and helps in removing small food particles trapped between your teeth or inside the mouth. This ensures that your chances of getting a plaque or oral cavities are greatly reduced.

They say happy couples are healthy couples. Kissing probably plays a key role in that. With so many health benefits, isn't kissing one of the best ways to start your day? Now you've 12 more reasons to not shy away from kissing!