Here’s your fun fact for the day: humans are the only animals with lips that purse outward. Now take that as proof that we’re made to kiss. Research suggests that while you’re mouth-to-mouth with the object of your lust, your brain gathers essential information about them and it perks up your senses and prepares your body for other things that follow passionate kissing.
Here’s the details on the slobber.
- Your sense of smell is activated
The lips have nerve endings that are stimulated when we kiss, which leads to the activation of additional senses such as smell.
- You relax
15 minutes of smooching reduces the stress hormone cortisol, and men also experience a rise in oxytocin, the brain’s feel-good chemical.
- It fights cholesterol
Lip-locking can decrease serum cholesterol and increase relationship satisfaction for couples.
- Your saliva is extremely intelligent
Your saliva works hard to weigh up if the person you’re kissing is a likely partner. It seems that the chemical makeup of saliva helps your body decide if the person you’re kissing would produce strong offspring.
- You experience an adrenaline rush
Adrenaline is the fight or flight substance released when we kiss someone for the first time. It increases our heart rate, boosts our energy levels and gets the blood flowing. Ever feel butterflies in your stomach in the middle of a first kiss?
- More happy things
Our bodies don’t only produce oxytocin and adrenaline, but a whole raft of other chemicals come flooding in too, making us feel pretty happy. Our brains are flooded with dopamine, the very same chemical that is released when we do other stuff we enjoy a lot. - Kissing leads to sex
Because hormones! More than saliva passes from your mouth when indulging in passionate kissing, and all those mucus membranes are absorbing the reproductive hormones of your partner. These hormones tell the brain it’s time to reproduce, which is how a passionate kiss can turn into a romp in the sheets.
