A kiss on the lips is worth…

Then I did the simplest thing in the world. I leaned down… and kissed him. And the world cracked open. Agnes de Mille

When he kisses you he isn’t doing anything else. You’re his whole universe..and the moment is eternal because he doesn’t have any plans and isn’t going anywhere. Just kissing you…it’s overwhelming. Unknown

Give me a kisse, and to that kisse a score; Then to that twenty, adde a hundred more; A thousand to that hundred; so kisse on, To make that thousand up a million; Treble that million, and when that is done, Let’s kisse afresh, as when we first begun. Robert Herrick, To Anthea (III)

Philematology is the scientific study of kissing.
(philos in ancient Greek = earthly love).

Statistics for a kiss, a couple may exchange:

•  9 mg of water
• 0.7 mg of protein
• 0.18 mg of organic compounds
• 0.71 mg of fats
• 0.45 mg of sodium chloride
• 10 million to 1 billion bacteria according to one estimate.

The original theory of kissing was that primate mothers chewed their food for their babies. As evolution continued the kiss began to be used to pass on information about biological compatibility of a mate via pheromone chemical signals as well as promote social bonding and expressing love, with the ultimate goal of procreation.

Research indicates that we do communicate with chemicals – though the vomeronasal organs (pheromone detection and brain function) are thought to be inactive in humans. When you kiss a partner, you are able to get close enough to each other to assess essential characteristics about each other, none of which are consciously processed.

While men will have sex with women without kissing them beforehand as well as have sex with a woman who is not a good kisser, most women will never have sex without kissing first. On the evolutionary level, women were looking for a mate to raise their offspring with, and kissing could be an unconscious but accurate way for women to assess the immune compatibility of a mate.

Men tend to initiate French kissing and research suggests this is because saliva contains testosterone. “There is evidence that saliva has testosterone in it,” said Rutgers University anthropologist Helen Fisher, “and testosterone increases sex drive. And there is evidence that men like sloppier kisses with more open mouth. That suggests they are unconsciously trying to transfer testosterone to stimulate sex drive in women.” Furthermore, men are able to sense a woman’s level of estrogen which is a predictor of her fertility.

Hormone levels change after kissing:

• Cortisol (stress) levels decreased in men and women after kissing, and the longer a couple is together the lower their stress hormones get.
• Oxytocin levels which promote bonding increase in men, however women’s levels decreased.
• Testosterone levels are raised during a kiss, which increases sex drive
• Dopamine is increased promoting romantic love.

Other benefits:

• small kisses use as little as two muscles, burning only 2 to 3 calories
• passionate kissing involves up to 34 facial muscles along with 112 postural muscles and burns around 26 calories per minute.
• modest increase in blood pressure and heart rate which helps cardiac health
• increased saliva produced during active kissing which helps to prevent tooth decay
• men who kiss their wives in the morning live 5 years longer on average and also make more money.

Sources:

Philematology: The Science of Kissing. A Message for the Marital Month of June

A Kiss is Still a Kiss — or is it?

Saliva: Secret Ingredient in the Best Kisses

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/13/AR2009021303465.html