“There are kisses that cause delirium /
of a loving burning and crazy passion, /
you know them well, they are my kisses /
invented by me, for your mouth”.
(Fragment of the poem Besos from the Novel Prize for Literature winner, Gabriela Mistral).
The #sinrecato question is: Do you remember your first kiss? According to many studies, this is the clearest memory that people have and it can also be described in detail, even if it did not last long.
That is why many people remember their first kiss more than they remember their first sexual encounter.
The paleontologist Juan Luis Arsuaga affirms that a French kiss is, exclusively, the result of a human ritual: “It starts like an act in which the already chewed food is transferred to the child after weaning, and then, it turns into a lovers’ act. And since it is about a transcendental gesture, the anatomy adapts to it”.
What he explains is that the human being is a mammal who’s thick everted lips are designed, specifically, to kiss: “We have a single upper lip while dogs and cats, for example, have two upper lips divided by their partition wall”. That is why we can move our tongue from one side of our gum to the other one or in our lover’s.
A curious study found that men who receive a kiss from their wives before leaving for work live longer, have fewer accidents and earn more than men who do not give a goodbye kiss.
Scientists also say that in a kiss genetic information is exchanged and it can determine if the two people are good partners when it comes to procreate.
During a French kiss 5 out of the 12 cranial nerves are used and 34 facial muscles moved, being the orbicularis muscle the principal muscle that is used.
In a kiss, neurotransmitters are released; endorphin, serotonin, dopamine, and oxytocin, also known as the happy hormone quartet, are hormones linked to the chemistry of love.
The skin of the lips is the thinnest one in the body, meaning that the blood vessels are more noticeable in this area, giving the lips its typical red colour. Since the amount of nerve endings in here, the lips are a strong erogenous zone; even more than the penis and the clitoris.
A kiss can be 10 times more effective than morphine when reducing pain.
And the benefits do not end here:
Defenses before birth: A study in the Medical Hypotheses journal, concluded that parents who kissed each other regularly during pregnancy could protect their child, before being born, from an infection that could later cause blindness.
Improves dental hygiene: When you kiss, the production of saliva increases which helps to eliminate plaque that can cause cavities.
Burning calories: There are different ways and places to kiss, but that is a homework for you. According to some hypotheses, at least two or three calories are burned per minute when kissing. Imagine how many in an hour!
In a kiss, neurotransmitters are released: endorphin, serotonin, dopamine, and oxytocin.
It avoids high blood pressure: Passionate kissing increases the heart rate by the dilation of the blood vessels, preventing high blood pressure.
Kiss me a lot: If you have no idea how many minutes you’ve kissed in your entire life; 20 to 160 minutes is the average.
Farewell, stress: A good kiss reduces the production of the stress-related hormone cortisol.
A curious study found that men who receive a kiss from their wives before leaving for work live longer, have fewer accidents and earn more than men who do not give a goodbye kiss.
So, please, before putting your mask on, give, in addition to the antibacterial and alcohol, a passionate kiss to your beloved one. It is more likely to get sick from shaking hands, in these times of Covid-19, than from a well-given kiss.
Traducción: Catalina Oviedo Brugés
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