Kissing facts you’d like to know about
First, there are so many methods to convey your sentiments and objectives via kissing. Casual, French, formal – there are so many ways to express your thoughts and aims through kissing. A kiss is a sign of love and passion for sensuous romantics, and that’s all there is to it. Others see it as a kind gesture or a method of expressing compassion.
It appears that something as simple as kissing has been spoken about, detailed, and debated for so long that there is nothing new to learn about it. But do you know when the first kissing scene in a movie occurred? What are the advantages? We’ve compiled a list of 25 odd kissing facts you’ve probably never heard before.
Historical facts
Unfortunately, no one knows when the kiss was originated, but it doesn’t make the history of the kiss any less intriguing.
- Kissing is celebrated on its own day. That’s right, July 6 is the official (kind of) date for World Kissing Day. Kissing was first celebrated in Great Britain at the end of the nineteenth century, but the rest of the globe swiftly followed suit, and today, kissing lovers from over 60 nations pay homage to one of the most romantic elements of human nature.
- The wedding kiss in Rome. The wedding kiss has been practiced since ancient Rome. It was a kiss that linked the souls of the newlyweds and served as confirmation of their intentions, according to Karen Hersch’s book The Roman Wedding: Ritual and Meaning in Antiquity.
- Morals in Italy. A guy who kissed a lady in public in Middle Age Italy had to marry her. The restrictions in Naples were the harshest: a simple kiss on a first date might land you in jail. Furthermore, if a high priest sees you, you might lose your life.
- Kissing and going to the movies. In 1896, the first on-screen kiss took occurred. The short film, which lasted only 23 seconds, was promptly called obscene by critics — public kissing being frowned upon at the time. Thomas Edison commissioned the picture, which depicts a love scene between actress May Irwin and John Rice. The performers were horrible to see, according to John Sloan, an American painter and etcher.
- Kissing is an art form. The ‘lipograph,’ a gadget that captured a print of the lips for identification, was created by David Bowie in 1979. Soon after, a collection of ‘lipograms’ belonging to various celebrities was auctioned off in the United States. The revenues, estimated to be about $16,000, were donated to the Children’s Protection Fund. The lipograph, unfortunately, was never used in forensic science.
Biological facts
History is fascinating, but discovering what kisses do to your body is even more intriguing. Take a look at these fun facts about kissing and health.
- Work on your muscles. When you kiss, 146 muscles, including 34 facial and 112 postural, work together to coordinate your actions. The orbicular muscles of the mouth are the most involved. What’s particularly fascinating about this kissing truth is that your mouth moves just like a newborn sucking breast milk.
- It’ll be with you forever. Even if you try, the first kiss is an event you’ll never forget. When we kiss for the first time, the release of the neurotransmitter dopamine sends a powerful hormonal surge through our bodies, along with a craving for deeper closeness. So, no matter how many intense relationships, attractive ladies, dating sites, and breakups you’ve had, your first kiss may still be the most romantic memory you have.
- It’s a hormonal explosion. Let’s talk about chemistry. Dopamine regulates hunger and sleep, among other things, so you don’t have to waste time eating and sleeping instead of kissing. Also, owing to adrenaline and norepinephrine, when we kiss someone, our hearts begin to beat quicker, boosting the passage of oxygen to the brain. Add in endorphins, which make us feel good, and thank the pituitary gland and hypothalamus for providing these natural supplements.
- How to make a decision. Kissing aids in the selection of a suitable companion. Not only do we like people with certain biological characteristics, but we also know how to spot them. To begin with, when our lips connect, five of the twelve pairs of cranial nerves are activated: the brain strives to gather as much information about your partner as possible. Second, the pheromones and hormones that people communicate when their lips come into contact are thought to provide information about the partner’s immunity, genetics, and health, as well as if they’re ready for a meaningful relationship.
- Kissing is important. Although this isn’t one of the most intriguing facts about kissing, it doesn’t hurt to know that women value kissing in relationships more than men do. Women use kissing to assess possible mates, while males regard it as a necessary step to boost their prospects with the relationship, according to the study, which included roughly 1,000 students.
- The heart is strengthened. A kiss speeds up the heart muscle, causing males to have up to 110 contractions per minute and women to have up to 108 contractions per minute. Kissing individuals requires 60 breaths per minute, compared to 20 for the normal person. This increases blood flow, allowing more oxygen to reach the organs, which benefits the lungs, intestines, stomach, bladder, and, of course, the cardiovascular system.
- Happiness and kissing. The endocrine system benefits from a passionate kiss because it stimulates the nerve endings of the inner mucous membrane of the lips, improves pancreatic function, and activates the adrenal glands. This increases the synthesis of particular hormones, which causes the brain to produce more neuropeptides, causing lovers to forget about their past experiences and feel pleased.
- Make more money and you’ll live longer. Men who kiss their spouses every time they leave the house for work live five years longer than those who don’t. There’s so much you could do with those years: change careers, learn a new language, or brush up on your kissing facts! They also make more money than others who do not have this amorous inclination.
- Kissing isn’t for everyone. According to statistics, just 10% of the global population kisses. Fans of traditional Sudanese foundations (who believe that the mouth is a window into the soul, and that someone might steal it through a kiss), Eskimos, Polynesians, and Malaysians, who never attached any importance to kissing, as well as people who dislike kissing for personal reasons, are among them.
- Let’s take a stand against stress. Kisses, as you’ve discovered, offer a plethora of beneficial impacts. Kissing can also help decrease the stress hormone cortisol and cholesterol levels, in addition to enhancing dopamine and oxytocin levels.
- Calories must be burned. Yes, kissing consumes a lot of energy. To lose weight this method, you’ll have to kiss a lot, as each kiss burns roughly 2-3 calories every minute. You may burn between 6.4 and 26 calories every minute if you make it more passionate. Let’s have a look at the numbers. In all, a person spends two weeks of their lives kissing, resulting in a calorie loss of 30,000! Isn’t that one of the most useless truths you’ve ever learned about making out?
- A reasonable transaction. Let’s talk about the icky one now that we’ve gone over all the fascinating facts about kissing. You spread roughly 80 million microorganisms to each other during a 10-second kiss. Couples that kiss at least 9 times a day have the same germs on their tongues, according to a study published in the journal Microbiome.
- Anxiety management. A heated kiss can inhibit the production of glucocorticoids in your body. Anxiety is caused by a group of chemicals known as anxiety hormones. According to studies, three 20-second kisses are all it takes to enhance your mood for the rest of the day and prevent chemicals that disrupt sleep and elevate blood pressure.
- What is the name of the muscle? Do you recall the first item on our list? The orbicularis oris (Latin) — the muscle that we use to kiss someone on the cheek. Folding the lips into a tube shape helps, and we’ve known how to do that since birth — it’s how we drank breast milk. This muscle is now mostly employed to take selfies.
Final words
This is only a small sample of kissing facts; there are many more out there ready to be found. But why not leave it to the scientists and cuddle up with your special someone while putting some of the things you learnt today to the test?