Pucker Up … for Your Health

Written by Vonda Skinner Skelton

This article is courtesy of HomeLife.

OK, you probably won’t hear your doctor say, “Take two kisses and call me in the morning,” but there are definite health benefits to puckering up.

 Here are five ways kissing can improve your health (and just in time for Valentine’s Day)!

1. Kissing relieves tension. Kissing is a stress reliever, according to the Indiana University School of Medicine Web site. It clears the mind, decreases anxiety, and produces physiological changes in the body that assist in relaxation. Endorphins, natural morphine-like substances; oxytocin, a calming hormone; and brain chemicals called neurotransmitters, are released when we feel loved, giving us a sense of well-being and improved self-esteem.

Plus, “it’s a pleasurable activity,” says Michael Fleming, M.D., president of the American Academy of Family Physicians, “and all of us experience a decrease in stress levels when we engage in pleasurable activities.”

2. Kissing burns calories. Smooching can burn up to two calories a minute, which is double your basic metabolic rate. “At that rate,” Fleming says, “you can grab a Hershey’s® Kiss, then grab your spouse for 12.5 minutes of passionate kissing. But if a Hershey’s chocolate bar is more your speed, you’ll need a couple hours of serious lip-lock.”

3. Kissing leads to longer lives. “I married the first man I ever kissed,” says former First Lady Barbara Bush. She may have discovered the key to longevity.  

Numerous studies link a happy, committed marriage with better health and longer life for both men and women. In his book "Love and Survival," Dean Ornish, M.D., reports that men and women who felt loved were less likely to have blocked heart arteries than those who didn’t feel loved. In addition, men who did not feel loved by their wives were twice as likely to experience angina (a symptom of coronary disease) than those who reported a loving marriage relationship.

Feelings of love and intimacy may also protect against infectious diseases. In a study of healthy individuals exposed to the common cold virus, those who had supportive relationships developed fewer cold symptoms.

And the protection isn’t limited to adults. “Children whose parents are appropriately demonstrative with them and each other tend to have less illness,” says Diana Wiley, a marriage and family therapist. “When there is regular affection, immunoglobulin A — an antibody that helps ward off colds and viruses — goes up.”

4. Kissing can romance away the blues. Feeling a little down today? Wiley says kissing may be an instant cure for mild depression. Got a headache? A good smooch can be just what the doctor ordered. By relieving the tension that restricts blood vessels in the brain, you can be pain-free in a matter of minutes.

5. Kissing heals hurts. Don’t think that kisses are reserved for romance. Although medical science may cringe at the thought of planting germs on a wound, parents know the healing power in kissing boo-boos. For centuries, simple kisses have relieved the pain of scraped knees and broken hearts, encouraged the disappointed, and mended fragile egos.

Maybe that’s why the early church leaders encouraged us to “greet one another with a holy kiss,” (Romans 16:16; 1 Corinthians 16:20; 2 Corinthians 13:12).

This Valentine’s Day improve your health — and your marriage — by puckering up. 

Vonda Skinner Skelton, RN, is a freelance writer, author, and speaker living in South Carolina.

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