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Stressed? You Need a Kiss!
Apparently kissing unleashes chemicals that ease stress hormones in both men and women and encourage bonding in men, but not women so much.
Wendy Hall, dean of faculty and a professor of neuroscience at Lafayette College in Easton, PA, says that chemicals in saliva may be a way to assess a mate. Kiss him and your stress levels drop? He might be the one for you.
In a recent study of college students conducted at a student health center, students kissed for 15 minutes while listening to music. The subjects experienced a decrease in cortisol and an increase in oxytocin. Oxytocin affects bonding and coritsol is associated with stress.
Apparently, blood and saliva levels of the chemicals, tested before and after, showed a decrease in cortisol (indicating a decrease in stress levels) in both sexes and an increase in oxytocin (indicating increased bonding) in men and a decrease in oxytocin in women.
Hill, who is planning a repeat study in a “more romantic setting,” spoke at the American Association for the Advancement of Science along with Helen Fisher of Rutgers University.
According to Fisher, 90% of human societies practice kissing. She goes on to say that an enormous part of your brain becomes active during kissing causing the change in chemical levels.
Interestingly, a control group in the same study who only held hands experienced similar chemical changes. The chemical changes, however, were much less pronounced.
See? You knew you liked to kiss. You just didn’t know why?
Thoughts?
Be sure to check out Sex: How to Do Everything for great kissing tips!
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SINgleGIRL February 19th, 2009, 9:12 pm
Here’s the punchline – I’m usually most stressed out when I have no one in my life to kiss/worth kissing. And yet kissing is exactly what I should be doing to control that elevated stress level. Sounds like a nasty downward spiral to me. Ugh.
SINgleGIRL´s last blog post..A Picture is Worth…
lisaq February 20th, 2009, 5:45 am
Haha I hear that SINgleGIRL!
vinny28 February 20th, 2009, 3:45 pm
A couple of years ago i was dating this very lovely lady and she would come to all my baseball games. Well i noticed that there were some days i just could not play very good and others i could do no wrong. On my bad days my teammates would tell me i was pressing and looked all up tight at bat and on defense. And on the good days my teammates said i seemed more relaxed and much more in control. Looking back, i can recall a few times my female friend would come over to my place before the game for a little romantic fun. So i’m pretty sure it works for most guys too, anyway thanks for sharing this great story. Cheer!!!!
Vinny28
CertifiedDiva February 20th, 2009, 6:18 pm
That makes a lot of sense… And you know I have to wonder how much stress is released when you receive a simple warm hug? I know from experience when I get a great hug my shoulder drop down, my neck and knees relax and I just feel REALLY good. Something about the intimacy of physical contact with another is just comforting… stimulating… soo necessary, and not just in a sexual way- though that is always great!