According to a new study, kissing releases hormones that can relieve stress levels.Just in time for Valentine's Day, a group of scientists presented a study of kissing and its chemistry. The conclusion? Kissing releases hormones that reduce stress.
There was a surprise from the study:Chemicals in the saliva may be a way to assess a mate, Wendy Hill, dean of the faculty and a professor of neuroscience at Lafayette College, told a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science on Friday.
In an experiment, Hill explained, pairs of heterosexual college students who kissed for 15 minutes while listening to music experienced significant changes in their levels of the chemicals oxytocin, which affects pair bonding, and cortisol, which is associated with stress. Their blood and saliva levels of the chemicals were compared before and after the kiss.
Both men and women had a decline in cortisol after smooching, an indication their stress levels declined.
For men, oxytocin levels increased, indicating more interest in bonding, while oxytocin levels went down in women.So, this Valentine's Day, I encourage you to get with your honey and reduce your levels of stress. As an added benefit, ladies, kissing your men helps to chemically keep them around.
And remember, scientists were hard at work to give us just one more reason to keep up the practice the rest of the year.
Under researched indeed.Overall, the science of kissing — philematology — is under-researcherd, Hill concluded.
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