Science says: this is the unexpected reason why people kiss

I was 14 when I got my first kiss. With the confidence of a paving stone and all the tips I had read countless times in Tina, I went for it. At that moment, I thought I was way too late to the party, but looking back, I had just hatched from my egg. I found it quite uninteresting and secretly even experienced it as a bit gross. The idea that people voluntarily twirled their tongues around each other and actually enjoyed it sounded to me like one big conspiracy theory. Now, years later, that is fortunately different, and I can enjoy a good smacker just as much as anyone else, but it remains a strange concept. It made me think: where does kissing come from and who ever gave out the first kiss?

The answer is just as unappetizing as you would expect: kissing started with pre-chewing mothers. In a time when baby food, forks, and blenders did not exist, the mother made baby mush in her mouth and gave it mouth-to-mouth in small amounts to her children. Right, yes: disgusting. Sweet and much needed: sure, but also disgusting. Some experts believe that kissing evolved as a way to comfort hungry children when there was no or too little food. The mother then only transferred a bit of saliva. Pressing lips to lips thus became a common sign of affection. In short, kissing is learned behavior, born out of necessity, and has never disappeared from our behavior since.

Another explanation is that kissing serves as a non-verbal way of exchanging information. Here's how it works: during kissing, pheromones are released. These are chemical substances secreted by the body that give us a pleasant feeling and simultaneously convey information about, for example, age, gender, and health of the other person. By kissing, people can thus unconsciously learn more about the biological suitability of their kissing partner, making it a way to determine whether he or she is healthy enough (and thus worth it) to continue with.

Yep, nothing romantic about it then. In the category: save the best for last there are fortunately also more cheerful reasons that we occasionally engage in an ordinary kissing party. Ultimately, kissing remains an expression of romantic love and sexual attraction that serves as a way to show intimacy and connection and to show that you care about someone. Well, we'll just hold on to that.

Furthermore, I am very aware of what I have done to you by sharing the image of those pre-chewing mothers with you, so here are a few softening facts about kissing in a row in the hope that you forgive me for this:

• On average, you burn about two to three calories per minute while kissing. That means that if you kiss for half an hour, you burn about 60-90 calories. And that without a gym involved: winning.
• We generally spend about two weeks of our lives kissing.
• Kissing can help keep certain diseases and infections at bay. People who kiss more often have a greater diversity of bacteria in their saliva, which can contribute to a stronger immune system. Case in point: a kiss a day keeps the doctor away.
• Couples who kiss a lot are happier than couples who kiss little.
• The world record for the longest kiss is held by Ekkachai and Laksana Tiranarat from Thailand. They kissed for no less than 58 hours, 35 minutes, and 58 seconds. Those two must have an immune system that you wouldn't believe. 

Source: Quest