Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Smooch Me, Baby!

SMOOCH ME, BABY!


What could be more fitting for romance than to talk about osculating? For those who aren’t sure what the word means, let me give it to you in layman’s terms:

~ Osculate ~


Encarta Dictionary: to kiss somebody


Your dictionary.com: to touch closely


RhymeZone: to touch with the lips or press your lips against someone's mouth or other body part.

I don’t know about you, but I like RhymeZone’s definition.

Some little known facts about kissing:
*           A kiss triggers a cascade of neural messages and chemicals that transmit tactile sensations, sexual excitement, feelings of closeness, and even euphoria.

*           Kissing may have evolved from a primate mother’s practice of chewing food for her young before feeding them mouth-to-mouth.

*           Some scientists theorize that kissing is crucial to the evolutionary process of mate selection.

*           Lips may have evolved first for food and later applied themselves to speech. (Hmm, who would’ve thought?)

*           Scientists believe kissing can become addictive

*           Five cranial nerves that affect cerebral function are at work when you kiss, shuttling messages from our lips, tongue, cheeks and nose

*           Kissing unleashes a cocktail of chemicals that govern human stress, motivation, social bonding and sexual stimulation.

*           Kissing boosts pulse and blood pressure; pupils dilate, breathing deepens and rational thought retreats.

Did you ever think kissing could be powerful enough to do all that? More recent studies show that 59% of men and 66% of women admit there were times when they were attracted to someone until they kissed them. “Bad” kisses did not factor into the equation, but rather those participating in the study indicated they just didn’t “feel right” about the kiss. In fact, the relationships ended abruptly after the lip-lock. Boy, talk about the kiss of death.   

Kissing, it turns out, unleashes chemicals that ease stress hormones in both sexes and encourages bonding between people. Both men and women had a decline in cortisol (a chemical associated with stress) after 15 minutes of kissing.

Men tend to think of kissing as a prelude to copulation (you could have knocked me over with a feather) and also prefer “sloppy” kisses. In other words, they get off on exchanging saliva to transmit testosterone, thereby increasing the sex drive in both partners.  Sneaky little devils.

Overall, the science of kissing – philematology – is still vastly under researched, but scientists are making great strides in this regard. And all along we thought we were just making contact with our mouths.

Happy kissing!
Keta Diablo, Erotica Romance Author

You can find Keta here on the Net:

11 comments:

Elise Hepner said...

Neat Post, and a pretty picture. All around yay in my book!

Jeanne St. James said...

Lots of good reasons to kiss!

Mary Quast said...

I wonder how I can volunteer to be a part of this study. Hmmm....?

Kimberley Troutte said...

Great post. I like kissing. Now I know why!

kirsten saell said...

I'd vote, but you don't have my favorite kind of kiss up there. That hard, deep, intense, full-body kiss. Not sloppy, per se, but like you're starving and the other person is a ripe piece of fruit, complete with contact all along the torso and much clinching and groping. Mmmmmm....

I watched a documentary once where an anthropologist suggested that perhaps those first kisses that spell doom for a couple have to do with being able to more accurately detect another person's "chemistry", and determine whether they're a good genetic match or not. Seems crazy, but in the same show, they presented a study on mothers and newborns where the moms more accurately identified their own babies by smelling their clothes than by looking at them. And the host also participated in an impromtu experiment where he accurately detected the best genetic match for himself by smelling shirts worn by several women. He said the shirt in question just smelled right.

So maybe those kisses that "don't feel right" are more about smell and taste than about anything else. When you consider how much scent we use, and how often we wash our own scent away, maybe you have to get really up close and personal these days to discover whether someone is right for you or not?

Weird all around...

Madelyn Ford said...

I always knew men were sneaking, I just didn't know how much. Lol! Great post, Keta. Those were some interesting facts.

Mary Quast said...

Kirsten, that is a hot kiss! I tried to edit the poll but it wouldn't let me. Next time... I'll include that hard, deep, intense, like you're starving kiss.

Unknown said...

I like Kirsten's idea, but I'm not opposed to the kiss that is so soft that it speaks directly to your heart. As he frames your face in his palms, his lips barely brush against your skin. That's a great way to know that he treasures me enough be gentle.

Savanna Kougar said...

Keta, great bloggie on kissing!
I could sooo easily become addicted to kissing.
I personally agree about the genetic compatibility. I've long felt that those who are attracted to each other by smell, by kissing are genetically matched.

Chloe Waits said...

That was a great exploration on kissing I learned some new things!

Anonymous said...

I can vouch for the euphoria thing, much to my amazement.