--- title: 6 Weird Things You Never Knew About Kissing description: Who knew kissing could make you healthier in so many ways? canonical: https://time.com/3701815/weird-things-about-kissing/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-02-13T16:10:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-01T09:02:49.239Z article:section: Health og:title: 6 Weird Things You Never Knew About Kissing og:description: Who knew kissing could make you healthier in so many ways? og:url: https://time.com/3701815/weird-things-about-kissing/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2a8f240d6117c651/69877e50f887dc261de8a01b/525161909-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5222 og:image:height: 2937 og:image:alt: lip-prints-envelope og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 6 Weird Things You Never Knew About Kissing twitter:description: Who knew kissing could make you healthier in so many ways? twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2a8f240d6117c651/69877e50f887dc261de8a01b/525161909-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 6 Weird Things You Never Knew About Kissing > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=48b83cd1-670d-4eec-81d7-71ff7f601185&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: 5 Kisses That Made History [Watch (HLS stream): 5 Kisses That Made History](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/g8XCEzQs.m3u8) (1:34)  _Published 2017-02-14. From Auguste Rodin's The Kiss to V-J Day in Times Square._ by [Health.com](https://time.com/author/health-com/) ## Health.com Contributor Feb 13, 2015 4:10 PM UTC From Auguste Rodin's The Kiss to V-J Day in Times Square. by [Health.com](https://time.com/author/health-com/) ## Health.com Contributor Feb 13, 2015 4:10 PM UTC Romantic kissing happens in more than 90% of all cultures, and with good reason: “It helps us find a partner and stay with them,” says Laura Berman, PhD, assistant clinical professor of ob-gyn and psychiatry at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago and author of _Loving Sex_ ($25, amazon.com). But it also has a slew of surprising functions, including some major health benefits. Pucker up to these fascinating facts. **It may be the most fun way to build immunity** Just 10 seconds of French kissing can transfer 80 million germs from one person’s mouth to the other, according to a Dutch study published this past November in the journal _Microbiome_. While that may sound gross, there’s a big potential benefit. “It’s a way to pass around bugs so your body develops immunity to them,” Berman explains. In fact, a 2010 paper in the journal _Medical Hypotheses_ suggested that kissing between partners could help protect their babies from being infected in utero with cytomegalovirus, which can cause birth defects such as infant blindness. **Read more:** [13 Reasons to Have More Sex](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20845824,00.html?xid=fox-kissing-020915) **It really is ‘in his kiss’** Women rate romantic kissing as more important when they’re close to ovulation—in other words, when they’re more likely to get pregnant. This makes sense from an evolutionary perspective, researchers say: Kissing offers a way to assess a mate through taste or smell. **It may boost your libido** While both sexes enjoy French kissing with long-term partners, guys “preferred more tongue contact” than women with short-term mates, according to a study published in the journal _Evolutionary Psychology_ in 2007\. (The study was done with college students, so you might want to take it with a grain of salt.) “One theory is that their saliva transfers testosterone to the woman, which in turn increases her sexual desire,” explains Berman. **Read more:** [15 Everyday Habits to Boost Your Libido](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20778590,00.html?xid=fox-kissing-020915) **It boosts happy hormones** “When you kiss, your brain releases this chemical that leaves you feeling connected and bonded to your mate,” explains Berman. It also releases endorphins, those same feel-good chemicals your body produces when you work out. Another relaxing bonus: kissing lowers levels of the stress hormone cortisol, according to a 2009 study done at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania. **It may save your relationship** Both men and women who report frequent kissing in their relationship report more sexual satisfaction, according to a 2011 Kinsey Institute study. Guys who frequently smooched were also three times happier in their relationship than guys with limited snuggling. (Interestingly, frequent kissing didn’t predict relationship satisfaction for women.) **It can last for days—literally** The longest kiss award goes to Ekkachai Tiranarat and Laksana Tiranarat, who smooched for 58 hours, 35 minutes and 58 seconds in Pattaya, Thailand, on February 12-14, 2013\. They beat out eight other couples who entered the competition. Wonder how much training they had to do to prepare for that one! **Read more:** [20 Ways to Fall in Love All Over Again](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20896491,00.html?xid=fox-kissing-020915) [_This article originally appeared on Health.com._](http://news.health.com/2015/02/02/6-weird-things-you-never-knew-about-kissing/) ## Transcript [00:00] [ MUSIC ] [00:02] This kiss commissioned in 1888 cemented Auguste [00:04] Rodin's reputation at a time when he was struggling to [00:07] get recognition. Its hundreds of bronze casts also [00:09] made him rich. [ NOISE ] It was extremely controversial [00:12] for Victorian audiences. When it came to the US in [00:15] 1893 for the world's fair in Chicago, it had to be [00:17] shown in a private room. And women were advised not [00:19] to go see it. It was one of the most scandalous [00:22] sculptures of its time, but went on to redefine what a [00:24] kiss looks like, especially in art and film. Speaking of [00:27] film, this kiss from Thomas Edison's film called The [00:30] Kiss is considered the first movie kiss. Actors May Irwin [00:34] and John Rice share a 19 second smooch in this 1896 [00:36] film shot by Edison's videoscope cinema projector [00:39] Critics called it disgusting, but kissing in movies was [00:42] here to stay. This kiss is technically called VJ day in [00:45] Times Square. Alfred [ UNKNOWN ] took a photograph [00:48] for Life magazine. It came to symbolize the relief and [00:50] hope represented by the end of World War II. It has [00:53] since provoked controversy over who the kissers where [00:55] and what exactly was going on, but it is the most [00:58] frequently reproduced picture of the 20th century. [01:00] This kiss is actually an electrical worker trying to [01:03] resuscitate his co- worker after an electrocution. The [01:06] 1968 photo by Rocco Morabito called kiss of life [01:10] became the first spot news photo ever to win a Pulitzer [01:12] Prize. Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and East German [01:15] President Erich Honecker shared this fraternal Kremlin [01:18] kiss in honor of the 30th anniversary of the German [01:21] Democratic Republic in 1979. So just goes to show, [01:24] whether or not it's romantic, one kiss can make all the [01:27] difference. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3701815/weird-things-about-kissing/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3701815/weird-things-about-kissing/"},"headline":"6 Weird Things You Never Knew About Kissing","datePublished":"2015-02-13T16:10:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-01T09:02:49.239Z","description":"Who knew kissing could make you healthier in so many ways?","url":"https://time.com/3701815/weird-things-about-kissing/","keywords":["Sex/Relationships","Romance","Bacteria","microbiome"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2a8f240d6117c651/69877e50f887dc261de8a01b/525161909-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Health.com","jobTitle":"Contributor","url":"https://time.com/author/health-com/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2a8f240d6117c651/69877e50f887dc261de8a01b/525161909-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"lip-prints-envelope","caption":"lip-prints-envelope","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/sexrelationships/","name":"Sex/Relationships"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3701815/weird-things-about-kissing/","name":"6 Weird Things You Never Knew About Kissing"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"5 Kisses That Made History","description":"From Auguste Rodin's The Kiss to V-J Day in Times Square.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/g8XCEzQs/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-02-14T16:08:51.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/g8XCEzQs.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3701815/weird-things-about-kissing/","duration":"PT1M34S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3701815/weird-things-about-kissing/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```