Fun Fact Fiesta Logo

Discover the Magic: Top 14 Fun Facts About Kissing You Never Knew!

illustration of kissing
Pucker up and prepare to be smitten by this delightful collection of fun facts about the universally adored, yet often mysterious, act of kissing.

1. Calorie-Burning Kisses

Pucker up, calorie-counters: a steamy lip-lock might not replace your gym membership, but it does have its perks! According to a report on philematology in the American Journal of Medicine, a passionate kiss can burn between 5 to 26 calories per minute, with factors like intensity, duration, and physical activity playing a role in the final calorie-busting count.
Source => mindbodygreen.com

2. Kissing's Rodent Connection

Pucker up, Sherlock Holmes: solving the mystery of the Great Kissing Caper might just involve 34 facial muscles, rat-like ancestors, and some top-secret chemical communiqués. The serious reveal: A kiss activates two orbicularis oris muscles with a J-shaped cross-section and engages numerous postural muscles, potentially mimicking an ancient form of pheromone-driven communication between our rodent-like forebears.
Source => telegraph.co.uk

3. Mouth's Workout Routine

Pucker up and prepare to torch those pesky calories, lovebirds – lip-locking may well be the new "cardio du jour": A steamy smooching session can burn anywhere from 2 to 6 calories per minute, making osculation your mouth's very own workout routine.
Source => imdb.com

4. Bacterial Party in Your Mouth

Pucker up, germophobes – it turns out there’s a microscopic party happening in your mouth every time you lock lips: Kissing can transfer up to 80 million bacteria between partners in just 10 seconds, actually improving immune health by sharing microbiota and making couples better equipped to fight off infections.
Source => optibacprobiotics.com

Subconscious Mate-Sniffing

5. Subconscious Mate-Sniffing

Pucker up with purpose, as science gives us a smooch-worthy scoop: Kissing helps women subconsciously sniff out a genetically compatible mate with a different immune system makeup, as revealed at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Source => cnn.com

6. Elephant Buzz Alert

Who needs a pesky canary to warn them of danger when they have bees in their bonnet? Elephants, that's who: these majestic mammals emit a rumble of caution when they hear the buzz of bees, warding off potential harm to their vulnerable eyes and trunks, and even avoiding areas where recordings of bee sounds are played.
Source => deseret.com

7. Micro-Guests Galore

Lock lips and load up on micro-guests: during a 10 second smooch, around 80 million bacteria can be swapped between partners, creating a whole new level of intimacy with shared salivary microbiota among couples who kiss at least nine times a day, as revealed by a microbiome journal study.
Source => biomedcentral.com

8. Adrenaline-Fueled Kisses

They say actions speak louder than words, but sorry with a cherry on top, a surprise kiss has you weak in the knees and nipples stiff as a board for entirely different, adrenaline-fueled reasons: The adrenal glands release adrenaline in response to a passionate kiss, increasing blood flow to various areas of the body, causing sensations like tingling genitals, fluttery stomach, and stiff nipples as your body reacts to the thrill of this heart-thrashing smooch attack.
Source => womenshealthmag.com

9. High on Love

Kissing: Nature's very own rollercoaster of chemicals and emotions, where we strap ourselves in and get high on love! No, seriously: A kiss actually releases a potent mixture of dopamine, oxytocin, and serotonin in our brain, leading to feelings of euphoria, addiction, and attachment, effectively mimicking the symptoms of someone with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
Source => britishcouncil.org

Romantic Kissing Isn't Universal

10. Romantic Kissing Isn't Universal

You might think you're the Picasso of Pucker, the Shakespeare of Smooches, or the Mozart of Mouth-to-Mouth, but get ready for a reality check, Casanova: Romantic kissing is not a universal practice and is actually found in less than half of the cultures studied, with some considering it downright weird or repulsive. Other forms of intimacy and connection reign supreme in these anti-lip-lock communities.
Source => theconversation.com

11. Minutes Locked in Lip-Lock

Pucker up, timekeepers of love! It turns out the clock is ticking with every lip-lock: The average person clocks in a whopping 20,160 minutes of their life engaged in the fine art of kissing, with variations in lip-to-lip time trial results based on personal preferences and situations.
Source => uselessdaily.com

12. College Lip-Locking Statistics

Pucker up, buttercup, because it's time to discover your standing in the world of lip-locking Olympians: A study of traditionally aged college students revealed that a mere 14.2% of young adults have never smooched a partner on the lips, making kissing a popular starting line in the race to love and light canoodling.
Source => ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

13. Bonobo Ape Makeout Sessions

Who says romance is only for humans? Our fuzzy friends, the Bonobo apes, have also been caught swapping some major spit during lengthy makeout sessions: Scientists have observed the tongue-sucking enthusiasts locking lips for up to 12 minutes, proving that passionate smooching isn't just a people's prerogative.
Source => timesofindia.indiatimes.com

14. Mistletoe's Parasitic Romance

You'll just love this bit of parasitic romance: despite growing from bird droppings and shamelessly sapping nutrients from trees, mistletoe managed to become a symbol of love and fertility in ancient, mystical Druid rites; eventually evolving into the charming Christmas tradition of smooching under a sprig of this unscrupulous yet fascinating flora.
Source => ambius.com

Related Fun Facts