Kiss stress away

Oscar De La Hoya kisses his wife, Millie Corretjer, after he
announced his retirement from boxing on April 14, 2009. 
(AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

Did you miss “Kiss Your Mate Day” on April 27? Most of us did, and that’s a shame because kisses can preserve a relationship and decrease your stress levels.

Dr. Laura Berman, author of "Real Sex for Real Women" and "The Passion Prescription," conducted a nationwide intimacy study, funded by an unrestricted grant by the K-Y brand, and found that couples who kiss each other regularly are eight times more likely to have low stress levels than those who rarely kiss or only kiss during sex. The couples who kiss frequently were also less likely to be depressed.

But not any old kiss will do. A peck on the check is sweet and affectionate, and certainly has its place in a relationship, but Dr. Berman’s study found that the couples who were happiest exchanged at least “one long, wet, 10-second kiss” a day in additional to more casual kisses and cuddling. Another study found that couples who regularly kiss each other hello and goodbye rate their relationships as more satisfying than those who don’t.

A study by the neuroscience department at Lafayette College led by Professor Wendy Hill found that kissing raises levels of oxytocin, a hormone associated with feelings of love and intimacy, and decreases levels of cortisol, a stress hormone. Among other things, the study found that the longer the couple had been together, the greater the drop in cortisol levels after kissing.

Helen Fisher, professor at Rutgers University and author of “Why Him, Why Her: Finding Real Love by Understanding Your Personality Type,” has used brain imaging in her research and believes three different brain systems rule romantic love, sex drive and attachment, but that kissing stimulates all three systems.

So to decrease stress, strengthen your relationship and possibly reignite the fire in your relationship, resume kissing regularly like you did when you were first together. Your health will benefit.