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A passionate kiss between two lovers is not just an expression of passion. It also has tangible biological consequences. According to a new study, a ten-second kiss transfers an average of 80 million bacteria.
If the two kiss at least nine times a day, their bacterial worlds become similar. This is reported by a team led by biologist Remco Kort from the University of Amsterdam.
Genetics and lifestyle
The study:
“Shaping the oral microbiota through intimate kissing” by Remco Kort and colleagues was published on November 17 in the journal “Microbiome.”
Eighty million bacteria sounds like a lot, but it pales in comparison to the number of microorganisms that live in our bodies: 100 trillion, according to calculations by Dutch researchers. Collectively, this is called the microbiome, and it plays a vital role in digestion and also protects against disease. Which tiny creatures live inside us is determined genetically on the one hand, and on the other hand it depends on our lifestyle – our age, diet and also the people around us.
We allow some of them to come into close contact with our microbiome – for example, when kissing. Researchers have now investigated exactly what happens during kissing by studying 21 couples, most of whom were heterosexual. The couples were asked about their kissing habits, and saliva samples were taken from their mouths. The result: if the two kiss relatively often, their oral bacterial worlds are very similar.
Tongue bacteria do not depend on kissing
To quantify this, the researchers gave one of the two probiotic drinks containing certain bacteria, such as Lactobacillus. After a correspondingly extensive kiss, the number of these bacteria tripled in the other person. Remco Kort’s team calculated that around 80 million bacteria change owners in ten seconds.
However, similarities in microbiomes are not only the result of kissing, but also of a couple’s shared lifestyle, such as eating habits. This was evident in the analysis of the bacteria on the tongue. These were also much more similar in couples than in people who had nothing to do with each other.
A psychological side note from the study: women and men assess the frequency of passionate kisses differently. While men reported kissing their partners ten times a day on average, women could only remember five. What this means would be a topic for a new study.
- source: science.ORF.at/picture: Image by Tiny Tribes from Pixabay
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