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8 Kinda Gross Things You Never Knew About Kissing

The gross but true science based facts you never knew about kissing. Full story at MTV.co.uk

Smooching, snogging, pashing, kissing - whatever you call it, there's no denying that swapping spit is pretty damn enjoyable.

But how much do you really know about kissing? To celebrate National Kissing Day, here's a few factoids to think about next time you put your tongue in somebody else's mouth.

#1 - During a kissyou exchange over 5 million bacteria

No matter how careful you are about where the person you're kissing's mouth has been, you're still set to exchange up to 280 colonies of bacteria and more than 5 million individual bacteria during a particularly length snog.

#2 - But snogging actually help your teeth stay cleaner

Besides releasing dopamine, thechemical that makes you feel like you're on cloud nine, snogs can actually be good for your oral hygiene.

Yep, it's been argued that those bactrria entering your mouth can act a bit like an impromptu teeth cleaning, flushing away plaque and bacteria from your mouth.

#3 - How you kiss might actuallybe detemined in the womb

It's been suggestsed that the sideyou naturally tilt your head to kiss is actually something that's determined before you are even born.

Over two thirds of us apparently naturally tilt our heads to the right, something that scientists argue comes from development in the womb, where fetuses most often natrually tilt their heads to the right to fit in to the tight space.

#4 - Kissing involves a serious facial workout

Forget hitting the cross trainer as your face deserves some serious recognition for the effort it goes through to kiss.

Scientists researching kissing at University College London (WHAT a job) found that kissing requires 146 muscles in the face to work together. That includes 34 facial muscles and 112 postural muscles, which are those found in the rest of the body.

#5 - Making outburns calories

Speaking of workouts, kissing really does burn calories. In fact a quick kiss will burn between two and three calories while a full-bodied snog should blitz between five and six. That said, a fullminute long kiss could burn up to 26 calories.

#6 - Animals like a good snog too

So you thought it was just humans that get their pash on? That's actually not the case and some animals do kiss - just not in the same way we do.

Chimps kiss to show in affection in a way similar to us, but elephants prefer sticking their trunks in each other's mouths while some birds tab beaks and other mammals, like cats and lions, nuzzle.

#7 - You're going to spend a biiiiig chunk of your life doing kissing

On average, we spend 20,160 minutes of our life kissing people. That's essentially two whole weeks of your life just for swapping spit.

#8 - Kissing can actually help out your immune systerm

Remember all that bacteria you swapped during a make out sesh? Well one 2003 study found that kissing and thus swapping bacteria with a partner can help the immune system and improve resistance to allergic triggers.

So you know what that means? It's really only sensible to go out and snog everyone - you wouldn't want to put your health at risk by avoiding it, would you?

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