Guess How Many Bacteria Are Spread During a Single Kiss
By Jenna Birch
If your boyfriend has ever gotten you sick by way of a lingering kiss, it’s no wonder! According to a new published in the journal Microbiome, scientists found a whopping 80 million bacteria are spread during just one 10-second French kiss.
Scientist and study author Remco Kort of the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) asked 21 couples at a local zoo if they wanted to take part in a French kissing study. (Pardon the snicker at the random zoo reference!) There were two phases. First, Kort swabbed the couple’s mouths to collect saliva both before and after planting a wet one on each other. Next, one half of the couple was instructed to drink a probiotic yogurt beverage, wait a bit, and then kiss their partner a second time. This was to see if the yogurt bacteria passed from person to person. (Yuck.)
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Here’s what researchers found: the bacteria in the mouths of an established couple are more similar than the bacteria of two random strangers. “Apparently, being with somebody for an extended amount of time and having a relationship leads to a similar collection of bacteria on the tongue,” Kort says. So the more you pucker up, the more bacteria you’ll share.
And although it sucks to share a flu bug, for the most part, sharing bacteria with your partner is actually a good thing. “There are a number of studies that show if the diversity in bacteria increases—more different types of species—this is a good thing,” Kort says, explaining that kissing is likely a form of immunization that helps you become more resistant to harmful microorganisms. “If you look at it from this point of view, kissing is very healthy.”
You heard the man: kissing is healthy. So grab your man for a make-out sesh already!
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