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Couples Who Kiss Regularly Are Less Likely To Get Depressed

Published

4 years ago

April 24, 2022

When it comes to first kisses, scientists agree with those who believe in love at first sight, happy endings and the power of that first glorious embrace. That’s because, Scientists say, a kiss is much more than just a way of saying you fancy someone. It’s an efficient means of working out if your potential partner is the one for you.

In her book: The Science of Kissing, Sheril Kirshenbaum explains: “When we are that close to another person, all our senses are engaged allowing our bodies to assess compatibility and the potential for a long-term relationship.” This behaviour, she says, evolved to help humans fulfill three basic needs – sex drive, romantic love and attachment. “In other words,” she says, “kissing helps us find partners, commit to one person and keep couples together long enough to have a child.”

So how does locking lips help us achieve all these? When you kiss, you can’t help smelling the other person. And biologists have found that women are more turned on by the smell of men who have very different immune systems from their own.

Kirshenbaum says; “This may be because potential children would have a higher level of genetic diversity, making them healthier and more likely to survive. In this manner, kissing serves as nature’s ultimate litmus test to help us determine when to pursue a relationship.”

And once we find our perfect genetic mate, our bodies respond instinctively to his kiss by flooding our systems with feel-good hormones. She explains that: “A good romantic kiss quicken our pulse and dilates our pupils, which is probably part of the reason so many of us close our eyes. Our brains receive more oxygen than normal and breathing can become irregular and deepen. Our cheeks flush too but that’s only the beginning. There’s an associated rise in the neurotransmitter dopamine, responsible for craving and desire.

“Meanwhile, serotonin spikes to stimulate obsessive thoughts about a partner. This is the same neurotransmitter involved in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OeD), Oxytocin, popularly called the love hormone, is involved in bonding, fostering a sense of attachment. This is the chemical likely responsible for maintaining a love relationship over years and decades.”

We should not underestimate the importance of these chemicals. After all, how many of us have left the cinema after a dull romantic comedy and pointed out the ‘lack of chemistry’ between the couple who are supposed to be mad about each other? Or dreamt about how it would feel to kiss someone we have fantasised about for months – then been disappointed by the reality? For while that first kiss can be powerful enough to spark a lifelong romance, it can also break the spell.

A study of more than 1,000 students by the evolutionary psychologist George Gallup found that two-thirds of women and over half of men had been attracted to a potential partner – until they shared a disastrous first kiss. His team also found that men and women used kissing for different reasons. While the men mostly saw kissing as just a necessary step on the way to eventually having sex, women thought it was much more important. More men than women said they preferred kissing their partners with open mouths and using their tongues. And there’s even a good reason for that. Male saliva contains testosterone so it could affect how attractive the kissers find each other. Some scientists believe that men prefer sloppy kisses because they’re a way of working out how fertile a woman is – by ‘testing’ her saliva for tiny traces of oestrogen.

So when your kids scoff at your memories of that first magical kiss, tell them that without kissing, they might not have been here today. And make sure you don’t get out of the habit once your romance settles down. Research shows that couples who kiss regularly are less likely to get depressed, and those who kiss each other hello and goodbye have happier relationships than those who no longer do this.

How To Tell If Your Marriage Would Last

Are you and your spouse destined to be together forever? You don’t need a crystal ball. Just answer these five questions set by experts, honestly … Can you let things drop? Doesn’t it grate on you that he met his ex for lunch (a year age)? Is he still harping on about how you forgot your anniversary once?

Both of you need to be generous enough to put it behind you and move on. Everyone has got a past: we all mess up sometimes. Can you enjoy doing nothing together? If you can quite happily lounge around together, just enjoying the sound of silence, you work well as a couple. Do you fight right? If he’s a sulker and you’re a shouter. You could find it tricky to get to the bottom of an argument. So think about how you hammer things out and remember it is not about winning or losing – you both want the same thing.

Can you stop trying to change each other? We all try to fine-tune our partners a bit, but if you’re always offering to fix things for him, you will end up disappointed. You need to learn to accept the way your partner is or find someone you don’t need to fix!

Can you share your secrets? If you’ve opened up to him about your deepest, darkest moments but he is reluctant to talk, then you may need to think twice. It is by being open that we achieve intimacy.

Source: VANGUARD

News

Six Corps Members Receive N10m Grants To Boost Agribusiness

Published

2 days ago

September 22, 2026

Editor

Six members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) have received a total of N10 million in grants to expand their agribusiness ventures under the Farmers for the Future Programme.

The programme was organised on Monday by the British American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation (BATNF) in collaboration with the NYSC to encourage young Nigerians to embrace agriculture and develop sustainable businesses.

Presenting the cheques to the beneficiaries in Abuja, the NYSC Director-General, Brigadier General Olakunle Nafiu, urged Corps members to maximise the opportunities provided by the service year by venturing into commodity marketing and other viable businesses.

Nafiu said agribusiness remained a viable avenue for young people to build sustainable enterprises, create employment and generate wealth.

He also stressed the importance of value addition to the success and sustainability of business ventures, while commending BATNF for placing Nigerian youths at the centre of its entrepreneurship initiatives through value-chain development, employment creation and its partnership with the NYSC.

“I charge you to spread the news around. We have seen the outcome, and it is a good idea,” he said.

The beneficiaries are Dominic Olufemi (FC/25C/1143), who received N3 million; Temitope Adewole (ED/26A/2251), N2 million; Abdulwaheed Bala (ED/25B/1402), N2 million; Olanike Mayungbe (OG/26B/1037), N1 million; Kingsley Udoeyen (KG/26A/1735), N1 million; and Lorember Lorsue (JG/25B/1742), N1 million.

Speaking on the selection process, the Acting Director, Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED), Mrs Winifred Shopeka, said the programme began with an online registration portal through which Corps Members engaged in agribusiness submitted their business plans.

She said nearly 3,000 Corps members applied and underwent a rigorous selection process that produced 20 finalists.

According to her, the finalists participated in a boot camp and a final pitching session, which produced the 10 best presenters before the six ultimate winners were selected.

Shopeka said the beneficiaries had also been mentored and attached to established market operators to assist them in marketing their products.

She added that Corps Members who did not make the final stage of the competition were also trained by BATNF.

The BATNF Team Lead, Mr Oludare Odusanya, congratulated the beneficiaries and urged Corps Members engaged in agribusiness to master the fundamentals and acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed.

“We are happy with our collaboration with the NYSC, and it will continue,” he said.

Odusanya explained that BATNF was an independent organisation established to contribute to poverty reduction in Nigeria through sustainable agricultural practices and other interventions.

He said the Farmers for the Future Programme was instituted in collaboration with the NYSC to encourage Corps Members to venture into agribusiness and become job creators.

He added that the beneficiaries would be attached to mentors who would guide them towards achieving success in their respective businesses.

According to him, the programme has, since its inception, continued to enhance the entrepreneurial capacity of Corps Members.

News

CBN Reduces Interest Rate To 23%

Published

2 days ago

September 22, 2026

Editor

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Tuesday announced the reduction of the interest rate, also known as Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) to 23 percent.

Briefing the media in Abuja, the Governor of the CBN, Mr. Olayemi Cardoso, said at the 307th MPC meeting held on September 22, 2026 agreed the resetting of the MPR and recaliberation of the monetary policy market.

According to Cardoso, the committe is satisfied with the disinflation progress, adding that members noted stable banking sector following successful recapitalisation.

Meanwhile, according to Nigerian Tribune, reports that that the MPC, at its 306th meeting in July 2026, disclosed its resolution to retain the interets at 26.5 percent.

According to the Governor of the CBN, Olayemi Cardoso, “the Committee’s decision to maintain the current policy stance followed a thorough assessment of the balance of risks. Although headline inflation moderated marginally in June 2026, global uncertainties have heightened, due mainly to the renewed hostilities in the Middle East.

“In view of the evolving developments, maintaining a cautious monetary policy stance remains appropriate. In arriving at its decision, the Committee noted the recent resurgence of hostilities in the Middle East, with particular attention to its spillover effects on global energy prices and the potential pass-through to domestic inflation.”

News

NURTW: KWAM1 Settles Long-time Rift Between MC Oluomo, Tafa Sego

Published

2 days ago

September 22, 2026

Editor

Nigerian Fuji musician, Wasiu Ayinde Marshal, popularly known as KWAM1, has brokered a peace deal between the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) National President, Musiliu Akinsanya, popularly known as MC Oluomo, and the Lagos State Chairman of the union, Mustapha Adekunle, aka Tafa Sego.

The reconciliation took place at Ojusagbola in Ijebu, Ogun State, where several NURTW chieftains gathered for the meeting.

The development was announced on Tuesday on KWAM1’s digital media page on Instagram, alongside photographs from the meeting.

According to the post, the two union leaders have resolved their differences after years of strained relations.

“After years of an age-long rift, MC Oluomo and Tafa Sego have finally settled their differences. And from what we know now, this is final,” the post said.

The musician was said to have intervened as the Mayegun of Yorubaland, with the aim of bringing an end to the longstanding disagreement between the two NURTW figures.

“K1 acted in his role as the Mayegun of Yorubaland by seeking an end to the long-standing rift, once and for all,” it said.

The post also described the meeting as a significant step beyond previous public displays of reconciliation.

“This time, it was not just another handshake for the cameras. The two old friends and colleagues came together at Ojusagbola, with King Wasiu Ayinde Marshal (K1) playing the peacemaker.”

Both MC Oluomo and Tafa Sego were reported to be pleased with the outcome of the intervention.

“Both parties are delighted about the new development,” the post said.

The two men had previously been allies and prominent figures within the Lagos NURTW before their relationship became strained amid disagreements linked to leadership of the union in the state.