Turns out your 5-year-old self was right all along: Girls do have cooties. But so do you. And for every 10 seconds you spend kissing, you pass along 80 million bacteria.
Grossed out? Don’t be. Those shared germs actually boost your immune system, the Daily Mail reported, based on a study from the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research. By swapping spit, you introduce your lady to bacteria she may encounter later on, making her more equipped to ward off future infections. And she does the same for you.
Kissing also forms a similar mix of living bacteria in your and your partner's body, which makes you both better prepared to deal with similar infections.
Lock some lips in lieu of cold and flu season—as if you needed another reason to initiate a make-out session.