By Michele Zipp on CafeMom’s blog, The Stir.

Kissing really is one of the best things we do on this planet. It’s better than eating fresh out of the oven chocolate chip cookies. A good kiss is, anyway. A great smooch turns us on, gets us going, makes us want to kiss more…and could even burn calories (unlike those cookies). It also can make or break a relationship. If the kissing goes, the sex is often next. Intimacy is gone. If you keep your kissing alive, you can keep your relationship going, increasing the bond you have. Kiss! More!

Yes, kissing is that important. There are some details about kissing that shed some light on how important it really is, but they also may make you reevaluate your relationship. Check out these nine fascinating kissing facts.

1. Almost no other animals kiss. Chimps and bonobos kiss but not with the kind of passion humans do. Hear that? Passion! We have it. We need it. We love it. And we deserve it.

2. Guys who think they are good-looking kiss more. Self-confidence goes a long way here. In other news, maybe that’s why we fall for those cocky jerks.

3. Guys who have had a lot of girlfriends like kissing more. Maybe because they have experience to know how much we love it, which leads us to…

4. Women value kissing more than men. Generally speaking, of course. It’s important to us, guys, so pucker up.

5. How we kiss with a partner makes us assess our relationship. If you kiss well together, chances are the love will last.

6. Kissing is like a taste test and a smell test. This isn’t at all about breath, although I think we all can agree that stinky breath is lame. Researchers have discovered that there is a scent we pick up on when we are kissing — and it’s believed to be related to a person’s DNA. Women are most attracted to the scent of a man who has a genetic code most different from themselves.

7. Good chemistry when kissing someone could also mean you will have healthy offspring. Again, has to do with the DNA.

8. Some women give off a scent when they are ovulating that is picked up by men when they are kissing. It could be subconscious but it turns men on.

9. Couples who kiss more (and make love more) have deeper and more satisfactory relationships. But we already knew that, right? Still, sometimes some people need a reminder to pucker up.

Do you wish you kissed more in your relationship? How much do you value kissing