The Squatty Potty is put to the test.
Earlier, I talked about the effectiveness of prunes and dried figs to keep us normal. What effect does body position have on self-discipline? While squatting continues to be the norm for people in Asia and Africa, people in the West have become accustomed to sitting on toilet seats. When we do that, we stay upright, and our stool is forced to turn about 90 degrees, the “anorectal angle,” which you can see below and at 0:37 in my video. Best Poop Position for Constipation.
Now, that’s a good thing about keeping us from wearing pants every time we sit down. But when it comes to doing our business, the toilet position defeats the purpose of our bodies’ intelligent design—like trying to drive a car without releasing the parking brake. However, many doctors are hesitant to discuss “such unmentionable physical activity,” or they may simply not know. Doctors don’t know squats.
Of course this is coming from someone who owns a company that sells people squatting platforms for their bathrooms. In a previous video, I talked about those little foot steps you can use to raise your knees when taking the poop position, but they weren’t found to make a difference in terms of self-reported difficulty defecating or average time spent having a bowel movement. Those seats are only four inches tall, while the Squatty Potty is twice that height. What happens at the test?
Researchers used a “Defecation Reposition Device,” namely, the Squatty Potty, and it worked! Participants reported increased feelings of bowel emptying, reduced stress, and less than a minute of potty training. The only problem is the discomfort. Even a six-inch riser was found to cause so much discomfort in study participants in previous studies that they stopped trying to study it.
How do we get that change of angle that you get from lifting your feet? How about just going ahead, as shown below and at 2:14 in mine video?
Look familiar? It’s like that Rodin sculpture, The Thinker. And indeed, researchers at the Cleveland Clinic are determined to study the position of “The Thinker” to liberate themselves. They can show the anorectal angle, as measured using cinedefecography-your SAT word of the day, what it means x-ray poop film-opens above 130 degrees. That’s better than just raising your feet, which only open the angle to about 90 degrees. Therefore, “The Thinker” area may be the most effective way to free yourself. It may also help with constipation, but it has not been formally tested.
As an aside, you can imagine that the worst position would be flat on your back using a bedpan. Due to increased blood pressure in the heart and brain when you lose weight, straining to pass a stool is associated with sudden death from heart attack and stroke. In fact, it has been found to be a common daily activity at the time of death in Japan, and those unable to get out of bed may appear to be particularly vulnerable. That’s why, if possible, it can help to sit people in bed to cause less strain on the system.
It is important to step back, however, from this ongoing debate against stabbing, as a nearly 50-year-old commentator does. Yes, squatting is called nature because it is used by so-called primitive people who easily pass by highways, so much so that advocates of squatting blame the clay stool for all kinds of Western diseases. But does position really make a difference if you eat the right foods? “The man who buries because he doesn’t have modern plumbing tends to eat unrefined food”—that is, more natural food that hasn’t been stripped of its fibers. Adding fiber to the diet can help constipated patients to chew without breaking into the lower cavity. So, maybe if we just change the composition of our food, we don’t have to change the composition of our pipes.
Doctor’s Note
The video about prunes I refer to says Prunes: A Natural Remedy for Constipation.
Earlier I talked about the poop position Should You Sit, Squat, or Lean During a Bowel Movement?.
How Many Bowels Should You Have Every Day? Check out the video to find out.
