Squatty Potty is tested.
Previously, I talked about the potential benefits of prunes and dried figs for staying on track. How does body position affect defecation? Westerners are accustomed to sitting on the toilet seat, while squatting remains a traditional position for people in Asia and Africa. When we do this, we sit upright and the poop is forced into an “anorectal angle” where it rotates almost 90 degrees. You can see this at 0:37 in my video “Best Poo Position for Constipation.”
Now, this is a good thing in terms of preventing you from leaking poop into your pants every time you sit down. But when it comes to working, toilet posture defeats the purpose of our body’s great design, much like trying to drive a car without releasing the parking brake. However, many doctors are reluctant to discuss such unmentionable bodily functions, or may simply be ignorant. Doctors don’t know squats.
Of course, this is coming from someone who runs a company that sells squatting platforms for toilets. In a previous video, I talked about small footrests that you can use to raise your knees when positioning yourself to defecate, but I haven’t found that they make a difference in terms of self-reported difficulty of defecating or average time spent defecating. However, while these stools are only 4 inches tall, the Squatty Potty is twice that tall. What happened when it was tested?
The researchers introduced a “defecation posture correction device,” or squatty toilet, and it worked. Participants reported an increased feeling of emptying of their bowels, less straining, and about a minute less time spent reading on the pot. The only drawback is discomfort. Previous trials found that risers as small as 6 inches caused extreme discomfort to study participants, leading to the abandonment of the study.
How else can you get the same change in angle as when you raise your leg? How about just leaning forward, as shown below and at 2:14 of my video?
Does it look familiar? It resembles Rodin’s famous sculpture “The Thinker”. And in fact, researchers at the Cleveland Clinic set out to study the Thinker’s posture during defecation. They were able to show that the anorectal angle, measured using cinedefecography (today’s SAT terminology, basically means X-ray poop film), was open to more than 130 degrees. This is better than simply raising your legs and only opening the angle by about 90 degrees. Therefore, the “thinker” posture may be a more efficient way to defecate. It may also help with constipation, but it has not yet been formally tested.
As a side note, you can imagine how the worst possible position would be to use the toilet and lie on your back. Straining to defecate has been linked to sudden death from heart attack and stroke, as straining increases blood pressure in the heart and brain. In fact, it has been found to be the most common daily activity at the time of death in Japan, and those who cannot get out of bed appear to be particularly at risk. So, if possible, you can have the person sit on the bed to reduce the strain on the system.
But as a commentator said nearly 50 years ago, it’s important to take a step back in this sit-down vs. squat debate. Yes, the squatting position is called natural. This is because the squatting position was used by so-called primitive peoples who easily passed large stools. That is why proponents of the squatting position blame the porcelain throne for all kinds of diseases in the West. But does posture really make a difference if you’re eating the right foods? “People who squat because they don’t have modern plumbing tend to eat less refined foods, meaning more natural foods where the fiber hasn’t been processed.” Adding fiber to the diet can help constipation sufferers to defecate more easily without having to squat over a hole in the ground. Therefore, if you just change the meal design, you may not need to change the plumbing design.
doctor’s note
The video I referenced about prunes is “Prunes: A Natural Remedy for Constipation.”
Previously, we talked about poop position in “Should I sit, squat, or lean while defecating?”
How many times do you need to defecate each day? Check out the video to find out.
