Toilet Squatting – A Rear Story

Toilet Squatting For A Healthier Lifestyle

Toilet Squatting Is Not For Anyone. It’s For Everyone!

Toilet squatting is nothing new. You should have read about how squatting is a lot healthier than sitting to poop. Then you should have known a good pooping posture can help prevent colon disease, hemorrhoids, constipation, pelvic floor issues, and several other ailments. So no, you are not about to read those theories all over again. Enough said already. But in case you have just emerged from a cave, there are useful links sprinkled throughout this article for your easy reference. Maybe you don’t even need to bother with those theories, after all there’s no flush toilet in caves.

Since Daniel Lametti’s article in Slate.com, has the world taken a different perspective about toileting? Not so much. Judging from the new toilet models that rolled out of production floors every year, it’s still the same throne-like commode with the indispensable toilet seat. Pretty much nothing has changed in the Western world. Or perhaps we are not ready to give up our thrones for a lowly positioned squat. But for some, the idea of toilet squatting makes a better bowel movement than sitting has etched on.

Is Pain In The… Hemorrhoid The Real Motive For Change?

Over 70% of people in the United States will have hemorrhoids at some point in their lives. It’s a common ailment which is usually caused by straining during bowel movements or sitting on the toilet for way too long. The Western toilet was designed for sitting comfort while doing our business. But it has an underlying issue which causes our posture to not allow proper bowel movement. And that may lead to more health issues later (not just hemorrhoid), including colon related diseases (the C word is not used so as not to scare the sh.. out of you).

Toilet squatting may help reduces hemorrhoids significantly, if not prevented entirely. If you have had hemorrhoid for one too many times, it may be time for you to change your pooping posture. In fact, with an adjustment to the anorectal angle, you poop easier and faster, according to a 2003 study published in Digestive Diseases and Sciences.

The puborectalis muscle controls faecal continence. By making the anorectal angle more acute relaxes the puborectalis muscle.

While seated on the toilet and simply lean your upper body forward you can feel the difference in the evacuation. That’s because you have slightly line-up the rectum and anal canal by relaxing the puborectal muscle. But that’s not good enough.

The straighter the rectum-to-anal canal becomes, the waste gets easier to evacuate. Hence, by squatting you get the optimum angle that relaxes the puborectalis muscle grip and evacuates the waste with the least straining. Too much straining causes hemorrhoids which are literally a pain in the rear. Remember that.

Not Time For Squat Toilet Yet? Or Never Will?

Our ancestors do not have the luxury of flush toilets, they started with the most natural posture, that is by squatting to poop. It’s only until the late 1800s, a British dude by the name Thomas Crapper (no pun) who commercialized a 1596 invention of Sir John Harington who is a courtier and godson of Queen Elizabeth I. Since then the Western world has never looked back, until now. If not for that bloody pain in the *beep*, we will still be in denial mode. But that proved one point – Hemorrhoid impedes logical thinking. We took more than 2 centuries to realize the courtier’s invention has seriously warped our pooping culture and our rectum-anus relationship. And now we are desperately trying to reverse it. But, can we?

Well, not entirely. The western toilets are designed not just as a waste disposal device but is also a piece of bathroom furniture that adds to the overall aesthetic. Our modern lifestyle has conditioned us all to accept the flush toilet, at the expense of our digestive system. We spent a whopping 700 million dollars a year on laxatives alone. Partly due to our crappy diets that’s lacking in fiber and mostly sabotage by that British dude’s invention. Again, that’s proof that a messed up digestive system impedes logical thinking. Still refuse to squat?

But the fact remains that, it’s freaking ugly to have a squat toilet installed on any modern bathroom design you can think of. Besides, with the world’s population aging at break-neck speed, it’s very challenging for the elderly to squat. Not forgetting those with leg injuries and bad knees. So like it or not, flush toilets are here to stay. But changes are taking shape. Though not to an extend of a full-blown revolution, it is slowly and surely creeping in.

The Squat Stool Revolution

The idea is not new. Some folks may have already made improvisation with basic carpentry to alleviate the problem associated with defecating on a Western toilet. Some have taken it to a commercial level in a small way. Not quite the epic world-changing design and affordability. An example is Nature’s Platform. It is designed as a foldable raised platform with height-adjustable steel support. Practical but not one you would like to see in your designer bathroom. And costing $158 a pop is definitely not for the masses. Several other similar creations are cropping up to ride the ascending trend, even from outside of the USA. From as far as Singapore to Oceania, competition for a piece of squat action is mounting.

But all seemed to have complicated their designs with little focus on aesthetic and cost. Until Robert Edwards from Utah founded Squatty Potty in 2011 with a simple and intuitive design step stool, it caught some serious media attention. The rest like they say is history.

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Squatty Potty – A Short Review

The Squatty Potty design is one that blends neatly into the toilet to look like it’s an accessory. When not in use, you can slide in snugly below the toilet bowl without taking up much space. Best of all, it doesn’t cost limbs and you can choose a taller version if your toilet is a comfort height model. Or if your bathroom is wood themed you have a choice of Slim which is made of sculpted plywood to get a seamless blend into your bathroom. Or the old fashioned Tao Bamboo for a rustic themed bathroom design, which has a selectable 2 height options.

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Happily Ever After…

There you have it. There’s no need to dump your prized throne for that ugly hole on the floor just to protect your ass (sorry can’t hold it anymore). Toilet squatting is the right posture like it or not. And hopefully, in the future we can see more creative toilet designs that are both toilets squatting friendly and great to look at.

So stop blaming the flush toilet for the pain it caused to your rear. Be thankful to Sir John Harington for his invention and move on with whatever squat stool you have chosen. Life outside is more beautiful than the toilet regardless of how it looks. But a healthy digestive system is all that matters….after all, you can’t enjoy anything in life constipated.

Start squatting, please.