It is very likely you were not taught how to poop the right way as a child. Yes, there is an anatomically correct position to poop. It is the way that humans have pooped in nature since the dawn of humanity. The poops that our ancestors gave for millions of years actually helped form our genetic code. We are indeed products of our forefathers pooping habits. Starting very recently in the bigger picture of the human timeline we have all been conditioned to poop while sitting on a chair with a hole in it. The issue is, this has only been happening for about a hundred years which is not nearly long enough to cause biological adaptation. Why should you care? Well, pooping while sitting on a toilet not only results in incomplete bowel movements, and can also damage your health in the long term.
So why do we poop on these strange chairs if it is bad for us? After all, changing the human pooping technique and teaching it to children can be compared to teaching your children to swallow food without chewing. It may become a social norm, but it will never be good for us. So whose idea was it to poop in a porcelain chair?
There are a few men responsible for the chair “pedestal” toilet design. Men like Thomas Crapper, Joseph Bramah and John Harrington. Other than being toilet makers, these men all had one thing in common. None of them were medical practitioners or knew anything about human anatomy. They were plumbers and cabinet makers. How could they know that the human colon does not straighten out to allow for complete bowel movements when you are in a seated position? And if sitting does not make for a proper pooping experience, what does?
Imagine yourself running outside to poop in the woods, and you will find that the correct manner in which to poop is instinctive. You will find yourself in a full squat. It is not until you assume this full squat that your colon will straighten out, allowing for a complete, strain-free bowel movement. With a toilet in our way, we only ever get half way down to the proper pooping position. But what is the harm in a kinked colon? I can just force it out, right?
Wrong, and that is the issue. As mentioned before, seated pooping results in incomplete bowel movements. In other words, you still have some poop in your butt when you get off the toilet. This is only one issue with toilet pooping, there are multiple issues that come with seated pooping..
1. Colon Cancer- Biologically speaking, it is important for the human body to have complete bowel movements, if older feces remains after every bowel movement, colon cancer risk can increase. This makes sense as excrement contains many toxins released from the body. Some studies have corelated constipation (which involves increased colon exposure time to feces) with increased cancer risk. Other studies on the other hand have shown increased colon cancer risk with an increase in bowel movement frequency. More research is needed to understand the underlying causes of the increased cancer incidence in both these cases but regardless, most people will agree they don’t want poop leftover in their colon after every bowel movement.
2. Constipation- More than 4 million Americans have constipation, which is defined as having a bowel movement less than 3 times per week. This frequency may not sound horrible to some, but experts agree that it is healthy to have a bowel movement anywhere from 3 times per day down to 3 times per week.
3. Hemorrhoids- As mentioned previously, pooping in a seated position leaves your colon in a curved/kinked alignment. This often requires you to exert more force to even partially clear your bowel. Over exerting and forcing your poop out by pushing does not come without the risk of hemorrhoids. Hemorrhoids are inflamed swollen veins that affect most toilet sitters at some point in their lives. As you get older you are more prone to hemorrhoids.
4. Urinary Tract Infections- This is especially the case in women. When in the seated position, the anatomy is not correct for proper urine flow and over time this increases episodes of urinary tract infections.
5. Pelvic Floor Muscle Degeneration- Chronic over straining on the toilet (associated with seated bowel movements) can lead to weak pelvic floor muscles and/or prolapse of the organs into the vagina (for women) or the anus (the rectal lining sticks out from the anus).
“Most pelvic floor disorders are tied to the de-evolution of our normal evolutionary biology..” -Dr. Jack Kruse.
What Is The Solution? What Is The Best Way To Poop On A Toilet?
Fortunately, you do not have to remove all of your toilets to safely poop. The important factor is the position of your body while defecating. All you need to do is elevate your feet (bringing the knees higher) while seated on the toilet in order to straighten your colon out for more effortless, healthy evacuations. The most popular pooping aid is a convenient toilet appliance called the “squatty potty” which elevates your feet into a proper anatomical angle while sitting on the stool. When you are done, it slides to ergonomically fit under your toilet. If you sit on a toilet when you poo, I recommend getting the squatty potty and stop hurting your body on the toilet!
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