Will Squatting Help You Poop More Easily?

by: Manny Aragon

And, more importantly, are there health benefits to squatting as opposed to sitting to poop? Babies instinctively squat when they poop. The vast majority of the non western world use squat toilets to poop.  Why is it that western toilets are designed to put the legs at roughly a 90degree angle?- an angle that virtually confirms that the sitter will experience some level of constipation?

Before I go any further, I must clear the air on what, exactly, constitutes constipation. Medically, a person is determined to be constipated if they have fewer than 3 bowel movements a week. Many folks are “regular” with one poop a day. In the world of logic, however, one could surmise that every time we eat, we should be eliminating to make space in our gut for what we just took in. That makes “regular” look like at least 3 poops a day if not 4-5.

In my book, 3 poops a week is going to be a pretty bad situation. A person with that level of irregularity is very likely to already have some health challenges well on their way, if not already full blown disease. Yet, when I ask my clients about the frequency and consistency of their bowel movements, 1 a day with an occasional skipped day is not uncommon.

Colorectal cancer is the number 3 cancer in terms of diagnosis and mortality in the US

*www.cdc.gov

Now,  lets talk about the diseases associated with sitting to poop- with a kinked anal canal… A kinked hose causes backup and pressure in the bowel and surrounding tissues and structures. As “traffic” backs up, the poop that is supposed to be eliminated from the body as a waste, actually backs up and ends up stressing the upstream structures in a way that they were not designed to be stressed. Poop is supposed to travel smoothly in one direction. When it doesn’t, there is trouble.

As you know, one of my specialties is identifying and correcting postural imbalances with body work, movement, and helping folks identify and correct their habitual movement patterns. This is no different. Poor pooping posture leads to disorders in the bowel and pelvic region as well as disease. Here are a few:

Appendicitis	Constipation	Hemorrhoids
Incontinence	Colitis	Crohn’s Disease
Diverticulitis	Contamination of the Small Intestine	Gynecological Disorders includeing Pelvic Organ Prolapse and Uterine Fibroids
Colon Cancer	Hiatal Hernia and GERD	Pregnancy and Childbirth Challenges
Prostate Distrders	Sexual Disfunction	Reduced Risk of Cardiac Events

* Table contents from www.mercola.com

A squatter, however, will ideally have a anal-rectal angle of 35 degrees- knees above the hips thereby releasing the puborectalis muscle which then straightens out the rectum and anal canal. Things flow more smoothly through a straight tube rather than a kinked tube…..Here’s a simple illustration of what I am talking about:

Now, I don’t know about you, but the toilets in my house and in my office are all western, sit type, toilets, not squat toilets. There are, however, several devices one can use to be able to poop in the squat type position on a western toilet (google squatty potty and the like). The squatty potty type of device is simply a stool that fits around the shape of the toilet to allow you to eliminate in the squatting position.

Now, I’m not directly endorsing any particular brand, I’ll leave that to you. In this case, I am merely providing you the tools to help you live a healthier and happier life. Personally, I use a Squatty Potty and its helped turn what was once a time consuming exercise in patience, into an efficient and joyful experience.