Our ancestors did it. People in Asia, Africa and parts of Europe are still doing it. So how did we Westerners come to deviate from the best way to go to the bathroom?
The toilets as we know them are to blame. Thrones, they called them. It turns out that we should squat, not sit.
In a 2003 study, 28 healthy people volunteered to measure themselves by taking their defecation in three alternating positions: sitting on a standard toilet, sitting on a low toilet, and squatting. They not only recorded how long it took them, but also how much effort it took. Squatting, the study concludes, requires less time and effort.
“There is certainly a physiological sense in squatting,” says gastroenterologist Anish Sheth, co-author of the books What is your poo telling you? and What does my urine tell me? « Simply put, it straightens the colon. »
