Julie Holland, a doctoral student in comparative education at the University of Virginia, wrote this sentence in her book “The Toilet God”: “Toilet lovers believe that civilization is not derived from the invention of words, but the first toilet.”
But no matter what, there are two sides. When most people are still feeling fortunate to get rid of the “squatting age”, the saying that “sitting to defecate is not as healthy as squatting defecation” has begun to spread through various channels. opened. The conclusion of this statement is that sitting and defecation can cause hemorrhoids, constipation, colitis, appendicitis and colon cancer, and even increase the risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases; while squatting defecation does not have these disadvantages, and it will Make bowel movements smoother and more thorough. Is it a little scary to see this statement? Don’t worry about changing the toilet in the bathroom into a squat. Let’s take a look at the scientific basis behind this view.
Those who hold this view believe that the benefits of squatting to defecate are due to a muscle called the puborectalis muscle. When we defecate, this muscle causes the rectum to form a pointed forward angle. We call this angle the anorectal angle. Medical theory believes that the greater this angle, the less effort it takes to defecate. The anorectal angle when squatting to defecate is about 20 degrees larger than the anorectal angle when sitting and defecation, so squatting to defecate is smoother and more thorough, and the probability of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular accidents is lower. These are based on some scientific evidence.
So, can it be considered that squatting defecation is more scientific than sitting defecation? The answer is not necessarily. Squatting and defecation are indeed easier, but there is no scientific basis to say that sitting and defecation can cause hemorrhoids, constipation, appendicitis, colon cancer and other diseases. Although the probability of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular accidents when squatting to defecate is low, for groups such as patients, the elderly, and pregnant women, the probability of falling injuries when using squatting is greatly increased. Therefore, the truth is that both sitting and squatting have their own advantages and disadvantages, and there is no obvious difference between the two.
