Don't sit; squatt!

[Nicola]

Found this on the AV-Skeptics Yahoo group (message from Bruce, the moderator):

"Your comments reinforce the general misconception
that diverticulosis is caused by a low fiber diet. This
theory arose because the underdeveloped world does
not get diverticulosis (or hemorrhoids or appendicitis
or colon cancer) and gastro-enterologist s couldn't think
of any other explanation.

"I believe I know the correct explanation: they use the
SQUATTING position for elimination. The SITTING
position is completely unnatural for this purpose and
puts a great strain on the sigmoid colon where the
diverticula most often develop.

"In the case of appendicitis, incomplete evacuation of
the cecum is responsible. It is physically impossible to
squeeze the cecum (or the sigmoid) empty in the sitting
position. Colon cancer is also a frequent result of this
incomplete elimination. The residue accumulates and
hardens, exposing the colon to toxic carcinogens.

"You can help people avoid a great many gastrointestinal
problems by recommending squatting. They can learn an
easy way to use this natural method for evacuation at my
website."
http://NaturesPlatf orm.com

I agree with this. You should never sit on a toilet. It's not
only un-sanitary, but it prevents proper elimination. You
should squat over the toilet. Primitive people didn't sit
on modern toilets. The observation that they didn't get
gastro-intestinal diseases does not prove that fiber is
the reason. We can find cultures eating a low-fiber or
zero-fiber diet without modern diseases. They lacked
modern toilets, and other technologies.

http://www.naturesplatform.com/health_be...#antiquity

Nicola

[TylerDurden]

I've heard this claim before re squatting supposedly making elimination easier. It sounds good but didn't work for me, personally. Also, there was the awkwardness since it's so easy to get the stools to come into contact with ones' legs if one's not craeful re balance, all the time.

I seem to remember 1 famous individual(Richard Burton the explorer?) who had to kill an Arab in a Muslim holy place(Mecca/Medina?) because the Arab had seen him either urinate or shit without squatting, which marked him out as an obvious Westerner. Can't remember the exact details of this story, right now.

[Satya]

I seem to remember 1 famous individual(Richard Burton the explorer?) who had to kill an Arab in a Muslim holy place(Mecca/Medina?) because the Arab had seen him either urinate or shit without squatting, which marked him out as an obvious Westerner. Can't remember the exact details of this story, right now.

Oh Tyler, how can you tease us with that tid bit?  Please do tell the story!

[Raw Kyle]

I believe this whole heartedly. I saw an "ergonomic toilet" in a Japanese picture once, you squat over it.

I don't think you have to go full bore squat though, I also saw a product once on a toilet in a raw food restaurant (Arnold's Way in Lansdale, PA if you want to know) that was foot rests on the side of the toilet that you put your feet on to simulate a squatting position. I'm not sure if the amount it raised your feet was enough, but assuming the company actually knows the anatomy and it is then that seems like a very reasonable compromise to me, you can still use your modern toilet. I'll definitely be looking into them when I get my own place.

[TylerDurden]

Oh Tyler, how can you tease us with that tid bit?  Please do tell the story!

The last paragraph of this reference talks about this, so I was right, though it may just be an urban legend:-
http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/burton_rf.html

[TylerDurden]

This all reminds me of the ghastly squatting-toilets(just two-foot-rests and a hole in the plastic floor) which are to be found in the Refuge des Merveilles in the Parc du Mercantour in France. They'd usually have shit on the foot-rests because people couldn't aim properly in that position. Squatting in the wild would be even more precarious given the lack of support to hold on to, so "accidents" would happen frequently. Not a terribly hygienic option.

[wodgina]

When I was at Uni I would find foot prints around the toilet rim from Asian students doing the squat! it took me years to work it out why the hell there were footprints all the time...

Being a surfer, there's also the aqua turd... which is how dolphins do it...

[TylerDurden]

 

That is just so disgusting! There is nothing more abhorrent than  people p***ing and sh***ing into the water. That's why I've always loathed going to public resorts like the Costa del Sol etc., as the thousands of people in each such town just go to the beach to sunbathe, if they go into the water, it's usually to "do their business" - so swimming in a sea of lukewarm, diluted piss(or worse) was not a pleasant option, even forgetting the fact that the local hotels would routinely dump their sewage into the water, as well.

The worst example of the above was when a female cousin of mine stated that she wanted to relieve herself, while we were on a trip to a pristine mountain-stream, filled with rock-pools, in Liguria. I mean, the water  came from an untouched spring and other people were swimming below.

[wodgina]

People can be so disgusting, leaving litter down the beach I don't get? your down there enjoying the beautiful beach and then they get up and leave their crap behind. I've nearly got into punch ups before and find it's people who don't live on the coast that make the mess.

Western Australia is nothing like the coast of Spain (thank god) you can spend days on a beach without seeing another human. Remote surf breaks can be be a couple of kilometers out to sea and miles from civilization. Often you've got know choice.

I swim in pristine waterholes and would not even swim with someone who has perfume on let alone 'do their business'

[TylerDurden]

I thought that South Africans and Australians would never dream of going more than a few metres from the coast. The usual recommendation is, apparently, to swim alongside the coast, because of the sharks in deep-water. At least, that is what Australians routinely tell me.

[wodgina]

Sharks are everywhere, a swimmer was taken a few metres form the beach 5 years ago in 4 feet of water. A surfer was attacked by two white pointers in 2004 and died. A guy was killed last year snorkeling.

My local beach will have about a dozen white pointers spotted close to the shore this summer in fact a friend saw a seal being killed last week. It's a little scary.

[TylerDurden]

Sharks are everywhere, a swimmer was taken a few metres form the beach 5 years ago in 4 feet of water. A surfer was attacked by two white pointers in 2004 and died. A guy was killed last year snorkeling.

My local beach will have about a dozen white pointers spotted close to the shore this summer in fact a friend saw a seal being killed last week. It's a little scary.

And yet you still go out there. Well, you've got more guts than me.If I got even an inkling that great whites were in my neighbourhood in Liguria, I would never even dare go into the water. Fortunately, I've been told that the sharks mostly focus on the shipping-lanes as they seek the rubbish/leftovers which are routinely thrown out by ships. So, the nearest Great-White is most likely around Genoa or Nice, thank god.

[William]

While camping in wild areas I used to kick a hole in the dirt and crap in it as a matter of course.
No toilets, eh?
Then kick the dirt back. We can be as wise as dogs/wolves/predators.
There are two problems: if old enough, standing afterwards can be difficult, and arranging trousers so they are out of the "line of fire".

I don't see how it's possible to get shit on one's boots, or anywhere except in the hole.

BTW there was a book published in the U.S.A. entitled "How to Shit in the Woods".
Hilarious.
Recommended.