Constipation Prevention
Squatting creates a healthy toilet posture to relieve and prevent constipation in the following ways:
In the squatting position, gravity does most of the work. The weight of the torso presses against the thighs and naturally compresses the colon. Gentle pressure from the diaphragm supplements the force of gravity.
Squatting relaxes the puborectalis muscle, allowing the anorectal angle to straighten and the bowel to empty completely.
Squatting lifts the sigmoid colon to unlock the "kink" at the entrance to the rectum. This kink also helps prevent incontinence, by taking some of the pressure off the puborectalis muscle.
The colon is equipped with an inlet valve (the ileocecal valve) and an outlet valve (the puborectalis muscle). Squatting simultaneously closes the inlet valve, to keep the small intestine clean, and opens the outlet valve, to allow wastes to pass freely. The sitting position defeats the purpose of both valves, making elimination difficult and incomplete, and soiling the small intestine.
Hemorrhoids
Hemorrhoids are swollen and inflamed veins in your anus and lower rectum. When we’re standing or sitting the bend, called the anorectal angle, is kinked which puts upward pressure on the rectum and keeps the feces inside. The sitting posture keeps us in ‘continence mode’. We thank our lucky stars for this muscle when we don’t want to go but when we need to go and sit on our toilet to do it – it sure makes elimination difficult and incomplete, creating the need to strain.
By age 50, about half of adults have had to deal with the itching, discomfort and bleeding that can signal the presence of hemorrhoids. The veins around your anus tend to stretch under pressure and may bulge or swell. Swollen veins — hemorrhoids — can develop from an increase in pressure in the lower rectum.
The good news about hemorrhoids is that they can heal without relapse when the squat posture is adopted for bowel movements.
Colon Disease
Eliminating completely and often helps maintain good colon health. Many studies point to fecal buildup in the colon as a cause of diseases including colon cancer. And when there is buildup in the colon, our bodies can’t absorb all the nutrients from the food we eat, leaving us without the energy we could enjoy if our colons were healthy.
Urinary Difficulty
Urinary flow is usually stronger and easier when one squats to urinate. The bladder is emptied more completely when squatting rather than sitting or “hovering”. Squatting can help reduce episodes of urinary tract infections in both frequency and intensity.
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