Our ancestors squatted because there were no toilets, but mostly because the human body is designed to poop in a squatting position.
What’s Wrong With Toilets?
Toilets are convenient, but not universal.
Today, it seems unfathomable that we should empty our bowels in a hole in the ground or a chamber pot, much less a public street, all of which were common practices before toilets became the western standard. When you consider that the average person produces about 14 ounces of poop per day (that’s 6 pounds per week, and over 300 pounds per year), the humble toilet delivers more than mere convenience. Our ancestors would be astonished that poop seems to just magically disappear!
Something else that would confound our ancestors is that we should sit, rather that squat, to poop. Our ancestors squatted to poop because there were no toilets, to be sure, but also because the human body is designed to poop in a squatting position. In fact, you might be surprised to learn that about two thirds of the world’s population, that’s 4 billion people, still squat to poop.
Would you ever poop standing up?
It’s unlikely that anyone would, because intuitively we know that it wouldn’t work very well. While you may not be aware of it, your bowel is equipped with a mechanism to prevent you from pooping while standing, which, thankfully, allows you to go about your activities without worrying about a pooping mishap. This mechanism is in the form of a muscle called the puborectalis muscle. This muscle wraps around the lower portion of your bowel, tightening it shut to prevent waste from passing beyond this point. Relaxing the puborectalis muscle causes the bowel to expand and extend, allowing waste to continue to travel through the bowel and out of the body.
When you’re standing, the puborectalis muscle is engaged, and poop is contained in your bowel. The puborectalis muscle is also engaged when you’re lying down, standing on your head, doing cartwheels, dancing to Young the Giant, driving your car or sitting down. And yes, that includes sitting on a toilet.
That’s a problem.
In the sitting position, the puborectalis muscle wraps around the lower end of the bowel, pinching it shut to prevent the passage of waste, which results in the need to strain or an incomplete elimination.
Stoolie, your simple solution.
By adjusting your body to the perfect pooping position, Stoolie releases the puborectalis muscle, resulting in an easier, quicker and more complete elimination. Plus, Stoolie is super simple to use, see how to use it here.