Yes there is a significant advantage in bowel movement if you use squatty potty.
Moving to a normal chair toilet from a squat toilet (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squat_toilet) was a hell for me. Chair toilets just don't feel right and comfortable to poop from if one has used a squat toilet all their life. Squatty potty hits a nice middle ground because:
1. It is better than the chair toilet in terms of comfort of bowel movement.
2. It is better than the squat toilet in terms of the extreme stress on the knees
You might want to take a look at one of those addon bidet...
Why is the arse the only place that, if covered in fecal matter, doesn't get the benefit of water? Most people, if they get poop on their arms or torso, normally clean them with more than just a thin piece of paper.
Life without a squatty potty or bidet seems like it would be awfully primitive.
People talking about this changing their life sounds silly, but then I remember that I feel the same way after having bought the bidet attachment called Tushy.
I'm not a short person (5' 11.5"), but ISTM public toilets in USA have continually grown in height. I simply can't get comfortable on them. Either I'm barely on the front edge, which entails clearance issues, or my feet aren't flat on the floor. I realize that some of this is from misguided handicap requirements, but if we don't get a handle on this issue toilet heights will soon become completely untenable. People will start carrying around the item described in TFA just so they can get on and off the pot without injuring themselves.
Its a function you have to do 30,000+ times in your life. People in the Western world are too shy to talk about. The Gates Foundation has cheap modern toilets at the top of its list in improving the Welfare of Mankind. So many painful and fatal diseases are through bad pooping.
You get most of the effect by doing 20 air squats right before going. Like a potato gun.
If the main difference is the angle between hips and upper legs, isn’t it just as effective to lean your torso forwards, say by resting your elbows on your thighs? (There would be a difference in the direction of gravity, but I doubt that matters much)
Does anybody even sit straight up on a toilet?
Living in Japan there are plenty of opportunities to use squat toilets. I have personally never found it easier to get stuff to come out on a squat toilet over a sit toilet so I'm kind of finding it hard to buy into the claims that it's easier.
I bought 2 different sized ones a couple of years ago, found neither did anything beneficial for me and in fact both were quite uncomfortable to use. I've squat and defecated in dug holes while backwoods probably hundreds of times in my life, the squatty potty experience didn't begin to come close to replicating the experience, they're just a gimmick. Toilets aren't universal heights, people have different leg lengths, some people are skinny, some people are fat. Gimmick.
I think they're popular because they're different and have a lot of 'oh man it's not natural to poop like that' which draws in the paleo-types and their unicorn alone probably moved a lot of units.
I think the biggest advantage of squat toilets is that the users end up developing strong legs and balance. They develop the ability to be able to sit in a squat comfortably. It's great to have a free in-built chair for when you need to take a break.
If you are prone to hemorrhoids.. this is a must have! Don't ask me how I know ;)
They write up a 4,000+ word article on this product yet don't mention the exposure it got on US prime time with Shark Tank. I think that is where many people first saw this product.
wait a minute, wouldn't simply leaning forward chest on knees be sufficient to get that angle ?
I bought one for my father years ago after reading about it on a blog usually devoted to firearms[0]. My father used to remark on how he always took a more satisfying dump when he had to squat out in the woods while hunting.
I do enjoy using it when I visit the old homestead, but not to the point where I've purchased one for my own bathrooms.
0: kenthompson.us which now appears to simply be a link aggregator
At the risk of TMI I've always gone this way, it's a lot more natural because your colon/stomach isn't all twisted like it is when you sit.
is there any science behind this? or is it all just 'personal experience'?
> a double transubstantiation, Christ into the communion wafer, and thence into dung.
LOL. Poetry.
Just try not to shit on the seat please. The other people who shit sitting down will appreciate it, as will the custodians.
I bring this up only because I always wondered how people miss such a huge target - it seems squatting is a reasonable way to make that happen.
Not dissing squatting, just a PSA to please be considerate.
Also, bidet attachments are friggin awesome if you want to try that alternative. I'm on vacation now and hate that I don't have it.
If you don’t know the video, enjoy it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbYWhdLO43Q
It’s hilarious. Great, great marketing. On a more serious note, my experience is that any other small chair will do the same trick.