Squatting versus sitting to defecate more healthily

Squatting is the easiest, most natural and healthiest position for defecation. (It is also the most natural position for giving birth.)

One reason for the chronic constipation among Western populations is the use of the pedestal (sitting) toilet.

Population groups which traditionally use floor-level toilets, and those who use the great outdoors, do not suffer constipation like Westerners do.

The plumbing of the human anatomy is arranged to work in the squatting position.

When a person squats to defecate, the recto-anal angle at the end of the anal canal straightens out to permit easy evacuation. If a person sits, the sharper recto-anal angle forms a constriction and so pressure is required to force the contents of the bowel though it (see diagram).

Other problems associated with constipation, such as haemorrhoids, prostate inflammation, cystitis, backaches and incontinence, are also avoided or relieved by adoption of the squatting position.