A friend from my zumba class sent me this YouTube video about squat toilets and I found it quite interesting.
The premise is that squatting is the natural, easier way to poop. Since we're not getting rid of our toilets, you can get these stools that would raise your legs to the natural position. I tried seeing how it would feel and think you'd need a padded toilet. It still wouldn't be exactly the same as squatting, but maybe it really would help.
I gave birth to my son in a wheelchair, in an elevator on the way to the maternity ward. It was very easy. I've learned that it is a more natural way. I think the Japanese even did it standing up in the distant past. Don't quote me on this.
The only problem I see with really squatting is that the older you get the harder it is on the knees. On the other hand we did get taller toilets when we renovated because they said that it was better for seniors, making it easier to stand. The problem is that because I'm not very tall, my legs can sort of dangle which isn't comfortable either. Ah well, that's the poop on this topic.
Ha! I remember using squat toilets when we first visited France when I was about 15 and I found it pretty precarious then, so goodness knows how I'd manage these days. I don't fancy taller toilets though, like you I'm short (just a fraction over five foot) and my legs barely reach the floor as it is.
ReplyDeleteChristine mentioned the squat toilets in France too. I have such a bad memory that I don't remember them in Paris. I remember them in Turkey though and it wasn't too bad.
DeleteIf I squatted I'd never get up again!
ReplyDeleteI found them actually easier and cleaner to use, since you don't have to come in contact with any seat at all, but then again, my knees bend easily. I wondered what they thought of OUR toilets when they visit the west, they are so different. I remember once going into a public restroom with regular toilets and seeing footprints on the seat and knew immediately what had happened! :-)
ReplyDeleteWhen I worked for a tourist agency as a college student in Hawaii, I remember having to explain how to use western style toilets. It was funny to me then, but I can see now why visitors to the islands might have been confused.
DeleteI read your post despite the title and started watching the video and then thought, "What the heck?!!" TMI as my children often say.
ReplyDeleteI am packing disposable cups for my 2 week trip to India, as I cannot squat.
ReplyDeleteI would need a BIG cup.
DeleteHa ha Kay
DeleteAre we all constipated? I think that's why some docs think the squat position is better. If an elderly person breaks their leg or hip, and recovers enough to go home, keeping the torso more straight, instead of bending so much is better for the injury. That's why you see arm rails and raised up, 3-4 inch rings sto sit over the home's commode.
ReplyDeleteAs a bedside nurse, I've had two patients,(U.S. non-Asian males,) insist on newspapers on the floor, so they could squat to have a BM.
DrumMajor
That brings to mind a question I've wondered about. How in the world do bedridden patients use the bathroom anyway? That's got to be awful difficult.
DeleteNow we're in the toilet. What's next? :-)
ReplyDeletelol...it rhymes scoop on poop-you could write a poem about it!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Kay for the video and such an important message. For people like me (I have diverticulosis and hemmorhoids) I literally panic when I am having problems. My husband made a low, wide stool for our grandkids to use in the bathroom so I think I may already have a potty stool at hand. I never suspected sitting at the toilet to be the source of my problem. I eat a lots of fiber (including the skin on kiwi every day) and drink lots of water hmmmm
ReplyDeleteL. from W.
Wow! I wonder how well it works though. I sort of tried it and it wasn't comfortable on the butt. If you're going to use the stool you might need a padded toilet seat.
DeleteI never got the hang of squat toilets when I saw them in Paris unfortunately! Fascinating though!
ReplyDeleteParis? Really? I missed them when we were there several years ago. Interesting...
ReplyDeleteMy friend, the back-to-nature writer, Wendell Berry has composting toilets in his farm. He composts the poop then uses it for fertilizer on his farm's fields. By the way, back in the old days, I think they used human fertilizer in Japan---the fabled honey wagon---for the rice paddies. I don't think they do it now. Since we're on this topic, I don't see how the picture is any different from the regular toilet.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I just realized from one of the comments that the picture is a video. To me, it's just more crap---get it?---from the health police who are constantly trying to makes us feel guilty.
ReplyDeleteDon't remember them in Paris but saw quite a few in China. They are changing to the western style there now but you still run into the squat toilets in places that don't have many tourist. They also have a woman standing at the door handing you a square (1)of toilet paper so would advise always having tissue in your purse.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this 'heads up' since we do plan to get to China next year if all goes well.
DeleteApplies also to some WCs in Israel.
DeleteTP--never leave home without it.
I like the idea and it makes sense although I dont have problems in that area. (If anyone does, juice some vegetables). I am now on the lookout for a squatty potty in Oz, lol.
ReplyDeleteReally? Just the juice would do it? Hmmm... interesting...
DeleteIf we had squat toilets most of us would need grab bars to keep us upright and to stand back up! Maybe if we used them all of our lives we would still be able to do it in our old age. The stool reminds me if a Johnny step, used by little kids to use the toilet. I still have one. I might have to give it a try.
ReplyDeleteI would need a grab bar too!
DeleteMy knees crack and make weird noises when I squat. The barely hold me up. I do try to sit down and stand without using my hands because I want to use my quads and keep them strong.
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing so refreshing on a hot day's hike than to squat in the forest and feel the wind below. hehe
ReplyDelete