Are You Using Your Toilet the Right Way?

Are you using the toilet the right way?  Did you even know there is a "right" way to use it?

 

Talking about what goes on in the bathroom is not usually something people like to talk about.........
except this lady!

My boys actually inspired me to write this.  They LOVE to talk potty talk.  They know how much my husband and I DON'T want to hear about their daily bathroom business, but they continue to tell us any ways.  Then one day, my son asks me, "Why is it so gross to talk about poop?  We all do it."  I agreed and then told him, "Just not while I'm eating please."  He was right though.  Why do we have such a hard time talking about something that is so important to our health? 

The main reason for starting Sparkly Polliwog was to share the things we do to make our lives better.  As personal as this next story is for me, I feel I have to share it.  If I would have read this 12 years ago, maybe I wouldn't have had to go through all the pain, money and discomfort that I did. If you have had any problems with constipation or hemorrhoids, read on because this could change your life!  It did mine!

According to US News Health, over 63 Million people suffer from constipation!  In the United States alone the cost of treating constipation is about $235 MILLION a year!

I was one of those people. After having my first son over 12 years ago I developed postpartum hemorrhoids and constipation.  I dealt with it for over 10 long, very uncomfortable years.  I think I went to see the doctor more than I actually went to the bathroom in those 10 years.  I did EVERYTHING the doctors told me to do.  I ate more fiber, exercised, drank more water, no soda, meditated, ate prunes and yogurt, stomach massage.  I tried going at the same time everyday, Metamucil, phsyllium husks, enemas, etc etc etc. Nothing worked!

In 2005 my dad was diagnosed with colon cancer.  He had over 3 1/2 feet of intestines removed!  It was then that I decided I needed to take this more serious and start trying other options.  I went to the library and got every healthy eating book I could find.  The first thing I did was remove dairy from my diet.  Then meat, then all animal products, and finally all cooked food.  I went 100% RAW!  I ate only fruits, vegetable and sprouted seeds and nuts for over a year and my bathroom problems stayed the same.

When I moved to the East Coast I started adding cooked foods into my diet.  It was much harder to get fresh organic fruits and veggies in Connecticut during the winter.  I can remember feeling so hopeless.  I tried everything I could and I was still the same as I was over 10 years ago. I ate a lot healthier, but the constipation was still the same.  I can remember lying in my bed one night asking God to fix me, telling him that I wouldn't ask for anything else for myself ever again.  It seems a little dramatic now, but after 10 years of being backed up, I was all out of ideas.

About 3 months later my lovely SIL and BIL came to visit us.  She told me about a book her husbands mom got him for his birthday called The Guru In You.  I decided to buy it on my phone that night and started reading.  I had no idea it was going to change my life the way it did.  That was almost 2 years ago and since reading it I have gone to the bathroom EVERYDAY, most days more than once!  I feel so much lighter, less stressed and so much healthier.

Here is what I learned:

According to proctologists, "We were not meant to sit on toilets, we were meant to squat in the field."

From Dr.OZ:
Squat to Improve Bowel Movements
"If you squat when going to the bathroom instead of sitting, you can release your bowels three times faster. This is actually the position that people around the world used for thousands of years before the invention of toilets. Squatting also reduces the development of hemorrhoids and strengthens your legs."

 

From Yogi Cameron Alborzian:
"For thousands of years people have been sitting on the floor or squatting on the toilet, which is the natural sitting posture."


How could something as easy as changing the way I used the toilet fix all my problems?  I had my doubts at first but I decided to try it for a week and see how it went.  Two years later I am still squatting.  I will NEVER go back to sitting.  My stomach cramps are GONE, my constipation is GONE, my hemorrhoids are GONE!


From Natures Platform:
                                                 Seven Advantages of Squatting
1.   Makes elimination faster, easier and more complete. This helps prevent "fecal stagnation," a prime factor in colon cancer, appendicitis and inflammatory bowel disease.

2.   Protects the nerves that control the prostate, bladder and uterus from becoming stretched and damaged.

3.    Securely seals the ileocecal valve, between the colon and the small intestine. In the conventional sitting position, this valve is unsupported and often leaks during evacuation, contaminating the small intestine.

4.   Relaxes the puborectalis muscle which normally chokes the rectum in order to maintain continence.

5.  Uses the thighs to support the colon and prevent straining. Chronic straining on the toilet can cause hernias, diverticulosis, and pelvic organ prolapse.

6.  A highly effective, non-invasive treatment for hemorrhoids, as shown by published clinical research.

7.   For pregnant women, squatting avoids pressure on the uterus when using the toilet. Daily squatting helps prepare one for a more natural delivery.


There are many different things you can buy to go on your toilet to make squatting easier......or you can just squat on the toilet itself.

Squattypotty

Here are some websites were you can read more about the benefits of squatting:

Natures Platform
NPR
Wikipedia
Slate

It is so weird that during the 10 years of going through all these troubles, I never heard about squatting, not even from all the doctors.  It is not something that people will usually bring up during a friendly conversation, but it is such an important subject.  Please pass this blog along......you never know who could really benefit from it. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo