Scientists Say This Popular Bathroom Accessory Really Does Help You Poop Better

Using a bathroom stool could help your stool, according to a new study published in the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology. Products like the Squatty Potty (which are known scientifically as “defecation postural modification devices,” or DPMDs) have in recent years gained a cult following for purportedly helping people relieve themselves in the most natural position: squatting. People can mimic a squat by simply placing their feet on a stool while using the toilet, raising their knees above their hips. Given their commercial success, curious scientists set out to see if DPMDs are actually good for you. “As a gastroenterologist, when you’re at a party or you’re with your family, people bring this up,” says study co-author Dr. Peter Stanich, an assistant professor of gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and College of Medicine. To give them a satisfying answer, he and his colleagues decided to conduct the first study on Squatty Potties. The researchers had 52 medical residents at Ohio State and their partners (average age: 29) take an initial survey about their bowel movements and bathroom habits, and provide a detailed log of every bowel movement they had for two weeks. Even though all of the people in the study were fairly healthy, the results showed that significant numbers had issues including straining, blood in their stool and “incomplete emptying,”—a feeling ...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized healthytime Research Source Type: news