Poo Talk

I was recently reading a book entitled The Owner-Built Home, by Ken Kern, when I stumbled onto some information I hadn't imagine I would find. The particular section was about composting and the use of a squat style toilet. These are very popular even today in popular countries. The idea of squatting in more primitive societies is not only for resting, but for ridding the body of waste. In this position we have a more natural opening of the colon and increased intra-abdominal pressure that both contribute to a full and complete excretion of waste. Think about a baby playing in your lap, and then they squat down all of a sudden and make "that" face. You have just seen a very natural bowel movement. They are just going off instinct. They don't know about in door plumbing and refined society yet, but just following what the body is telling them. Quoting from Harold Aaron's, Our Common Ailment:

"The high toilet seat may prevent complete evacuation. The natural position for defecation, assumed by primitive races, is the squatting position...When the thighs are pressed against the abdominal muscles in this position, so that the rectum is more completely emptied. Our toilets are not constructed according to physiological requirements."

I couldn't believe I was reading this type of insight in a home building book! And from the 60's no less. I did more research and found that it is indeed hard to find such a toilet these days, but it is possible. Out of the 119 toilets currently available on the American Standard website, none come close to a traditional squat type toilet. As mentioned before they are quite common in other countries, and of course with hunter gatherer tribes who don't need such conveniences, but not in the good ole U.S. of A. This is interesting to me because of our populations major issue with constipation. I'm not saying that this is entirely the reason, in fact poor food, lack of exercise, dehydration, and over-medicating are all common culprits as well. Sadly due to the rampant obesity and muscle atrophy in our "modern" world, I don't even think people could manage to squat down to use this type of toilet anyway. And many if they finally did get down there would need some type of railing system or the fire department to help them get back up!



We often lose sight of how important our surroundings are to health. Not just in regards to a squat style toilet, but the use of modern building practices which use any number of hazardous and engineered products that affect how our bodies function. What I'm really trying to get at is the connection between all the facets of our lives and how they contribute to overall health and well being. Choosing to install a squat style toilet or step, using natural products in the building of a home, eating organic food, exercising the body, getting quality sleep. All these choices are interconnected and vital to how we live and ultimately the quality of life.