The Squatty Potty raises the distal end of your thighs a few inches, reducing the angle between your thigh and abdomen by… idk, 20° to simulate squatting. Considering that relative anatomical position, you can accomplish almost the exact same thing by just sitting without a Squatty Potty and leaning forward 20° - you’ll get that same reduction of angle between thigh and abdomen.
The Squatty Potty will be slightly more optimized in terms of gravity, but the difference in gravity pulling straight down on your log vs at a 20° downward slope is insignificant, cuz shitting works via a physiological process called peristalsis (sequential contracting and relaxing of segments of a tube to squeeze its contents from one end to the other) – you could shit just fine in zero G, or even completely upside down in normal G because peristalsis doesn’t rely on gravity at all (although the result of shitting upside down might have some not-so-fun consequences for your face once the turd is free).
tldr: buying and using a Squatty Potty vs just leaning forward a tad when you shit = same same.
I don’t have one and have never used one, but I thought the argument was that it was a more natural position to how we’d shit in the wild, in other words how we evolved? Like the position has better flow/use of the process you mentioned. Sure, leaning could do the same thing, though again never having used one I don’t know which is more comfortable.
argument was that it was a more natural position to how we’d shit in the wild, in other words how we evolved?
Correct, and that argument is sound.
the position has better flow/use of the process you mentioned.
Here’s where the marketing kicks in - better than what? Better than sitting upright like you would in a normal chair? Absolutely. Better than leaning forward to achieve the same relative anatomical position? Their sales pitch doesn’t address this - by design.
never having used one I don’t know which is more comfortable.
That bit is subjective. If you like the feel of the SP, nuff’ said, use it. I personally find it doesn’t actually matter 99% of the time. Even sitting upright chair-like doesn’t actually impair the process enough to make a noticeable difference. The only exception is the occasional shit-from-hell, like the kind that makes you feel like literal death from start to finish, but then once it’s out you feel fine… which if you’ve never experienced, hopefully it stays that way; if you have, and are wondering wtf just happened, it’s a vasovagal response to pressure and straining, and it makes you literally feel like you’re about to die.
Our bodies are jerks.
Anyway, when that’s happening, anything that can make the process even half-a-percent more efficient is a godsend, so I find myself changing positions a lot from the lean, to upright, to side-to-side, back to the lean, etc. Adding the SP to the mix certainly wouldn’t hurt, but I don’t think it’d actually contribute anything that other positions aren’t already hitting.
Unsolicited rant:
The Squatty Potty raises the distal end of your thighs a few inches, reducing the angle between your thigh and abdomen by… idk, 20° to simulate squatting. Considering that relative anatomical position, you can accomplish almost the exact same thing by just sitting without a Squatty Potty and leaning forward 20° - you’ll get that same reduction of angle between thigh and abdomen.
The Squatty Potty will be slightly more optimized in terms of gravity, but the difference in gravity pulling straight down on your log vs at a 20° downward slope is insignificant, cuz shitting works via a physiological process called peristalsis (sequential contracting and relaxing of segments of a tube to squeeze its contents from one end to the other) – you could shit just fine in zero G, or even completely upside down in normal G because peristalsis doesn’t rely on gravity at all (although the result of shitting upside down might have some not-so-fun consequences for your face once the turd is free).
tldr: buying and using a Squatty Potty vs just leaning forward a tad when you shit = same same.
Or just be tall enough with a fairly low toilet, im basically squatting by default my knees are way higher than my ass when using most toilets
I don’t have one and have never used one, but I thought the argument was that it was a more natural position to how we’d shit in the wild, in other words how we evolved? Like the position has better flow/use of the process you mentioned. Sure, leaning could do the same thing, though again never having used one I don’t know which is more comfortable.
Correct, and that argument is sound.
Here’s where the marketing kicks in - better than what? Better than sitting upright like you would in a normal chair? Absolutely. Better than leaning forward to achieve the same relative anatomical position? Their sales pitch doesn’t address this - by design.
That bit is subjective. If you like the feel of the SP, nuff’ said, use it. I personally find it doesn’t actually matter 99% of the time. Even sitting upright chair-like doesn’t actually impair the process enough to make a noticeable difference. The only exception is the occasional shit-from-hell, like the kind that makes you feel like literal death from start to finish, but then once it’s out you feel fine… which if you’ve never experienced, hopefully it stays that way; if you have, and are wondering wtf just happened, it’s a vasovagal response to pressure and straining, and it makes you literally feel like you’re about to die.
Our bodies are jerks.
Anyway, when that’s happening, anything that can make the process even half-a-percent more efficient is a godsend, so I find myself changing positions a lot from the lean, to upright, to side-to-side, back to the lean, etc. Adding the SP to the mix certainly wouldn’t hurt, but I don’t think it’d actually contribute anything that other positions aren’t already hitting.