No, that would account for the exact opposite. More dietary fiber increases the amount of moisture retained by the stool, resulting is softer, messier bowel movements. A low fiber diet (meat, cheese) will make hard, dry stool.
“Man is the only animal that can use toilet paper - or needs to.” Now, there’s a great signature line for you.
Far be it from me to dispute the intarwebs, but:
- Patents aren’t trustworthy as a cite. The purpose of a patent is to claim some superior way of doing something and then claim ownership of that superior way. Not exactly unbiased.
- As far as the sitting vs. squatting debate, I’ve seen it go across a couple of other boards, and the cites are invariably boiled down to folk wisdom, anecdotal evidence, or just-so statements from seemingly reputable sources. I’ve yet to see anything that qualifies as a credible scientific study done on the matter.
My personal experience suggests that both techniques are equally likely to require cleanup, and neither is more effective at evacuating the bowels. Someone will be along shortly to explain that their personal experience is entirely different, etc.
Granted. I just didn’t want people to think I was pulling that idea outta my…
uhhh… that I was just making it up. Other folks think so, too. And, while a patent might be prejudiced, The Bathroom is a well-researched classic, with lots of Eadweard Muybridge-style photos of people in various bathroom poses against ruled-off backgrounds, allowing you to judge the biomechanics. Don’t recall how they gauged buttock squishing, though.
Good OP. I’ve often wondered why, in this, the 21st century, we still engage in the archaic practice of wiping ourselves with dry paper, corncobs and goose necks notwithstanding.
The older I get, it seems the more wipes are required, and dragging multiple swipes of dry paper across my nethers results in irritation. I eagerly await the scientific breakthrough that will no doubt relieve this barbaric practice and allow me to clean myself in a more soothing manner. I’m open, as it were, to suggestion.
So you haven’t seen the various flushable Wet Wipes that are in the stores and on TV, and frequently mentioned on this Board? They tried introducing them commercially decades ago (with the insanely stupid name Whistle), but they didn’t catch on then. Now, it would seem, the time is ripe.
There are other alternatives, invluding toilets with built-in water sprays for washing you, but nothing else seems to have caught on.
By the way, here’s the Amazon page on Alexander Kira’s undeservedly out-of-print book The Bathroom:
and Dan Sabbath’s equally unavailable End Product: The First Taboo
The french have been using bidets for years - not so common in the UK, although you do see them in older properties.
Interesting Kira himself designed a toilet seat “to support the thighs”, and, one would expect, to help remedy the situation he describes in his book. Here’s a cite and a picture:
Although this was alluded to above and I’ve mentioned it in other threads, I’ll say again that in my several visits to Egypt, every single toilet I’ve encountered was accompanied by either a bidet, a hose next to it, or a small pipe inside the toilet, the purpose of any of which was to introduce a stream of water (warm if you are lucky) to cleanse with, presumably using the left hand as necessary.
Although IHMO this results in a more comfortable, reliable, thorough cleansing of the backside (a particular advantage when one is plagued with typical traveler’s digestive symptoms :eek: ), it presents a psychological barrier to westerners who are predisposed to think of touching excrement as taboo. After cleaning and then washing your hands, your hand is no dirtier than after you wash in the shower. (In those other threads some have said that it is unnecessary to involve a hand in the process, though my experience runs counter.)
You know, I tried the bidet thing the last time I was in Paris (you know, when in Rome and so forth.) Somehow I’d always sort of had it in my head that that was warm water.
It isn’t.
These are great. Once I started using them, I can not go without them or I just never feel clean!
Yeah, but they’ll do in a pinch.
<insert groan smilie here>
So, what in the world ever possessed you to do this experiment in the first place? :eek:
Then there is probably the worst childhood joke I recall:
Q: Why did mother nature make the ends of turds pointed?
A: So your asshole wouldn’t snap shut.
The first time I heard that was on Opal’s Page O’ Flames, as a result of the typo “fecal point.”
Maude Lebowski: In a sense, yes. My art has been commended as being strongly vaginal which bothers some men. The word itself makes some men uncomfortable. Vagina.
The Dude: Oh yeah?
Maude Lebowski: Yes, they don’t like hearing it and find it difficult to say whereas without batting an eye a man will refer to his dick or his rod or his Johnson.
The Dude: Johnson?
In other words, half a loaf is better than none.
Isn’t it about time lieu made a contribution to this thread?
Softer yes, but not messier. The fiber acts as a sponge, soaking up the water leaving the surrounding area dry.
I know diet can affect things greatly. I definately have “well that was a waste of toilet paper” days. and “OMG I’ve just used half the roll days.” I’ve never bothered to figure out what foods lead to what…