Colon Cancer - Why Is It So Common In The West, But Not In Other Places?

Colon cancer, or colorectal cancer, is a major killer disease.

It is prevalent in the West but rare in the developing countries, as reported in Science News Online (Feb 13, 2003):

"Each year, about 150,000 people are diagnosed with colon cancer in the United States alone. Although the disease is the fourth-leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide, few people living in developing nations contract the illness..."

For decades, many Western researchers have been trying to find an explanation for this phenomenon.

But coming from a society where sitting toilets are well and truly entrenched, they couldn't understand or accept how toilet posture could be the reason…

How could they? Almost none of them has ever use or seen a squatting toilet before... As a result, the researchers had missed the important connection between the toilet posture and colon cancer.

1. People in the developing world squat for waste elimination.


2. People in the West sit.

Lacking this insight, the researchers have mainly focused on dietary factors. Many have attempted to prove that a diet high in fiber prevents colon cancer.

Yet, this high fiber diet theory has NOT been proven.



SIDENOTE
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Fiber from whole plants has been shown to be beneficial in other disorders, including heart disease and diabetes. So there's good reason to keep eating it. But it is not the main factor in colon cancer cases.
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The truth is that colon cancer, like other kinds of cancer, is a complex disease. The exact cause is not very clear. Yet, the underlying cause is stagnation of waste (fecal stagnation) in the colon.

Which bring us to the next point.

What had protected the developing world from colon cancer is the natural cleanliness of the colon as a result of using the squatting position for waste evacuation.

By forcing users to sit instead of squat, the sitting toilet makes it physically impossible to evacuate waste effectively and causes fecal stagnation -- the primary cause of colon cancer and inflammatory bowel diseases.

Sitting Toilets Put You At Great Risk

The colon or large intestine is five to six feet in length. It receives food wastes from the small intestine and moves them, by wavelike muscular contractions (peristalsis), towards the rectum to be passed out.

During this process, water is continuously extracted and the waste gradually solidifies. If there is any obstruction in the flow of waste for any reason, the continual drying process can cause waste to be glued to the colon walls.

When this occurs, the colon passageway becomes constricted and cells start to suffocate. The prolonged exposure to toxins could trigger the onset of colon cancer.

The colon is specifically designed with squatting in mind.

Sitting toilets obstruct the flow of waste in the colon because they ignore and break all the natural laws of waste elimination. They make elimination difficult and cause stagnation of waste.

Here's the reason why...

For safety, nature has created obstacles in the colon to maintain continence, ie: the ability to prevent accidental evacuation.

SIDENOTE
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Eighty percent (80%) of colon cancers are located in the grey areas. Not surprising, as these areas are where fecal stagnation is common.

This explains the strong correlation between constipation (fecal stagnation) and colon cancer, as reported by the Epidemiology Journal in 1998: "People who frequently felt constipated were more than four times as likely to develop colon cancer as those who did not complain of constipation."
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These obstacles in the colon can ONLY be released in the squatting position. In any other position, these obstacles are not released and the colon is in the "continence mode".

One of these obstacles is the kink (or bend) where the sigmoid colon joins the rectum.


For complete waste evacuation, the sigmoid colon needs the support of the left thigh. In the squatting position, the left thigh lifts the sigmoid colon and opens up the kink to let waste flow easily to the rectum.


The other obstacle is the bend where the rectum joins the anus. In the sitting position, the puborectalis muscle grips the rectum in a choked position to maintain continence.

In the squatting position, the puborectalis muscle relaxes its grip and straightens the bend to allow waste to be passed out easily.

But there is more…

In the squatting position, the right thigh -- pressed against the abdomen -- squeezes the cecum from below to push wastes upwards into the ascending colon. As the force is directed upwards, the ileocecal valve (the inlet valve of the colon) stays securely closed.

SIDENOTE
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The cecum is the second most common site for colon cancer. Squatting goes a long way to prevent cancer because the cecum, squeezed from below by the right thigh, is cleared of waste regularly. Two other benefits: a clean appendix and a small intestine that would not be contaminated by waste.
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In the squatting position, the weight of the entire upper body pressing down against the feet and thighs increases the pressure in the abdomen. This compresses the colon to create a natural laxative effect and encourages complete waste evacuation.

All these things don't happen with sitting toilets...

The sitting toilet obstructs the flow of waste because it ignores all the natural requirements for waste elimination:

1. The left thigh does not lift the sigmoid colon to open up the kink to let waste flow easily to the rectum...


2. The right thigh does not squeeze the cecum so that waste is forced upwards into ascending colon and away from the appendix and small intestine...


3. The path between the rectum and anus is held in the choked position by the puborectalis muscle...


4. The entire colon is not properly sealed and pressurized for complete waste evacuation...

Is it any wonder why, when you use sitting toilets, elimination is so difficult? (It is like trying to drive a car with the parking brakes on.)

In spite of all the straining, the 'pushing' downwards with the diaphragm, holding the breath, in order to force waste through these obstacles, evacuation is never complete. This leads to stagnation of waste in the colon, especially in the sigmoid colon, cecum and rectum -- the three most common locations for colon cancer.

Find Out More...

Colon Cancer: A Terrible Scourge in Modern Times

In the Western world, colon cancer is the third most common type of cancer, with almost 150,000 new cases each year in the United States alone.

Despite recent advances in screening and treatment for colon cancer, the number of people dying from the disease has remained steady since the late 1980s.

The immense pain and suffering due to colon cancer is totally unnecessary...

The good news is that you can do something about it... By choosing to squat for waste elimination, you need not fear this disease. You would also reap a lifetime of health dividends that come from having a cleaner and healthier colon.

One point though. If you have been sitting toilets all your life, squatting may be difficult at first. The cause is explained on this page about squatting facets. However, with some practice, it is possible for you to regain the ability to squat again.

That would allow you to switch from sitting to squatting for waste elimination, using one of the options listed here.

For most, however, the most feasible option would be to use a toilet squatting platform or converter, like this one featured here.

Find Out More...

A Recommendation...

Like to know more about the benefits of squatting, but don't have the time to read all the information on this site?

Are you a person who prefers to read a book? If so, you might want to order a copy of Nature Knows Best, the first and only book on squatting.

You can find out more about Nature Knows Best by visiting this page.

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Read what fifteen people from all walks of life -- doctors, health experts and ordinary people -- have to say about toileting posture and colon ailments on this page.

Further Reading

The Roadmap To Colon Health

Article: The Secret of The Navajo Indians' Freedom from Constipation and Cancer

Go from Colon Cancer to Home Page.