Mistake number 1: How we sit on the toilet – and how we scroll when we\u2019re there<\/p>\n
The design of modern toilet seats isn\u2019t helping us poo better, Pasricha says.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re sitting at this 90-degree angle. Physiologically, that\u2019s not how we\u2019re supposed to poop, but we\u2019ve designed the seat this way. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf you think about your colon as this long tube, at the very end, our pelvic floor, there\u2019s this muscle called the puborectalis muscle [that] goes like a sling around the colon and chokes it shut.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a good thing when you\u2019re sitting on your couch, at your desk or in the car.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut when we\u2019re sitting on the toilet, we\u2019re in the exact same position and so we\u2019re basically trying to fight against this kinked muscle.\u201d<\/p>\n
Raising your knees above your waist when sitting on the toilet can help this muscle do its job properly, as well as improving your pelvic floor strength, she says.<\/p>\n
This can be helped with a stool to rest your feet on.<\/p>\n
Another habit that isn\u2019t great for the pelvic floor is scrolling on your phone while on the loo, as it can mean we end up spending much more time on the toilet than we really need to.<\/p>\n
We know we shouldn\u2019t bring our phones into bed or to the dinner table, so we shouldn\u2019t bring them into the bathroom either, Pasricha says.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are sitting on this open toilet bowl [for even longer] with no pelvic floor support for no reason … if you do it every day over weeks, over years, eventually the connective tissue around your haemorrhoids weakens.\u201d<\/p>\n
Haemorrhoids are cushions of veins in the anal canal. When the tissue around them weakens, they protrude and can become very uncomfortable or start bleeding.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe did this study in my lab in 2024 … we found that people who brought their smartphones in [to the bathroom] had a 46% increased risk of having [thrombosed] haemorrhoids.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maybe a trip to the bathroom is time for a mindful moment instead of mindless distraction. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to feel relaxed to have a bowel movement,\u201d Pasricha says.<\/p>\n
Reaching for a magazine, or the back of a bathroom product to read, might just help you feel more relaxed than scrolling social media. These aren\u2019t endless sources of information like your phone is.<\/p>\n
Dr Trisha Pasricha’s book You’ve Been Pooping All Wrong contains “everything I wish I could tell a patient”, she says. <\/p>\n
Mistake number 2: How we feed our gut<\/p>\n
Diet has a big impact on your gut health. We\u2019ve all been told to eat more fibre, but that\u2019s not just because it will help you with your bowel movements.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019ll help your brain, it\u2019ll help your heart, and all of that is mediated by your gut. Your gut and the microbes living there have a profound impact on every other organ in your body. If we neglect our gut health, we\u2019re neglecting our overall health,\u201d Pasricha says.<\/p>\n
She is \u201c100% here for\u201d the social media trend of \u201cfibre-maxxing<\/a>\u201d; increasing your fibre intake to meet your daily requirements.<\/p>\n \u201cFor women under 50, it\u2019s 25g of fibre per day, and for men that\u2019s 38g. That\u2019s a lot of fibre, it\u2019s more than you think.\u201d <\/p>\n For example, a standard serving of Weet-Bix (two biscuits) contains a little over 3g of dietary fibre. <\/p>\n But it\u2019s not just the amount of fibre that\u2019s important for your health, it\u2019s the variety of types of fibre too. <\/p>\n \u201cThe goal really should be to get a diversity of plant-based foods. There are lots of different types of fibres, and they\u2019re all made up of slightly different molecular structures. The reason that matters is because different microbes that live in your microbiome thrive on different kinds of fibre sources … the more diverse your diet, the more diverse your microbiome.\u201d <\/p>\n Alongside a varied fibre intake, probiotics are important for a healthy gut. Think fermented foods, sauerkraut, kimchi and Greek yoghurt.<\/p>\n Mistake number 3: How we talk about our bowel habits – or don\u2019t<\/p>\n Another mistake we make is not talking about poo.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is this evolutionary advantage to feeling disgust around some of our bodily waste, probably because it used to be the case that we would spread a lot of diseases through our poop,\u201d Pasricha says.<\/p>\n Now with modern sewage, plumbing and proper hygiene, that\u2019s less of a risk.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we\u2019ve swung in the opposite direction, and our aversion to thinking about, talking about poop has put us out of touch with our own bodies. <\/p>\n \u201cWe have such a stigma and shame around this one aspect of our health that … is the gateway to the rest of our body and the rest of our health.\u201d <\/p>\n But being embarrassed about it, and teaching our kids to feel embarrassed about it, means we\u2019re doing our health a disservice, she says.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re all worried about the rise of early-onset colorectal cancer<\/a>, for example. Catching it early or catching it late makes all the difference in how somebody will survive, and the problem is that we\u2019re catching it too late in too many cases. <\/p>\n \u201cA [big] reason we\u2019re catching it late is because people are late to bring up their bowel habits to their doctors, because they\u2019re embarrassed to talk about these kinds of changes.\u201d<\/p>\n And even if your symptoms don\u2019t lead to a cancer diagnosis, they can lessen your quality of life.<\/p>\n