The answer is simple to both questions. “Use it or lose it”, says Dr. Bahram, a physical therapist and founder of Advance Physical Therapy Institute, in Ontario, Canada.
“Every joint in our body has synovial fluid in it. This is the oil in our body that provides nutrition to the cartilage”, says the doctor “two things are required to produce this fluid: movement and compression.
So, if a joint does not go thru its full range, if hips and knees never go beyond 90 degrees – the body says, ‘I am not being used’ and starts to degenerate and the precious synovial fluid stops production”.
Western toilet seat came into being in the 16th century when Tudor royals wanted to relieve themselves with all the ornamented clothings on. By eighteenth century fully flushable toilets and seats entered ordinary households. Persistent cholera outbreaks prompted current system.
Today flush toilet chair is the norm in Indian middle and upper classes. Squatting is still practiced by large proportion of the population.
“We think of squatting, we think of peasants in India, and we look down at them as primitive. But by any angle, its closer to the nature than sitting in a chair, assuming you are not too fat or too fragile”, said a doctor.
Post Star needs your voice. We welcome your on-topic commentary, criticism and expertise.