Pooping.

大便。

It's a thing people do all the time, normally somewhere between three times a day and once every three days.

這是人們一直在做的事——頻率大概介於一天三次到三天一次。

And you may've heard that you've been doing it wrong.

你可能聽說過你一直都做錯方式了。

You're supposed to squat, not sit! Or so they say.

你應該要蹲著而不是坐著！至少人們是這樣講的。

It's probably true that squatting can help make bowel movements slightly easier.

蹲著上廁所對腸子蠕動可能確實有點幫助。

But, despite what some people claim, changing your position won't solve all your digestive problems.

雖然有些人如此宣稱，但改變姿勢其實並不會解決你所有的消化問題。

Humans spent thousands of years squatting to defecate.

人類過去花了上千年的時間用蹲的來排便。

It's only in the last few hundred years that people in Western countries have adopted the raised toilet, and started sitting instead.

西方國家開始採用坐式沖水馬桶只不過是幾百年前的事。

So this whole poop-position controversy is based on the idea that squatting must arrange your anatomy in a helpful way, because that's what our bodies evolved to do.

所以，這整個大便姿勢的爭議是基於「蹲著可以對你的身體有幫助」這個想法，因為這就是我們身體演化成這樣做。

On its way out of you, solid waste has to pass through your rectum, and then your anal canal.

在糞便離開你身體的路途中，它會先經過你的直腸，再到肛管。

There's a muscle, called the puborectalis muscle, that loops around your digestive tract between those two sections, and it helps you keep poop inside you when you are trying to eliminate it.

那邊有一個肌肉，叫做提肛肌，它環繞直腸與肛管間的消化道，幫助你在沒有要大便時，把糞便留在體內。

Basically, it makes an angle between your rectum and anal canal, which puts upward pressure on your rectum and holds everything in.

基本上，它讓你的直腸和肛管間形成一個角度，對直腸產生向上的壓力，並將所有東西都留在裡面。

And when the muscle relaxes, your rectum and anal canal straighten out a bit, which along with other muscles that relax and contract, lets stuff slide out.

而當這個肌肉放鬆時，你的直腸和肛管會變得直順一些，其他的肌肉也會跟著放鬆和收縮，就能讓那些東西滑出來。

It's probably not surprising that there hasn't been too much research on the anatomy involved in pooping.

可能這不太讓人驚訝，並沒有太多關於排便結構的研究，

But a few small studies say that squatting helps align your rectum and anal canal better than sitting does.

但有一些小型研究指出，蹲著上廁所會比坐著更有效地讓你的直腸和肛門對齊。

A couple others have shown that when people squat instead of sit, they have to strain less and the elimination process takes less time.

另外一些研究則顯示，當人們用蹲式取代坐式，他們比較不需要用力，而整個排泄過程也會花比較少時間。

Again, these studies were small.

再說一次，這些都是小型研究。

One used 28 volunteers, and another used only six.

一個只有 28 位受試者，另一個只有六位。

So, it's enough to suggest that there might be something to these ideas, but bigger, more carefully controlled studies need to be done before this can be considered scientific fact.

所以，雖然有足夠證據說明也許這些想法是有些道理的，但仍必須等到較大型、較仔細控制的研究完成，這才能確定為科學事實。

But!

但是！

If squatting does make things easier, it's possible that it also helps with hemorrhoids.

如果蹲著真的能讓大便比較容易，這可能也能改善痔瘡，

Hemorrhoids are swollen veins near the anus and rectum, which can be painful and lead to itching and bleeding.

痔瘡是在肛門和直腸附近腫起來的靜脈，可能會導致疼痛且帶來搔癢和出血，

They're often caused by too much straining when you poop.

它們通常都是在大便時過度緊繃所導致。

So if squatting does help with straining, it could make hemorrhoids less likely, but that's basically all we know about the potential benefits.

所以如果蹲著上廁所可以有效改善肌肉緊繃，它可能也可以減少痔瘡的產生，但這基本上就是所有我們知道的潛藏好處了。

There are companies out there that sell stools to help you pass your stool, and sometimes they make really exaggerated claims.

有些公司販售一些幫助你排便的凳子，但他們有時候過度誇大好處，

For example, squatting might fix irritable bowel syndrome or even prevent colorectal cancer.

例如，蹲著上廁所可以治癒大腸激躁症，甚至預防大腸癌，

There's just no evidence to support those claims.

並沒有證據支持這些說法。

Gastrointestinal experts seem to agree that if your bowel movements are normal, there's no real reason to squat when you go.

腸胃專家似乎也同意，如果你的胃腸蠕動順暢，並沒有真的需要改用蹲的理由。

There's probably no harm in it, either, but if you're happy with the way you've been pooping until now, there's no need to change up your method.

雖然也不會造成什麼傷害，但如果你對你現在排便的方式是滿意的，就不需要改變你的方式囉。

But, you know, thanks for asking.

但，你知道的，感謝你們提問。

And thanks especially to all of our patrons on Patreon who keep these answers coming.

也特別感謝Patreon上的贊助者一直以來的提問，

If you'd like to submit questions to be answered, or get some videos a few days early, go to patreon.com/scishow.

如果你想發問讓我們解答，或是提早看到一些影片，請至 patreon.com/scishow。

And don't forget to go to youtube.com/scishow and subscribe!

也別忘了到 youtube.com/scishow 看看影片，訂閱我們！