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Colon Cancer

The colon is a tube, five to six feet in length, which stores wastes from the small intestine and moves them, by rhythmic muscular contractions, to the rectum. In the process, water is continuously extracted, to prevent dehydration. If the flow is interrupted for any reason, the continual extraction of water causes wastes to dry and become "cemented" to the colon wall.

The sitting toilet obstructs the flow, because it ignores four basic requirements:

The sigmoid colon (the most common site for colon cancer) needs the support of the left thigh for complete evacuation. The thigh lifts the sigmoid and opens the kink where it joins the rectum.
The cecum (the second most common site for colon cancer) needs to be squeezed by the right thigh, which pushes wastes upwards into the ascending colon.
The rectum (the third most common site for colon cancer) needs to relax the grip of the puborectalis muscle, designed to prevent incontinence.
The entire colon needs to be compressed, with the ileocecal valve securely closed, to generate the required pressure for expulsion.

The kink where the sigmoid joins the rectum, mentioned above in point 1, serves an important function in preventing incontinence. It "applies the brakes" to the flow of peristalsis, reducing the pressure on the puborectalis muscle.

For safety, nature has deliberately created obstacles to evacuation that can only be removed by squatting. In any other position, the colon defaults to "continence mode." This is why the conventional sitting position deprives the colon of support from the thighs and leaves the rectum choked by the puborectalis muscle.

These obstacles make elimination difficult and incomplete – like trying to drive a car without releasing the parking brake. Chronically incomplete voiding, combined with the constant extraction of water, causes wastes to adhere to the colon wall. The passageway becomes increasingly constricted and the cells start to suffocate. Prolonged exposure to toxins will often trigger malignant mutations.

This explanation would suggest that colon cancer is related to constipation. According to a 1998 report in the journal, Epidemiology, "People who frequently felt constipated were more than four times as likely to develop colon cancer as those who did not complain of constipation." The study also found that using commercial laxatives frequently was associated with "substantially increased risk of colon cancer."

A Lesson from the Developing World

In contrast with constipated western societies, the developing world is apparently free of colon cancer, as reported in Science News Online (Feb. 15, 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, researchers have been trying to explain the absence of colon cancer in the developing world. The article in Science News Online (cited above) speculates that perhaps E. coli bacteria in the water and food somehow stunts the growth of cancer cells in the intestine.

This theory reflects the common belief that our society is "clean" while the developing world is "dirty." In terms of colon hygiene, exactly the opposite is the case. What protects the developing world from bowel disease is the natural cleanliness that comes from evacuating as nature intended. By contrast, our contrived toilet posture leads to fecal stagnation – the primary cause of colon cancer and inflammatory bowel disease.

Dr. Burkitt's Mistake

Lacking this knowledge, researchers have focused on dietary factors. They have repeatedly tried to prove that a high-fiber diet prevents colon cancer. This theory dates from the early 1970's when Dr. Denis Burkitt (1911-1993), a British missionary doctor, reported a dramatic difference between colon cancer rates in America and Africa. According to his article in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, colon cancer is nearly 15 times as common in black Americans as in Africans.

Dr. Burkitt believed that high levels of fiber in the African diet protected the natives from bowel disease. However, at least three recent major studies have shown the fiber theory to be incorrect, as reported by the Associated Press:

Study: Fiber Doesn't Prevent Cancer
By Emma Ross -- AP Medical Writer
October 13, 2000

LONDON (AP) - Evidence is mounting that fiber might not prevent colon cancer after all, with a new study suggesting that one type of supplement might even be bad for the colon.

The theory that a high-fiber diet wards off the second-leading cancer killer has been around since the 1970s, but the evidence was never strong. The concept began to crumble last year when the first of three major U.S. studies found it had no effect.

In the latest study, published this week in The Lancet medical journal, European researchers found that precancerous growths, or polyps, were slightly more likely to recur in those taking a certain fiber supplement.

[Full article appears at the Aetna Intellihealth website.]

The above article appeared on October 13, 2000. Five years later, medical researchers – at their wits' end – were still testing the same discredited theory. On December 14, 2005, The Boston Globe reported on the latest attempt by the Harvard School of Public Health:

Eating a lot of fiber-rich vegetables, fruits, and whole grains does not appear to reduce a person's chances of getting colorectal cancer, researchers found in the largest study yet to test the popular and longstanding idea about preventing the third most common cancer....

"It became an urban myth," said Dr. David Ryan, medical director of the gastrointestinal cancer center at Massachusetts General Hospital. ''It takes a lot of time to deconstruct those."....

Dr. Burkitt's Redemption

Dr. Denis Burkitt obviously guessed wrong and led the western world on a "wild goose chase" for over three decades. But, in his defense, it should be noted that he was aware of the health benefits of squatting. His book, "Don't Forget Fibre in Your Diet," (which was translated into 9 languages) acknowledges that the Africans' use of squat toilets might be as important as their diet in protecting them from colon cancer and other diseases.

Western researchers ignored this hypothesis, partly because toilet posture was considered a taboo subject. They also probably believed that the western world could never revert to squatting, even if sitting toilets were proven to be harmful. So, they simply hoped that modifying the diet would be enough.

Now that the fiber theory has clearly failed, they will have to reconsider Dr. Burkitt's alternate explanation. They may be surprised by the public's openness to a simple change that could save many lives.