FAQ

Nature's Platform (below right) uses the natural squatting position, with the body's full weight on the feet. The pelvis is suspended like a cradle. The thighs compress the abdominal cavity, producing a natural laxative effect.

Sitting with your feet elevated is a crude attempt to imitate squatting. It increases the constricting pressure of the toilet seat, since the body's weight is shifted to the rear. To compress the colon, you have to use the awkward posture pictured below on the left. You still need to hold your breath and push – which is not required when squatting correctly.

Straining in this way is the cause of hemorrhoids, diverticulosis and pelvic floor prolapse. The Israeli physician, Dr. Berko Sikirov, has published clinical research on the use of squatting to cure hemorrhoids. He is quoted in the Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients (October, 1996) as saying that only the genuine squatting position, with the body's full weight on the feet, offers any advantage over the conventional sitting position.

Finally, all the benefits of squatting have been identified by studying populations that use the natural position. There is no evidence that sitting with your feet propped up provides similar benefits.

Because "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

Long-term use of conventional toilets causes wastes to collect and harden in the lower regions of the colon (illustrated here.)

You may not notice this fecal stagnation – until one day it manifests as appendicitis or diverticulosis or inflammatory bowel disease or cancer. Squatting helps keep the colon clean and free of disease.

You may feel there's "no problem" simply because you have not yet experienced the ease and completeness of natural elimination. Once you become familiar with squatting, your standards will be much higher.

The following picture shows one reason why squatting is more effective. Other reasons are discussed on the Health Benefits page.

Much better. When you're on the platform, the built-in slope means you're facing slightly downhill. This shifts the center of gravity forwards and offsets the tendency to fall backwards. You feel remarkably stable and secure.

Nature's Platform has been tested extensively with over 300 pounds and sudden jerky movements and showed no sign of weakness.

The patented design allows a device weighing only 12 pounds to support 25 times its weight. This is because the legs remain absolutely vertical and are never subjected to shearing or twisting forces. The only force which bears on the frame is the force of compression. It would take tons of compression to deform any material, even plastic.

One lady, who describes herself as "quite overweight", was using Nature's Platform for the second time. She happened to be reading a magazine, and something she read made her burst out laughing. Her whole body shook with convulsive laughter – but Nature's Platform did not budge.

"That experience," she later said, "convinced me, once and for all, that I had nothing to fear. Thank you for making such an invincible product."

Although squatting is the most natural and effective posture for evacuation, the body is able to use other positions in emergencies (like a broken leg). For thousands of years, kings and queens have taken advantage of this option to distinguish themselves from the "commoners."

Then, in the mid-nineteenth century, at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, indoor plumbing became universally available. The early industrialists decided (rather arbitrarily) to install throne-like toilets eveywhere – to allow ordinary people to feel like kings and queens. Knowing nothing about physiology, they sincerely believed that they were improving people's lives.

Those who felt uncomfortable with this decision were forced to keep silent. (In Victorian England, bodily functions were considered unmentionable.) From Great Britain, the most influential country in the world at the time, the fad quickly spread to the rest of Europe, and to North America and Australia. No country wanted to seem "backward" at a time when the world was making such rapid "progress."

Until just a few years ago, the taboo on discussing this subject kept most of the western world in the dark about how the human body was designed to function. The ignorance of the medical profession has been especially regrettable – and has caused much needless suffering.

Someone who is very flexible and agile might be able to do that, but there are two factors to bear in mind.

The first is comfort. In over 3 years of testing with hundreds of individuals, the unanimous verdict was that Nature's Platform is much more comfortable, stable and easy to use than balancing on the toilet seat or the rim of the bowl. Even people who had been doing that for decades said they intend to purchase Nature's Platform as soon as it becomes available.

One tester put it this way: "I never realized I was living in a hut until I had a glimpse of the palace."

The second factor is safety. Using a toilet in this way can dislodge the bolts that hold it to the floor. Once the seal between the toilet and the drainpipe is broken, toxic methane gas can leak into the house.

Toilet bowls are not designed to bear the concentrated strain of someone squatting (especially someone heavy.) They have been known to collapse, causing severe injury from pieces of jagged porcelain.

One additional factor to consider is that by purchasing Nature's Platform you are supporting the effort to re-educate the Western World, and thereby eradicate some of the most terrible diseases afflicting our society.

If your knees and hips are flexible enough to squat without discomfort, then anyone of any age can use Nature's Platform. However, if there is any feeling of unsteadiness or tendency to lose your balance then you should have something to hold onto. Either attach hand grips to the wall, or set a chair in front of the toilet (facing away) so you can hold onto the back of the chair.

A chair is also advisable for small children. A folding chair with rubber feet is ideal. A walker also works well, especially if space is tight.

It depends on the underlying cause or causes. Squatting will certainly improve the situation significantly, but it may not "cure" it. There could be other factors involved. Make sure that your diet is healthy and that you are getting enough exercise.

In some cases, congenital factors may interfere with elimination. But whatever your inherent limitations might be, using the squatting position is the most important thing you can do to maximize your ability to eliminate.

Because surgery is his main source of income.

With rare exceptions, gastroenterologists never mention the therapeutic value of squatting.    Even when a patient reports curing a colorectal ailment by switching to the squatting position (as many have done), the doctor will not share this information with his other patients.   He is afraid of putting himself out of business.

The colonic irrigation industry sprang up to remedy the ill-effects of the "porcelain throne." Sitting toilets result in incomplete evacuation. The wastes accumulate and harden, constricting the colon and exposing it to toxic carcinogens. Colonics are very helpful to clean out the impacted wastes.

But, as more and more people use the squatting position, the need for colonics will diminish. Other specialists who will also find their patients disappearing include gastroenterologists, urologists and gynecologists. To learn why, see the Health Benefits page.