I'm not slacking off! I'm just looking for inspiration in the bathroom

When you encounter a problem and your thinking has reached a bottleneck, what will you do? Many people will choose to change their environment to calm down, and the bathroom is a good place to go without being disturbed. Some people have found that thinking efficiency is much higher and thinking is much clearer when defecating. What gives going to the toilet such magic?

Image source: Photo Network

01

Does thinking really improve when you poop?

Theoretically, it is possible.

(1) Environmental reasons

The toilet is a relatively small and closed space, and few people will come in to disturb us. Such an environment can greatly reduce the impact of the outside world on our thinking and improve our concentration.

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(2) Psychological reasons

In our brain, the frontal lobe and parietal lobe, which are responsible for cognitive functions and attention, are always in a tense state when working, making it difficult for people to generate good inspiration. Pooping is actually a way to release tension and relieve stress.

During the defecation process, the brain is more likely to enter a state of relaxation, thereby improving creativity and thinking ability. Studies have also confirmed that when people are relaxed, the right hemisphere of the brain is more active and more conducive to thinking about solutions to problems. In addition, pooping can, to a certain extent, allow people to temporarily get rid of daily trivialities and shift their attention to ideas and thinking.

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(3) Physiological reasons

Everyone should have had this experience: you need to strain when you poop. At this time, most of the blood in the body rushes up, which can promote more blood supply to the brain. The increased blood flow to the brain can make people more awake and conducive to thinking. This is also why it is difficult to achieve good thinking effects when exercising or doing other physical activities, because at this time the blood cannot be concentrated in the brain but dispersed to the motor system.

Image source: Photo Network. Seeing this, are some people ready to move their desks and computers to the toilet? Wait a minute, taking a long time to poop is not a good thing!

02

What happens if you take a long time to poop?

(1) Varicose veins of the lower limbs

Long periods of defecation can cause numbness in the legs. When the legs are hanging down, the blood tends to accumulate in the lower limbs under the action of gravity. In addition, the legs hardly move when going to the toilet, causing the blood to stay in the lower limbs for too long and flow too little, resulting in insufficient oxygen supply, numbness, and even lower limb edema. In severe cases, varicose veins may occur over time.

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(2) Constipation

Many people are used to playing with their phones, reading or thinking about problems while using the toilet. These behaviors will distract our attention from defecation and prolong the defecation time. If the feces stay in the intestines for too long, the water in the feces will be absorbed by the intestines, causing the stool to become dry and hard, thus causing constipation.

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(3) Hemorrhoids

The rectum and anus are located at the bottom of the human body. Due to their special structure, anatomical factors and gravity, they are prone to blood stasis and venous dilation, which blocks the venous return of the rectum and forms hemorrhoids. This is also the basis for the saying "nine out of ten men have hemorrhoids, and ten out of ten women have hemorrhoids".

Defecation creates a lot of pressure on the anorectum, causing local varicose veins and poor venous return. Long-term defecation is more likely to cause hemorrhoids. As mentioned in the previous article, long-term defecation is prone to constipation. Once constipated, we will strain to defecate, which will increase abdominal pressure and further strengthen venous return obstruction. This will also easily promote the occurrence of hemorrhoids in the long run.

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(4) Other hidden dangers

The toilet is small, closed, and the air is not easily circulated. For patients with heart and lung diseases, long periods of defecation can easily cause chest tightness and difficulty breathing, not to mention the "smell" of defecation. If you stand up suddenly after a long period of defecation, the blood will flow rapidly, causing a temporary lack of blood supply to the brain and postural hypotension, resulting in black eyes and dizziness. In more serious cases, you may fall and get injured.

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Therefore, for the sake of our health, try to control the time of defecation within 3-5 minutes . If you want to improve your thinking efficiency, try to make good use of these 3-5 minutes and don't delay it too long!

References

[1] MJ Beeman, EM Bowden. The right hemisphere maintains solution-related activation for yet-to-be-solved problems. Mem Cognit, 2000, 28(7):1231-41.

[2] Kristoffer Carl Aberg, Kimberly C Doell, Sophie Schwartz. The "Creative Right Brain" Revisited: Individual Creativity and Associative Priming in the Right Hemisphere Relate to Hemispheric Asymmetries in Reward Brain Function. Cereb Cortex,2017,27(10):4946-4959.

[3] Pata F, Sgró A, Ferrara F, Vigorita V, Gallo G, Pellino G. Anatomy, Physiology and Pathophysiology of Haemorrhoids. Rev Recent Clin Trials. 2021,16(1):75-80.

Author: Zhang Yu, deputy chief physician of the Department of Gastroenterology, Shanghai Putuo District Central Hospital

Planning & Editing: Tiara

Cover image source: Photo Network