蹲便比坐便更健康！

 　　It's one of the most taboo¹ subjects there is to discuss.

　　这里讨论的是人人都忌讳的话题。

　　But one scientist has hauled poo in the limelight - and now everyone's talking about it.

　　但是，一位科学家将有关便便的话题拉到了公众视野，现在人人都在谈论它。

　　Giulia Enders, a German microbiologist, claims that people in Western countries are emptying their bowels³ in totally the wrong way - and instead of sitting on the loo, we should be squatting⁵.

　　德国微生物学家茱莉亚?恩德斯称，西方国家的人们大便的方式完全错误---大便时不应坐着而应蹲着。

　　Her book, Charming Bowels, which has topped the charts in her native country for several weeks, explores a number of gut⁶ health issues, from constipation to bacteria.

　　她的《美丽的肠道（Charming Bowels）》一书在德国已经连续几周登顶畅销书榜首，书中探究了便秘和细菌等一系列肠道健康问题。

　　The overall message is that the gastrointestinal tract⁷ is 'the brain's most important adviser⁸', affecting everything from mental to digestive health.

　　整本书主要传递的信息是，胃肠道是“大脑最重要的顾问”，它影响人的精神和消化道的健康。

　　蹲便比坐便更健康！

　　But there are also practical gems⁹, such as how to poo properly.

　　除此之外，书中还探究了一些实用性的问题，比如，如何正确地大便。

　　Sitting is in fact all wrong, and actually prolongs the process, explains Ms Enders, who is studying in Frankfurt for her medical doctorate¹⁰ in microbiology.

　　“事实上，坐便是完全错误的方式，它实际上延长了大便的时间，”在法兰克福攻读微生物学博士学位的恩格斯解释道。

　　It may also explain why haemorrhoids (piles) and painful bowel² diseases such as diverticulitis are more common in the West than in Asia, she adds.

　　她补充说，这也就可以解释为何在西方国家患肠道疾病（比如，憩室炎）以及痔疮的人比亚洲国家多。

　　She said: '1.2 billion people around the world who squat⁴ have almost no incidence of diverticulitis and fewer problems with piles.

　　她说：“全球12亿蹲便的人中几乎没有人患憩室炎并且也很少有人长痔疮。

　　'We in the West, on the other hand, squeeze our gut tissue until it comes out of our bottoms.'

　　“然而，我们西方人坐着挤压肠道组织，直到大便排出。”

　　Instead, the correct way is to squat.

　　其实，蹲便反而是正确的方式。

　　Although you can climb on your toilet seat and squat, the kink can also be ironed out by sitting with your feet on a little stool and leaning forward.

　　你可以爬上你家的马桶圈上蹲着，不过也可以坐在马桶上，然后给脚下垫一个小凳子，同时保持身体前倾，用这种方式实现蹲便。

　　Ms Enders adds there is a wealth of research that shows squatting is a more effective way to evacuate¹¹ the bowels.

　　恩德斯表示，有大量研究表明蹲便是一种更加有效的排便方式。

　　This is because the closure mechanism¹² of the gut is not designed to 'open the hatch completely' when we’re sitting down or standing¹³ up: it’s like a kinked hose.

　　之所以会这样，是因为在我们坐着或站着时，肠道的关闭机制不会“完全开放肠口”，就像一根打了结的软管。

　　She explained: 'When you sit or stand, there's a muscle that goes around the end of the colon¹⁴ and it pulls, so there's a curve.

　　她解释道：“在你坐着或站着时，有股力量会游走在结肠的末端，并且产生拉力，最后在结肠末尾会形成一个弯。”

　　'When we're in a squatting position, and have a little stool in front of the toilet, then the angle is even and straight, so there's less pressure needed.'

　　“而在我们采取蹲姿，或在马桶前放一个小凳子，双脚踩在凳子上时，肠道的角度就会变平、变直，排便时所需的力就少了。”

　　'Squatting is far more natural and puts less pressure on our bottoms.'

　　蹲便是更加自然的姿势，而且对我们的排便器官造成的压力也更小。

　　Some experts claim we all used to squat - until the middle of the 19th century - and the demise¹⁵ of squatting is to blame for soaring rates of bowel and digestive issues.

　　一些专家说我们人类过去常常是蹲便的，直到19世纪中期才发生变化，肠道和消化问题的剧增都是因为蹲便的消亡。

　　As US-based doctor Joseph Mercola writes on his webpage: 'Infants instinctively¹⁶ squat to defecate, as does the majority of the world's population.

　　美国医生约瑟夫?麦克拉在他的网页上写到：“婴儿本能地蹲着排便，世界上大多数人也是蹲便。”

　　'But somehow the West was convinced that sitting is more civilized¹⁷.'

　　“但是，不知怎么回事，在西方，人们认为坐便更文明。”

　　Vocabulary：

　　haul: 用力拉到某处

　　loo: 厕所，洗手间

　　constipation: 便秘

　　gastrointestinal: 胃肠的

　　haemorrhoids: 痔疮

　　diverticulitis: 憩室炎

　　kink: （头发、绳索等）扭结

　　colon：结肠

1 taboo   

n.禁忌，禁止接近，禁止使用；adj.禁忌的；v.禁忌，禁制，禁止

参考例句：

• The rude words are taboo in ordinary conversation.这些粗野的字眼在日常谈话中是禁忌的。
• Is there a taboo against sex before marriage in your society?在你们的社会里，婚前的性行为犯禁吗？

2 bowel   

n.肠(尤指人肠)；内部，深处

参考例句：

• Irritable bowel syndrome seems to affect more women than men.女性比男性更易患肠易激综合征。
• Have you had a bowel movement today?你今天有排便吗？

3 bowels   

n.肠，内脏，内部；肠( bowel的名词复数 )；内部，最深处

参考例句：

• Salts is a medicine that causes movements of the bowels. 泻盐是一种促使肠子运动的药物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cabins are in the bowels of the ship. 舱房设在船腹内。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 squat   

v.蹲坐，蹲下；n.蹲下；adj.矮胖的，粗矮的

参考例句：

• For this exercise you need to get into a squat.在这次练习中你需要蹲下来。
• He is a squat man.他是一个矮胖的男人。

5 squatting   

v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的现在分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。

参考例句：

• They ended up squatting in the empty houses on Oxford Road. 他们落得在牛津路偷住空房的境地。
• They've been squatting in an apartment for the past two years. 他们过去两年来一直擅自占用一套公寓。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 gut   

n.[pl.]胆量；内脏；adj.本能的；vt.取出内脏

参考例句：

• It is not always necessary to gut the fish prior to freezing.冷冻鱼之前并不总是需要先把内脏掏空。
• My immediate gut feeling was to refuse.我本能的直接反应是拒绝。

7 tract   

n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林)

参考例句：

• He owns a large tract of forest.他拥有一大片森林。
• He wrote a tract on this subject.他曾对此写了一篇短文。

8 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

9 gems   

growth； economy； management； and customer satisfaction 增长

参考例句：

• a crown studded with gems 镶有宝石的皇冠
• The apt citations and poetic gems have adorned his speeches. 贴切的引语和珠玑般的诗句为他的演说词增添文采。

10 doctorate   

n.(大学授予的)博士学位

参考例句：

• He hasn't enough credits to get his doctorate.他的学分不够取得博士学位。
• Where did she do her doctorate?她在哪里攻读博士？

11 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

12 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

13 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

14 colon   

n.冒号，结肠，直肠

参考例句：

• Here,too,the colon must be followed by a dash.这里也是一样，应当在冒号后加破折号。
• The colon is the locus of a large concentration of bacteria.结肠是大浓度的细菌所在地。

15 demise   

n.死亡；v.让渡，遗赠，转让

参考例句：

• He praised the union's aims but predicted its early demise.他赞扬协会的目标，但预期这一协会很快会消亡。
• The war brought about the industry's sudden demise.战争道致这个行业就这么突然垮了。

16 instinctively   

adv.本能地

参考例句：

• As he leaned towards her she instinctively recoiled. 他向她靠近，她本能地往后缩。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He knew instinctively where he would find her. 他本能地知道在哪儿能找到她。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 civilized   

a.有教养的，文雅的

参考例句：

• Racism is abhorrent to a civilized society. 文明社会憎恶种族主义。
• rising crime in our so-called civilized societies 在我们所谓文明社会中日益增多的犯罪行为