It’s footwear fit for the porcelain throne.
A gut health brand is giving bathroom breaks a stylish upgrade with a chic new alternative to the Squatty Potty, debuting a limited-edition pair of shoes it says can help make trips to the toilet a smoother experience.
“They are about to change the way the world poops,” Let Loose founder and CEO Alexandra Houx Grounds declared in an Instagram video unveiling the product.
Designed to be a more discreet and stylish alternative to traditional toilet stools, the $69 “s–t shoes” feature a retro-inspired design reminiscent of chunky slip-on platform sandals.
But these wedges aren’t made for strutting. Featuring a 7-inch lift, they’re designed to raise the knees into a squat-like position while on the toilet, which the company says can help get things moving.
“When you sit on the toilet, it is not the natural position you’re supposed to be in to poop,” Grounds said.
“Back in the olden days, we would squat,” she explained. “Squatting allowed for your knees to be lifted up seven inches for your colon to actually unkink and be able to move poop through you.”
The difference comes down to anatomy. Sitting upright on a toilet can leave the muscles around the rectum partially kinked, creating more resistance during a bowel movement.
However, raising your knees above your hips and leaning forward into a squat-like position can help relax the sling-shaped muscle around the rectum, allowing things to move along with less resistance.
Let Loose says its patent-pending product, available in small and large sizes, can help users spend less time pushing and straining on the porcelain throne.
And that matters more than you might think. Frequent straining has been linked to issues like hemorrhoids, which are swollen, inflamed veins that can form inside or outside the anus and rectum.
Hemorrhoids affect about 1 in 20 Americans, with the number rising to roughly half of adults by age 50. They can cause uncomfortable symptoms including pain, bleeding, itching and swelling.
By helping users into a more natural position, Let Loose says its “s–t shoes” may also support more complete bowel movements and help ease constipation.
Nearly everyone deals with constipation at some point, with surveys showing that 16% of Americans and about one-third of adults over age 60 experience chronic constipation.
The problem has a hefty price tag, too. At least 2.5 million people visit a doctor every year because of constipation, and the condition accounts for more than 700,000 emergency department visits annually. Americans also spend hundreds of millions of dollars on laxatives each year.
And the issue appears to be growing. The number of people hospitalized primarily for constipation has more than doubled since 1997.
Experts point to changes in modern lifestyles as a possible culprit, including less physical activity, which helps stimulate the bowels, and diets lower in fluids and fiber, which help food move through the digestive system and keep stools softer and easier to pass.
Of course, Let Loose isn’t the first company to upgrade the porcelin throne. There are already plenty of toilet footstools designed to put the body in a more squat-like position, including the original Squatty Pottyand TUSHY Ottoman.
Many of those products are designed to tuck away beneath the toilet when not in use. But Let Loose says its shoes take a different approach, designed to look good enough to leave out while taking up less space in the bathroom.
Since their debut this week, the “s–t shoes” have generated plenty of online chatter.
“I know exactly what I’m getting everybody for their birthdays this year,” one Instagram user commented on Grounds’ video about the product.
“I’ve never purchased anything faster,” chimed in another.
“I would support this, I always want to be stylish no matter what I’m doing,” quipped a third.
Grounds herself knows the struggle many people face when it comes to going No. 2.
The artist-turned-gut-health entrepreneur struggled with constipation, bloating and digestive issues for nearly 15 years, an experience that inspired her to found Let Loose, which sells gut health supplements in addition to its new “s–t shoes.”
“If these don’t change your life and change how you poop, you can email me personally — because they will,” Grounds said.
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