In an attempt to get to the bottom of one of the most pressing issues of our time (please forgive the terrible puns), commuter newspaper MetroXpress conducted a survey to see how many Danes make grunting noises while taking care of business on the toilet.
It turns out that roughly every third Danish pooper is also a grunter. But two Danish medical experts told the newspaper that the 28 percent of respondents who make pressing noises aren't doing themselves any favours.
Jan Fallingborg, a senior consultant at Aarhus University Hospital's department of gastroenterology, said grunting does not help one defecate. In fact, it might hinder the process.
“Basically it is all about pressure and that pressure decreases when we let air and noises out of our mouth. Therefore the release of forced sounds should have the opposite effect,” Fallingborg told MetroXpress.
Bowel expert Gerd Johnsen, who has 33 years professional experience with constipation problems, told thee newspaper that “pushing sounds have no correlation to helping release”.
But all is not necessarily lost for loud defecators .
“It could be that grunting may give a sense of psychological satisfaction,” Fallingborg said.
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