Doctors warn Why you shouldn't sit on the toilet for more than 10 minutes

Anyone who sits on the porcelain throne for too long weakens their anal and pelvic floor muscles. With extremely unpleasant consequences. Tablets, smartphones and laptops are not good companions for meetings.

There's a good chance that someone is sitting in the bathroom reading this article - on their tablet or smart phone, for example. A three-minute trip to the toilet can then easily turn into 15 minutes of reading, scrolling and posting.

Seemingly a harmless way to pass the time. However, experts onCNNwarn that prolonged sitting on the toilet can be harmful to health. It has been linked to an increased risk of hemorrhoids and weakened pelvic muscles.

You shouldn't spend more than five to ten minutes on the toilet, says Farah Monzur, director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at Stony Brook Medicine on Long Island, New York, in the article.

A quick physics lesson shows why this is so: gravity forces the body to strain to pump blood back to the heart. The open oval toilet seat compresses the buttocks and gravity pulls the lower half of the body downwards. The increased pressure has an effect on blood circulation.

The veins and blood vessels around the anus become enlarged and the blood backs up, increasing the risk of hemorrhoids, explains Lai Xue, a colorectal surgeon at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

Risks and effects of a long session

People who scroll on their cell phones while on the toilet tend to lose track of time. "We're seeing more and more people spending more time on the toilet, and that's very unhealthy for the anorectal organs and pelvic floor," says Xue. The result: weakened anal muscles and, with excessive straining, an increased risk of rectal prolapse. In the case of rectal prolapse, the rectum, part of the large intestine, slides downwards and bulges out of the anus, Monzur illustrates the problem.

The pelvic floor muscles are another type of muscle that is weakened by prolonged sitting on the toilet. Xue explains in the article that the pelvic floor muscles coordinate much of the bowel movement and work with the rest of the body to ensure that bowel movements go smoothly. The gravitational pressure on the pelvic floor therefore strains the muscles when sitting constantly for long periods of time.

To avoid spending too much time on the porcelain throne, experts advise keeping phones, magazines and books out of the bathroom. In other words, make the session as uninteresting as possible.

Anyone who has difficulty relieving themselves should stand up after ten minutes and walk around a little - the movement can stimulate the bowel muscles to trigger a bowel movement, Xue recommends. Sufficient fluids and high-fiber foods such as oats and beans can also stimulate the bowels to do their job. Fiber and water also make the stool softer.