Doctor issues health warning for anyone planning to hide on the toilet this Christmas

Christmas is all about family and food, right? And the chances are, both of those things are going to dictate how long you spend on the toilet this festive period, whether you're hiding from the chaos or feeling the effects of all the extra cheese and wine.

It has long been known that the bog can provide a form of escapism for people, because where else can you guarantee you won't be bothered while you mindlessly scroll through your phone (unless you have kids, of course).

Regardless of your reasoning for spending that extra bit of time on the porcelain throne, a doctor has issued a stark warning to anyone who might be sitting on the loo for too long, while revealing just how long it should actually take.

Doctor Karan Rajan has shared exactly how long you should be spending on the toilet when it comes to relieving your bowels, and the negative impact it can have on your body when you sit there for far longer than required.

You might spend extra time on the loo this festive period (Getty Stock Images)

How long should you be spending on the toilet?

"We should be spending less than five minutes on the toilet," he told LADbible. "Like, you should be going to the toilet when you have an urge and then you do the business and then you leave and that's how you train and time your pelvic floor and your routine. You know, even the gut has a schedule, has a timetable, has a routine."

However, in this modern world we live in, the amount of time people spend on the toilet has dramatically increased because of all the distractions we have right at our fingertips.

"We bring in electronic devices into the toilet, people are scrolling endlessly," Dr Rajan continued. "They may even go to the toilet and have a bowel motion within two minutes, but then continue to stay on there because they're addicted to emails or texting or watching TikTok."

If you are taking more than five minutes to produce a bowel movement, the key is not to continue sitting there while nothing is happening. Instead, the best thing to do is to go for a walk and get your digestive system moving. But if it is regularly taking you too long to have a poo, it's a clear sign you probably ought to up your fibre intake.

Becoming distracted by your phone on the toilet could be affecting your health (Getty Stock Images)

"People are fibre deficient, people are not drinking enough water. People are straining too much. So there's all these toilet hygiene habits which are missing and combined with the phone situation, it just makes all this melee of bowel problems," Dr Rajan concluded.

Warning for anyone spending too long on the loo

Meanwhile, if you fall into the category of people sitting on the loo just because you're distracted, Dr Rajan, who has recently been appointed as Throne Science's Chief of Science, has a word of warning for you.

"If you think about when you sit just on a chair, your pelvic floor is actually supported. You know, there is a base there which is supporting it," he explained.

"But if you're sitting on the toilet, which has an opening and your pelvic floor is less supported, gravity is acting even more and you have a greater risk of pelvic organ prolapse or haemorrhoids, because you're putting yourself at risk of those things for a long period of time."

So there we have it, time to find another hiding spot for when things get a little intense this holiday period.