Scientists reveal '21 second rule' everyone should follow while peeing to stay healthy
How often do you count the amount of time it takes you to wee when you're visiting the lavatory?
Probably never, but - according to one scientific study - it might be time to pull out a stop watch or start counting in your head.
Why, I hear you ask? Because the amount of time you it takes for you to relieve yourself may be linked to your overall health.
So why is 21 seconds the golden number when it comes to having a wee – and how on Earth did scientists even come to this conclusion?
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Well, it's all down to a group of researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology who came up with the 'Law of Urination' as a way to measure how healthy your bladder is.
What is the 21 second law of urination?
According to the research, any mammal who weighs over over three kilograms (6.6 pounds) should need an average of 21 seconds to completely empty their bladder.
The figure remains the same regardless of the size of animal once you pass three kilograms, as larger animals have longer urethras, which enables the urine to flow faster.
But why 21 seconds?
In order to determine this ideal number, scientists filled their days with watching clips of various mammals emptying their bladder in order to gain an understanding about how long an animal typically takes to pee.
Which I can only imagine meant they had a very intriguing internet history while researching the topic.
How does the 21 second law of urination relate to humans?
So now we have an idea about where scientists got the ideal number of 21 from, your next question is probably 'how does this relate to me and my toilet habits?'
Watching videos of animals urinating definitely didn't look strange out of context (Getty Stock Images)
Despite our reliance on smartphones and walking on two legs, humans are still mammals and consistently peeing for longer or shorter than 21 seconds could signal underlying health issues.
If a person spends much longer than 21 seconds peeing then it could be a sign they're holding in urine for too long, leading to the bladder expanding more than it should.
Holding in pee can also lead to a number of unwanted conditions - such as UTIs or kidney issues - as well, which is why you want to make sure you're visiting the loo regularly.
On the other hand, anyone who's constantly dashing back and forth after every sip of water may have something known as an 'overactive bladder' – which is where you have the urge to pee even when you don't need to.
The more you know, huh.
Brenna Cooper