On a recent trip to Japan, I, like most Westerners, had a great sense of intrigue (and careful respect!) for the toilets in Japan.  This wasn’t my first adventure to this wonderful country, but it did take me until the last day of this trip to finally get up the guts to try it.  Fascinating to say the least!  They provide all manner of washing options, and sound accompaniment ranging from repeated flushing sounds to your classical favorites – endless entertainment, provided you can figure out exactly how to work it.

What is really interesting, though, is that the upcoming models are apparently going to be able to check sugar content of urine, and will even measure your body composition while you sit.

It should be pointed out that measuring urine sugar content is NOT a replacement for measuring blood sugar, as sugar is usually only present in the urine if blood sugar is quite high.  As for body composition, I imagine that this would be similar to body composition scales like the Tanita, that many people have in their home.

Who knew a toilet could provide something of a health check up!  I can’t wait to see what they think of next.

Dr Sue Pedersen www.drsue.ca © 2013 

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