Are Poop Cams the Next Big Thing in Healthcare?

When it comes to going number two, most people want absolute privacy while they do their business. However, a new product is offering people just opposite, and turning bathroom time into a bit of a show thanks to an innovative new camera system.

But, the poop cams people are using while they sit on the toilet aren't for creating internet content. Instead, they are being used to solve mysteries about people's health and wellbeing by examining their excrement.

The new product promises to help capture images of your poop to analyze for diagnostic purposes, allowing you to make almost immediate changes in your diet and lifestyle to optimize your health.

And while this sounds a little too strange to be true, we promise that it is. However, you'll need to shell out a few hundred dollars if you want to check it out for yourself. Curious? Keep reading as we break down everything we know about the new poop cam and what people are using it to fine tune.

The popular kitchen and bathroom design company has released a product called Dekoda, which can be attached to your toilet to snap photos of your poop as it sits in the bowl. Then, when a person sits on the toilet, they can "activate" the camera by using their fingerprint. This feature looks like it's a privacy-related one, since not everyone may want their poop photographed, however, we have to imagine that it helps identify whose poop belongs to who, especially in a multi-person household.

The Guardian says that that the photos are then uploaded to Kohler's cloud system, where they are digitally analyzed, and then an update will appear on the Dekoda's app three to five minutes later, giving the user information about their gut health and hydration levels.

However, a registered dietician that spoke with The Guardian says knowing too much about your poop may not be a good thing for people.

Instead, Ashely Oswald tells the publication that tracking your poop using the Bristol chart may be a better approach. Not only will it save you a few bucks — The Guardian says that the camera will cost shoppers $599 — but it may give you a better idea of how to make changes in a timely manner, since the bacteria found in poop changes every two days.

Oswald compared poop to a report card, saying that tracking your bowel movements is "a good way for us to know what is going on inside our gut. To do that, she uses the Bristol chart (AKA the Bristol Stool Scale). According to WebMD, this breaks poop down into seven categories that range from "sausage-shaped, but lumpy" to "watery, no solid pieces (entirely liquid)."

Types three and four appear to be ideal, and both are sausage or snake-shaped and easy to pass.

Of course, if you have questions about your poop and what its appearance could mean for your health, your best bet will be to call your doctor to get more information.