You rise early after 8 hours of sound sleep.
You have well balanced delicious meals through the day.
You exercise regularly.
Who knew this is the definition of the ideal life?

In our pursuit of a meaningful life, we are ready to do anything. But perhaps it’s time to pause and take a deeper look at exactly what we are doing. Like leaning into Ayurveda. The ancient science that is so intrinsically a part of our life in India. You might not have gone to an Ayurvedic doctor, but there are aspects of your life that are tinged with its principles—the hair oil you use once a week, the raw salad you avoid for dinner, the turmeric latte you have when you are feeling a little unwell. Which brings you to the next inevitable step—you want to subscribe a little more to the holistic way of life. And so you click online and take – gasp – an online Ayurvedic test to determine your ‘type’. And it all goes downhill from there. 

As with anything generic and algorithm led online, these tests are inherently dangerous if you’re going to create your lifestyle and health regime around them. It might look simple—a series of questions about yourself to determine which of the three doshas you fall under. And that’s exactly where the problem is. Firstly, there is the simple fact that we as human beings don’t really know ourselves as well as we think we do. Answering these questions come with an inherent bias at best, or a complete lack of self awareness at worst. Strike one.

Secondly and more importantly, Ayurveda is a science, and Ayurvedic doctors use their extensive training and experience to diagnose and prescribe. Doing an online test and not seeing an actual Ayurvedic doctor is kind of like diagnosing yourself via WebMD. Ayurveda believes in the balance of your doshas, and that’s just the starting point. The diagnosis here is not the same as Western medicine. Your prakruti (balanced doshas) and vikruti (imbalanced doshas) are discovered by your Ayurvedic doctor via a 3-prong approach—Darshana or inspection (this is where experience counts), Sparsana (palpation) or pulse or abdominal palpation and Prasna (questioning), a detailed understanding of your medical history as well as mental state. How can an online Ayurvedic quiz measure up to this?

“Also, the basic concepts are not just anatomical,” adds Dr Sandhya Lakshmi, an in-house doctor at Dearist, “It is based on the panch maha bhuta (the five physical elements) that are in the universe and in the human body. And we don't necessarily study or diagnose a disease with only doshas. We understand the three malas, the wastes and how they are eliminated. What happens if there is an overproduction or under secretion.”

Ayurveda is an entirely different way of looking at how the pathology of diseases is understood. Thanks to colonialism and its brutal suppression of indigenous forms of understanding of healing, our framework of understanding Ayurveda is also through the eyes of only Western medicine. There aren’t enough Western empirical studies to prove the wholesome efficacy of Ayurveda—but one can argue that that is a failure on our part for once again trying to fit a multi-millennia-old science into the criteria of judgement that has existed only in the last few centuries. However, there are enough Western empirical studies to show that Ayurveda is effective. But the natural nature of the medicines in Ayurveda is often dysregulated and therefore when bought off large retail sites with little to no safety regulation, it dilutes the efficacy and safety of the science of Ayurveda. 

Western medicine is beneficial and of course life saving—no one is arguing that. But its existence need not mean that alternatives like Ayurveda or Traditional Chinese Medicine cannot co-exist. “It’s unfair that we have to fit the parameters of Western science for people to accept and understand. It’s not a trend. Just like yoga is not a trend. It’s a lifestyle. It’s not a khichdi detox,” says Dr Lakshmi. 

So should you cave into that online quiz? “Dosha has two understandings,” says Dr Lakshmi. “It’s very, very complicated. Dosha in terms of genetics is a substance that does not change from birth to death. It cannot just be measured by a questionnaire. It has to be assessed by nadi pariksha (diagnosis via the pulse). Bowel movements, lifestyles, mental states, sleep patterns, food and water intake—so many nuances that a quiz will not be able to judge. There might be a headache, anger, irritation, some mental changes, and some physical changes. What is the mild change a hypothyroid patient might have? Maybe it’s severe anger issues or severe irritation. And the person might think they are always irritated but actually, it’s just a problem that is manifesting because of an imbalance.” Quizzes are definitely not going to pick up on that.

There is no harm in wanting a more holistic lifestyle—and if a quiz is where you want to start, why not. However, it’s important to note that it’s not where you end. It’s a baby step into a universe you’re curious about, a toe-dip. To utilise it fully, you will need professional help and expertise. And once you do, there is no turning back and no limits to just how brilliantly your life will change for the better