This quiz asks 10 short questions about your usual hunger, meals and eating habits, and shows which of the four traditional states of agni, the digestive fire, your answers lean towards: balanced, irregular, sharp or slow. It then gives a short description of that pattern as the tradition describes it and a few gentle eating habits.
It is an educational quiz and not medical advice. It does not look for illness, does not name any condition and does not suggest any treatment, herb or fast. Please read the medical disclaimer first.
What agni is
Agni means fire, and in Ayurveda it is the transforming power that turns food into the body. The classical texts, including the Charaka Samhita and the Ashtanga Hridayam, teach that when agni is in good order a person is well, and that when it is disturbed much else is said to follow. It is a concept from a traditional medical system. It is not the same as stomach acid or metabolic rate, and the guide to agni explains it in full, with its thirteen kinds.
The Charaka Samhita names four states of agni, and teachers use them as a simple vocabulary for ordinary digestion. Sama is balanced, with regular hunger and steady comfort after meals. Vishama is irregular and linked with vata. Tikshna is sharp and linked with pitta. Manda is slow and linked with kapha.
How the result is worked out
Each of the 10 questions gives four answers, one for each state, such as “regular”, “varies a lot”, “strong and urgent” and “low”. The questions are about ordinary things: hunger from day to day, a late meal, how you feel after lunch, morning appetite, how much you eat, snacking and eating under stress. None of them asks about pain or any illness.
You need to answer at least 7. The quiz shows the share of your answers that pointed to each state. One state is shown as your pattern when it leads the next by 20 points or more. Two are shown when they are close, and no clear pattern is shown when all four are within 15 points. The table at the bottom of the result lists every count, so you can see how the answer was reached.
How to read it
Treat it as a description of how your appetite has been over recent months, and not as a label. The tradition says your usual pattern is shaped by your constitution, as the descriptions of vata, pitta and kapha set out, and that the present state moves with food, season and stress. A mixture is therefore common, and so is a pattern that changes between summer and winter.
The habits that come with the result are the ordinary ones teachers give: regular meal times, leaving a gap between meals, eating to about three quarters full, eating calmly and fitting the food to the weather. They match common advice about regular eating. They are general wellbeing habits and not treatment, and the result never suggests fasting, cleansing or herbs.
What the quiz cannot do
No test measures agni, and no study has validated the four states as a diagnostic system. Small trials of Ayurvedic approaches to digestion exist, but they are generally low in quality. Modern medicine explains changes in appetite and digestion in many other ways, some of them needing a doctor, and a short quiz cannot tell them apart. It also cannot say whether your digestion is “strong” or “weak” in any medical sense.
Safety and good sense
Regular meals and calm eating are safe for most people. Fasting, herbs, spices taken as supplements, enemas and purgative treatments are not, and some imported Ayurvedic products have been found to contain heavy metals. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, have diabetes, stomach, liver or kidney disease or take medicines, speak to a doctor before changing the way or the times you eat.
Please see a doctor, and do not put it down to agni, for persistent heartburn, difficulty swallowing, vomiting, black or bloody stools, unexplained weight loss, severe or lasting stomach pain or a lasting change in bowel habit. If you have, or suspect, an eating disorder, please also speak to a doctor. Please do not type details of your health, medicines or symptoms into any box on this site.
To go further, read about ama, meal timing and mindful eating. The prakriti quiz and the vikriti quiz look at lifelong traits and at recent weeks. This page describes a traditional system and is education, not advice. For any health concern see a doctor, and for Ayurvedic treatment see a registered Ayurvedic practitioner (BAMS in India).
Frequently asked questions
↳ What are the four types of agni?
They are sama (balanced), vishama (irregular, linked with vata), tikshna (sharp, linked with pitta) and manda (slow, linked with kapha). The Charaka Samhita describes them, and they are a traditional vocabulary for ordinary digestion.
↳ Can this quiz tell me if my digestion is weak?
No. It describes eating patterns in the tradition's words and cannot judge digestion in a medical sense. Persistent changes in appetite or digestion have many causes, so please take them to a doctor.
↳ Is agni the same as metabolism?
Not exactly. Agni is a wider traditional idea covering digestion and transformation in the tissues. It overlaps with some modern notions, but it has not been measured or validated as such.
↳ Should I fast or take herbs for my result?
No. This quiz never suggests either. Fasting is not suitable for everyone, and herbs can interact with medicines. Ask a doctor before using any, and see a registered practitioner for Ayurvedic treatment.
↳ Why do I get a mixed result?
Because most people move between states with food, season and stress. A mixture is common, and the tradition expects it. The result then shows the two leading patterns and a few habits for each.