Table 1.

Body constitution assessment.

Diagnostic technique	Variable	Characteristic investigated	Specific characteristics for body constitution
			Vata	Pitta	Kapha
Inspection	Physique	Head, forehead, face, eyes, lips, jaws, shoulder, chest, hands, palms, nails, legs, soles, joints, blood vessels, tendons.	Thin and slim physique, prominent bones	Moderately developed physique	Stout, well developed, large forehead
	Eyes	Colour and appearance	Small, dry, dull, muddy sclera, brown eyes	Reddish tinges to sclera, medium size, piercing eyes	White sclera, attractive, large eyes with thick eyelashes
	Skin	Texture, appearance, colour	Thin, hard, rough, cracked, dark, skin, superficial veins and tendons	Reddish, pink skin often with moles and acne	Thick, white, pale, yellow, oily
	Scalp hair, body hair	Texture, nature, growth, colour, body hair (colour)	Scanty, thin, coarse, dry, wavy hair	Fine, soft, red or gray hair often balding in early age	Dark, thick, dense, oily, lustrous hair
	Teeth	Size, appearance, shape and colour	Brittle/cracked, too large, uneven, dull blackish irregular	Yellowish, loose, medium	Milky white, lustrous, even large, regular
	Walking	Style, speed	Quick, fast or variable excessive unsteady	Medium, sharp accurate	Slow, firm/steady, less
	Complexion	Colour, nature	Dark complexion, Tans easily, rough, wrinkled, brittle	Reddish, pink, smooth, soft skin, sunburns easily	White, pale, tans evenly
	Voice	Quality	Low, weak, hoarse voice	High pitch, sharp voice	Deep tone, pleasant
	Speech	Content of speech	Quick, adaptable, indecisive mental nature, excessive, irrelevant in between	Intelligent, sharp, accurate, penetrative, critical, argumentative	Slow, steady, convincing, sweet and pleasing to ears, well thought of
Touch	Skin	Nature, texture, temperature	Thin, dry, cold	Warm, moist	Oily, smooth, and soft skin
	Hair	Nature, texture	Dry, hard, coarse	Soft	Smooth, oily
	Pulse	Location, pattern	Felt under the index finger like a snake crawling	Felt under the middle finger like frog's jumping	Felt under the ring finger slow, steady like pigeons movement
	Joint	Movement	Cracking sound
Questioning	Appetite	Frequency, amount	Appetite is variable, infrequent	Strong appetite. Irritable if you miss a meal	Regular, low, can skip meals easily
	Thirst	Frequency, amount	Variable, infrequent	Strong, large amount of water needed	Low, less amount of water
	Food habits	Type of food liking, suit	Hot, oily	Cold, sweet	Hot, dry
	Bowel and bladder habit	Frequency, amount	Irregular, variable, tendency towards constipation, hard stool	Regular, tendency towards loose motion, loose soft, semisolid stool	Regular, no constipation or loose motion medium
	Strength	Physical, mental, resistance power, healing power	Low	Medium	Good
	Perspiration	Amount, odour	Scanty sweat often without smell	Profuse, hot sweat often with strong smell	Moderate, cold sweat
	Sleep	Amount, nature, quality	Light, disturbed sleep. Tends towards insomnia	Moderate sleep. Wakes up at the smallest sound sleep	Sound sleep, difficulty in waking up
	Dreams	Type of dreams	Flying, moving, restless in dreams and has nightmares	Colourful (specially red), passionate, fighting, fire in dreams	Few, sentimental water, rivers in dreams
	Body weight	Body weight changes	Low, difficulty in putting on weight	Stable	Gain easily and lose with difficulty
	Weather	Preference and tolerance	Prefer warm climate, sunshine, and moisture	Prefer cool and well ventilated place	Any climate is fine as long as it is not humid
	Working/Activity	Style, speed	Fast, quick, variable, wavering, and easily deviated	Moderate, sharp, accurate	Slow, steady, well thought of
	Psychological characteristics	Memory	Poor memory, observation good but forgets easily	Sharp, clear memory	Slow to take notice but will not forget easily
		Emotions	Anxiety, fear, uncertainty	Anger, ambitious, practical	Calm, peaceful
		Anger	Quick and unstable	Quick and sustained	Always cool
	Others	Friends	Few	Medium	More