Why Is Free Health Advice the Hardest to Follow?

The Free Advice Paradox

Last Tuesday, Mrs. Sharma—dressed in designer wear—sat across from me, clutching her imported supplements. After reviewing her tests, I suggested: “Try drinking warm water with lemon first thing every morning.”

Her face fell as if I’d prescribed poison.

“That’s it? Just… water with lemon?” she asked, disappointment evident. She’d driven an hour through Bengaluru traffic and paid my consultation fee without hesitation, yet this free remedy deflated her visibly.

 I have noticed this phenomenon for decades: the cheaper the treatment, the lower the compliance. Free advice? You should expect creative resistance.

Warning: Following free medical advice may result in unexpected health improvements and a suspicious lack of medical bills.

The Walking Excuse Championship

“Walk daily,” I suggest to Mr. Satyadeo, a tech executive with early metabolic syndrome. “Just thirty minutes. It costs nothing but will dramatically improve your blood sugar.”

He stares at me as if I’ve suggested he climb Everest barefoot. “Doctor, where would I find thirty minutes? Between my meetings and commute…”

Mr. Satyadeo later mentioned his two-hour gaming sessions each night.

My patients have won Olympic gold in excuse-making:

“My neighbourhood has no sidewalks.” (Yet somehow, the mall does.) “The weather is always wrong.” (Too hot, cold, wet, windy—sometimes all simultaneously.) “My knees hurt when I walk.” (But not when shopping for six hours straight.) “I might get mugged.” (In their gated community with 24-hour security.)

Why do we resist what heals us when it comes without a price tag? What makes us deeply suspicious of simplicity?

Sunshine: The Free Vitamin D Factory

When I recommend sunlight for vitamin D deficiency—ten minutes between 10 AM and 3 PM—you’d think I’d asked my patients to sunbathe on Mars.

“But doctor, the sun causes aging!” protests Mrs. Kapoor, who spends thousands on anti-aging creams that “harness the power of natural light.”

“I burn like a freshly served dosa on a steel plate,” says Mr. Mehta, who nevertheless spent three hours at a cricket match at Chinnaswamy Stadium last weekend.

“My office has no windows,” claims Ms. Singh, who somehow finds time for weekly two-hour salon appointments.

My favorite was a young IT professional who declared, “I’m allergic to sunlight because I sneeze when I look up at the sky.” She said this while planning a beach vacation to Goa.

The Breathing Paradox: Too Busy to Inhale

Breathing exercises invite my favorite excuses. These ancient techniques cost nothing but your attention. Yet my patients act as if pranayama requires rare equipment hidden in a secret Himalayan cave.

“I tried once but got distracted,” says the businessman who maintains laser focus during three-hour budget meetings.

“I forget how,” admits the engineer who can recite complex code from memory.

“I don’t have time to breathe,” claim my patients with straight faces. I’m still puzzled how they’ve managed to stay alive this long.

Have you ever noticed how easily we make time for what we value—and value what costs us?

Water: The Miracle Liquid Nobody Wants

Water—covering 71% of our planet and available at the turn of a tap—somehow becomes scarcer than finding a parking spot in Koramangala on a Saturday evening when prescribed.

“Water has no taste,” complains Mrs. Desai, sipping her fifth cup of sweetened chai.

“I don’t like going to the bathroom,” admits Mr. Sharma, who later consulted me about his kidney stones. (Coincidence? I think not.)

“I forgot to drink it,” says Ms. Joshi, who never forgets her phone, makeup touch-ups, or favorite TV show schedule.

My all-time favourite patient was the one who said, “I can’t drink water on an empty stomach,” while sipping scalding hot coffee on an empty stomach.

Free Health Product: Two hydrogen atoms are bonded to one oxygen atom. There are no preservatives or artificial colours. Side effects may include proper organ function, clear skin, and reduced medical bills.

Meditation: The Silent Enemy of Excuses

Meditation invites perhaps the most creative excuses.

“My mind never stops thinking,” says the advertising executive. (That’s precisely why you need meditation!)

“The neighbor’s dog barks exactly when I sit down to meditate,” Mrs. Khanna claims, as if the dog has a personal vendetta against her spiritual progress.

“I tried, but I fell asleep,” admits Mr. Verma. (That’s not failure—that’s your body sending you an urgent memo about sleep debt!)

“I’m not religious,” states Ms. Agarwal firmly. Neither is your high blood pressure, I want to reply, but here we are.

Sleep: The Free Luxury Nobody Can Afford

Sleep—nature’s free restoration program—somehow becomes the enemy of modern living.

“Night is the only time I get for myself,” says the young mother, dark circles mapping her exhaustion.

“I need to catch up on my shows,” admits the anxious college student.

“My family eats dinner at 11 PM,” explains the patriarch, who cannot influence when his family eats.

One executive with insomnia told me he couldn’t possibly sleep eight hours because “sleep is for the weak.” Six months later, he was back with adrenal fatigue, having taken an involuntary three-week leave. Sleep, it seems, had the last laugh.

The Overlooked Basics of Ayurveda

It’s not just movement, sunlight, breathing, water, meditation, and sleep that people resist. Even the simplest food principles become impossible missions.

“Chew your food thoroughly,” I suggest to patients with digestive issues. “But I only have 15 minutes for lunch,” they protest, while spending hours on social media.

“Eat fresh, home-cooked meals,” I advise. “Too time-consuming,” they say, while ordering expensive, processed “superfoods” from across the globe.

I recommend “Avoid eating while distracted. “But how will I catch up on Netflix?” they wonder, genuinely perplexed.

My favourite was Mrs. Kumar, who refused to believe that eating her meals regularly could help her gut. Six months later, she returned excited about a “revolutionary” eating system she’d discovered online, for ₹15,000, that essentially instructed her to eat her meals at regular times.

The Believers: My Hall of Fame

Despite this comedy of resistance, about 20% of my patients actually follow the free advice. They form my mental “Hall of Fame”—the wise ones who restore my faith in human reason.

Like Dr. Reddy, a surgeon who came to me with chronic back pain after trying every expensive treatment, when I suggested a thirty-minute daily yoga routine, he looked skeptical but promised to try it. “What do I have to lose except my pain?” he said.

Two months later, he returned transformed—pain reduced, sleeping better, and with improved digestion as a bonus. “The simplest solution was the hardest to accept,” he admitted, “because it meant the healing power was in my hands all along.”

Or Mrs. Salian, a 68-year-old grandmother who reversed her pre-diabetes through daily walking and mindful eating. When her friends asked about her transformation, she laughed and said, “I’m following a very exclusive, very ancient health system. It’s called ‘doing what the doctor told me to do.'”

These rare individuals don’t need fancy packaging or hefty price tags to recognize value. They understand that consistency with simple practices outperforms occasional expensive interventions.

Would you like to join this exclusive club of the healthily wise?

The Psychology Behind Our Resistance

I understand the psychology at work. We’ve been conditioned to believe that value correlates with price. If it’s free, how good can it be? If it’s simple, how effective?

Marketing has convinced us that health must come in a package, preferably imported and expensive. Our grandmothers knew the healing properties of turmeric long before it became a premium “superfood” in golden lattes.

Free advice threatens us because it places responsibility squarely in our hands. There’s no expensive cream to credit or blame, no sophisticated equipment, just our own consistency and commitment.

One patient confessed, “Doctor, it’s easier to believe I need something new than admit I’m not using what I already have.”

The Ultimate Free Prescription

Sometimes I wonder: should I start packaging air in bottles and charging premium prices?

NEW! Limited Edition: Artisanal Oxygen™ – The Secret Breath of Himalayan Masters. ₹5,000 per inhalation. Results are guaranteed.* *It only works if you actually breathe it.

Maybe then my patients would breathe adequately.

Or I should continue being the strange doctor who believes the most potent medicine often costs nothing—the doctor who keeps prescribing simplicity in an age of complexity.

After all, when that rare patient follows free advice, like young Arjun, who cured his insomnia through meditation, or Mrs. Basu, who reversed her pre-diabetes through walking, the results are worth all the creative excuses in the world.

Your Free Prescription Awaits

What free health advice have you been creatively avoiding lately? Is it really about time, or priorities?

The best health insurance isn’t what you pay for—it’s what you actually do. This simple truth remains the hardest pill to swallow.