This article appears as part of the Winds of Change newsletter.

The world and social media are brimming with influencers doling out the latest in longevity advice. Often they are wellness bros and millionaires, like tech entrepreneur Brian Johnson, offering tips on supplements, fasting techniques, ultimate diets and exercise regimes, from a position of privilege.

Devi Sridhar, most famous perhaps as an advisor and commentator during the Covid pandemic, is not in that mould, but nevertheless her book, How Not to Die (Too Soon), coming with its acknowledgement that she would like to live to be 100, tackles the same question.

“I think my point,” the University of Edinburgh professor says, “is actually have we been looking at this the wrong way? I'm very frustrated by this whole tech-bro approach, the self-help literature of just think yourself well.”

“A running theme for me is time and resources. It’s a very privileged perspective that people will have an hour or two to go to the gym during the work week or that people don't have caring responsibilities that mean that actually they can't build in time.”

Last month, in the run up to The Herald’s Edinburgh series, for which I focused on the city’s transport issues, frequently touching on active travel, I spoke to Sridhar. I’d previously interviewed about her work as an advisor and commentator during the Covid pandemic, but on this occasion the subject was her latest book about longevity, not just for the rich but the poor too.

I knew when we last spoke that she was an advocate of movement, active travel and exercise. Even back then, in the aftermath of the pandemic, Sridhar had spoken about her interest in wider public health issues, particularly around exercise and chronic disease, and also of her plans to qualify as a personal trainer – which she has now done.

This Winds of Change newsletter is chiefly about energy and environment, but of course part of that is how we move through the world. Active travel is one of those concepts in which public and individual human health and planetary health meet. We may cycle, walk or, but we may also do it for our own fitness – and luckily in one swoop we can contribute to both.

Active travel is a win, win, win – the only possible proviso being that as we structure our environments more around active travel, we ensure that those who can’t so easily cycle or walk are also included.

Sridhar recognises the way these impacts crossover. “So much of the stuff that causes climate change actually causes health problems. I feel, for instance, like the........

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