Can Cincinnati turn out to be a Blue Zone?

Under the Blue Zones Project umbrella, 75 U.S. cities at present are engaged on group food plan and train applications whereas additionally altering the neighborhood’s tradition, in order that residents are inspired to make wholesome decisions.

Cincinnati shouldn’t be an official Blue Zones Project metropolis but, however Florence Rothenberg, MD, adjunct professor of cardiology on the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and scientific heart specialist on the Cincinnati VA Medical Center, is main one public effort to encourage a Blue Zone way of life. Her work was recently featured in Cincinnati Magazine.

She launched the Heart of Northside neighborhood well being middle within the previous North Presbyterian Church on Hamilton Avenue to accommodate a number of of her applications, in addition to likeminded organizations. It presents quite a few alternatives to acquire complete meals, take part in pure train, and make connections in an effort to construct a way of goal, all suggestions from analysis on longevity.

“Our society gives people more information on what deodorant to use than how to take care of their own hearts,” stated Rothenberg. “In fact, much of the heart disease we see in our VA clinics could have been prevented had people had proper information and tools.”

Her plans for the neighborhood hub embrace a preventative drugs consultancy, cardiac rehab train services, a rooftop farm known as Food for Thought Cincy, a pollinator backyard to assist natural meals manufacturing, and a aquaponic system to develop greens for the type of Mediterranean food plan that helps coronary heart well being and longevity. 

“Our goal is to grow food to help our community become healthier, and anything nutritious that grows quickly and easily is what we’d like to start growing at scale,” stated Rothenberg. “Watching the plant shoots get bigger is so exciting. Every day, we’re one step closer to improving community health and wellbeing.”

Rothenberg is enthusiastically embracing Blue Zone ideas in an effort to reorganize well being care supply right into a community-centered method. “I want to eliminate as many challenges and barriers to adopting a longevity lifestyle as possible,” she stated. “This old building is a wonderful space and we have a great plan in place. There’s plenty of work to be done to improve both the quality and the quantity of our lives.”

Read the full Cincinnati Magazine article.