Can Cincinnati become a Blue Zone?
UC cardiologist encourages healthier lifestyle
Under the Blue Zones Project umbrella, 75 U.S. cities currently are working on group diet and exercise programs while also changing the community’s culture, so that residents are encouraged to make healthy choices.
Cincinnati is not an official Blue Zones Project city yet, but Florence Rothenberg, MD, adjunct professor of cardiology at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and clinical cardiologist at the Cincinnati VA Medical Center, is leading one public effort to encourage a Blue Zone lifestyle. Her work was recently featured in Cincinnati Magazine.
She launched the Heart of Northside community health center in the old North Presbyterian Church on Hamilton Avenue to house several of her programs, as well as likeminded organizations. It offers numerous opportunities to obtain whole foods, participate in natural exercise, and make connections in order to build a sense of purpose, all recommendations from research on longevity.
“Our society gives people more information on what deodorant to use than how to take care of their own hearts,” said 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 community hub include a preventative medicine consultancy, cardiac rehab exercise facilities, a rooftop farm called Food for Thought Cincy, a pollinator garden to support organic food production, and a aquaponic system to grow vegetables for the sort of Mediterranean diet that supports heart health 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,” said 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 principles in order to reorganize health care delivery into a community-centered approach. “I want to eliminate as many challenges and barriers to adopting a longevity lifestyle as possible,” she said. “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.”
Featured image at top: Variety of foods considered part of Mediterranean diet. Photo/iStock/Monticelllo.
Related Stories
Do plastics have toxic effects on the heart?
October 10, 2025
We’ve all heard warnings about BPA — a chemical found in plastics and personal care products. Studies show that nearly 90% of Americans have detectable levels of BPA in their bodies. Now, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine research has revealed this everyday exposure is tied to changes in the heart’s electrical system.
A long haul with long COVID-19
November 25, 2024
A growing body of evidence suggests those in the low- and middle-income brackets are more likely to develop long COVID-19, to suffer longer with its symptoms and to endure job loss, eviction and other serious consequences because of it.
AHA tries to tackle shifting critical cardiac care needs
March 3, 2025
A new scientific statement from the American Heart Association highlights the evolution of the cardiac critical care specialty and the challenges faced in today’s rapidly changing health care environment. The new statement serves as an update to a 2012 statement and was published Feb. 13 in in the journal Circulation.