Washington: Yoga calms the mind and works out the body, but now, a study on the effects of yoga on hypertension concluded that yoga could significantly lower blood pressure.

The 24-week study, conducted by Debbie L. Cohen, MD; Anne Bowler, BA and Raymond R. Townsend, MD of the University of Pennsylvania, showed that people who practiced yoga 2 – 3 times per week saw their blood pressure decrease significantly: an average of three points for both systolic and diastolic blood pressure, from 133/80 to 130/77.

Participants who only followed a controlled diet-and did not practice yoga saw only a decrease of one point, from 134/83 to 132/82.

Another study conducted by a team at Sao Paolo University in Brazil also showed that hypertensive individuals actually prefer more salt in their food than do normotensive individuals.