(Jean-Benoit Legault/ CTV News) — Yoga appears to reduce blood pressure more effectively than simple stretching when combined with a regular physical activity program, a three-month pilot study involving a Quebec City researcher shows.
The addition of yoga lowered systolic pressure, reduced resting heart rate and improved cardiovascular risk over 10 years, the researchers found.
“We measured ‘stretching,’ which is very North American, to yoga, which is very Asian,” said lead study author Dr. Paul Poirier of the Institut universitaire de cardiologie et de pneumologie de Québec. “It’s kind of like comparing two cultures.” (…)