Yoga has long been believed to improve overall health, but a growing body of evidence shows the ancient practice may also help the heart, a new review finds.
In fact, the benefits were similar to those of conventional exercise such as brisk walking, said lead researcher Paula Chu, a doctoral candidate at Harvard University's Health Policy Program in Boston.
The review, of 37 clinical trials, found that people randomly assigned to take yoga classes saw improvements in their weight, blood pressure and cholesterol.
"This finding suggests that [people] who are physically limited in some way do not have to 'pound the pavement' in order to improve their cardiovascular risk profile," Chu said.
[For more of this story, written by Amy Norton, go to http://consumer.healthday.com/...-factors-694703.html]
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