An estimated 70% of the population suffers from low back pain at some point in their lives. Combat it with these 3 exercises.

AFP RELAXNEWS

Those who suffer from high blood pressure may want to reach for another cup of tea, after a new study found that people who drank three cups a day lowered their levels by an average of two to three points. Published January 23 in the Archives of Internal Medicine, Australian researchers observed the effects of black tea among 95 men and women and found that long-term consumption was shown to lower blood pressure in people with normal to high levels, reports WebMD.com.

For six months, half the participants drank three cups of black tea per day, while the other half were given a placebo drink that simulated the flavor and caffeine content of tea. Both groups were similar in age and weight status.

Their average systolic blood pressure (the top number in a blood pressure reading) was between 115 and 150 at the start of the study. A healthy reading falls below 120 for. . . . . . . .

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by Gretchen Reynolds

To learn more about how exercise affects the brain, scientists in Ireland recently asked a group of sedentary male college students to take part in a memory test followed by strenuous exercise. First, the young men watched a rapid-fire lineup of photos with the faces and names of strangers. After a break, they tried to recall the names they had just seen as the photos again zipped across a computer screen. Afterward, half of the students rode a stationary bicycle, at an increasingly strenuous pace, until they were exhausted. The others sat quietly for 30 minutes. Then both groups took the brain-teaser test again. Notably, the exercised volunteers performed significantly better on the memory test than they had on their first try, while the volunteers who had rested did not improve. Meanwhile, blood samples taken throughout the experiment offered a biological explanation for the boost in memory among the exercisers. Immediately after the st. . . . . . . .

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ScienceDaily (Nov. 22, 2011) — People sleep significantly better and feel more alert during the day if they get at least 150 minutes of exercise a week, a new study concludes.A nationally representative sample of more than 2,600 men and women, ages 18-85, found that 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity a week, which is the national guideline, provided a 65 percent improvement in sleep quality. People also said they felt less sleepy during the day, compared to those with less physical activity.

The study, out in the December issue of the journal Mental Health and Physical Activity, lends more evidence to mounting research showing the importance of exercise to a number of health factors. Among adults in the United States, about 35 to 40 percent of the population has problems with falling asleep or with daytime sleepiness.

"We were using the physical activity guidelines set forth for cardiovascular health, but it appears that those guidelines might ha. . . . . . . .

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ScienceDaily (Oct. 6, 2011) — If you are looking to lean out, add muscle mass, and get ripped, a new research report published in The FASEB Journal suggests that you might want to look to your garden for a little help. That's because scientists have found that when a specific plant steroid was given orally to rats, it triggered a response similar to anabolic steroids, with minimal side effects. In addition, the research found that the stimulatory effect of homobrassinolide (a type of brassinosteroid found in plants such as mustards) on protein synthesis in muscle cells led to increases in lean body mass, muscle mass and physical performance.