A health minister is worried about rising blood pressure and believes sex could be the exercise needed to bring those numbers down for a healthier population.

Brazil’s health Minister Jose Temporao suggested sex is good exercise (with protection, of course) and even added more ways to help lower your blood pressure.

The health minister also suggested another form of exercise that is not as mundane as walking on the treadmill or training on the elliptical -- get up and dance!  He recommended a healthy diet and regular blood-pressure checks as well.

The government official says adults should be exercising more to help keep their blood pressure down — and he says a good cardiovascular workout includes sex, “always with protection, obviously,” an MSNBC report reveals.

The reason for the suggestion is out of necessity for his country’s health.  The Associated Press reports 21.5 percent of Brazilians had high blood pressure in 2006.

The number is rising and now almost one-quarter of citizens are in the danger zone.  The report adds the number jumped to 24.4 percent in 2009.