February is known as the month of love, centering on Valentine’s Day. Every February, the country also celebrates National Heart Month, and the spotlight is on heart health.

InLife joined the observance of National Heart Month with an online forum on cardiovascular health with internist-cardiologist Dr. Mark Anthony Pablico as speaker.

“Heart attack and stroke are the top two leading causes of death in the country, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority. But there is good news – we can prevent these illnesses through healthy habits,” Dr. Pablico said during InLife’s “Happy Heart” online chat.

InLife joins the observance of National Heart Month through an online forum on cardiovascular health with internist-cardiologist Dr. Mark Anthony Pablico as speaker.

To encourage InLife employees to “choose to love the heart,” Dr. Pablico explained life’s seven simple healthy habits:

1. Get exercise. Every week, engage in 150 minutes of moderate activity such as brisk walking or dancing; or 75 minutes of vigorous activity such as jogging, running, or swimming. Dr. Pablico shared Philippine Heart Center’s (PHC) Fit Heart Minute advocacy which involves ten counts of simple exercise such as sit down and stand up, side steps, wall push-ups, or lunges every hour for beginners; or ten counts of squats, jumping jacks, push-ups, or lunges for stronger individuals.

2. Eat better. Dr. Pablico explained that a healthy diet includes five servings of fruits and vegetables daily, two or more servings of fish weekly, three servings of whole grains daily, only 2 grams of salt and 36 ounces or less of sugar daily.

3. Lose weight. The internist-cardiologist stressed the importance of maintaining normal body weight or body mass index, getting seven to nine hours of sleep, and managing stress. Dr. Pablico noted that overweight or obesity increases the risk for hypertension, diabetes, cancer, stroke, heart attack or osteoarthritis. He also cautioned against fad diets, adding that healthy and sustainable weight loss equates to only one to two pounds weekly.

4. Stop smoking. Dr. Pablico explained that the benefits of non-smoking include normal heart rate and blood pressure; improved breathing; less coughing; and lower risk of stroke, heart attack and cancer.

5. Control cholesterol through low fat, low cholesterol diet; monitoring of cholesterol level every six to eight weeks or as directed by physician; and taking prescribed medications.

6. Manage blood pressure through low sodium, high potassium diet; aerobic physical activity or resistance exercises; abstinence from alcohol or moderate alcohol intake; smoking cessation; and healthy weight.

7. Reduce blood sugar through low saturated fat and high fiber diet; weight control; avoiding alcohol; smoking cessation; and blood sugar monitoring. Dr. Pablico also advised diabetes screening for adults above 40 years old; those with family history of diabetes or with history of impaired fasting glucose, gestational diabetes, or polycystic ovary syndrome; those who are overweight or obese; or those who lead a sedentary lifestyle.

InLife recognizes that serious illnesses such as heart attack and stroke can disrupt one’s pursuit of A Lifetime for Good. To help Filipinos recover from major critical illnesses, InLife offers Resilience -- a traditional whole life critical illness plan. Upon diagnosis of a covered major critical illness, the life insurance benefit ­-- equal to 100 percent of the sum insured--will be given in advance to cover the insured’s medical expenses, plus cash allowance in case of hospitalization due to a covered disease. If there is no claim on critical illness, the insured may start getting a cash benefit equal to 8% of the sum insured from age 65 (depending on issue age) and every five years thereafter until the age of 85.