Cholesterol is found in meat, poultry, seafood and dairy products. In Fact, our bodies produce cholesterol all by itself, all cholesterol we need to live a healthy, happy life. Cholesterol is produced primarily by liver, but small amounts of it are also manufactured by cells in our bodies. This production of cholesterol by our bodies is reason why some individuals, who consume a low cholesterol diet, still experience high cholesterol levels.

While elevated cholesterol levels present no signs or symptoms on their own, elevated levels have been identified as a significant risk factor in health concerns such as arteriosclerosis and heart disease. Clinically, doctors recommend that blood cholesterol levels (the amount of cholesterol circulating in our blood) be no greater than 200mg/dl, with a total level of 180mg/dl being optimal.

Our total cholesterol is broken down into 3 separate components: HDL (high density lipoproteins), LDL (low density lipoproteins) and VLDL (very low density lipoproteins). Our HDL cholesterol is known as “good” cholesterol. It functions to remove cholesterol from blood and blood vessel walls, where it returns it to liver for elimination. Our LDL and VLDL cholesterol are considered to be harmful to body, because it carries cholesterol into bloodstream. Once in bloodstream, it can be deposited on artery walls, which promotes arteriosclerosis.

Last year I told an acquaintance that at age of 46, I had taken up running. The reply was, “Oh, that’s awfully hard on your knees.” At first I was taken aback. Yes, I knew if I didn’t stretch, warm-up or wear properly fitted shoes, I might experience pain or an injury. But person telling me this was overweight, had borderline high blood pressure, and never worked out. I wondered if this friend realized by living a sedentary lifestyle, odds of developing heart disease, osteoporosis, diabetes and some cancers had substantially increased. Not to mention that being overweight actually placed this person at a higher risk than me for developing knee pain from osteoarthritis and heel pain as a result of plantar fasciitis. I’m no spring chicken and sometimes my running resembles a dawdling old hen. But I do know it’s necessary to take precautions at any age to guard against injury when participating in physical activity such as running. Because truth is, sometimes pain happens. When it does, you can either use pain as an excuse or you can use it as a diagnostic tool to help improve and go forward with your performance. There are three classifications of pain. In simple terms, these can be described as following:

Nociceptive Pain: felt after an injury to body tissues such as cuts, sprains, broken bones, bruising, surgery, and sometimes cancer. Most pain is of this type.

Neuropathic Pain: resulting from an injury to nerves, spinal cord or brain, examples being Phantom Limb Pain and shingles – which affects nerve tissue.

Psychogenic Pain: is related to a psychological disorder where type, intensity or proportion of pain experienced is greater than injury. Some chronic ailments may be related to this type of pain.