I remember 12 years ago a friend of mine was scheduled for thyroid cancer surgery. An acupuncturist had told him he just needed acupressure, so he called to get my opinion.

I told him of course he needed the surgery.

He was relatively young, had no strong family history of the disease and no exposure to any major source of radiation… except for one. As we spoke, I found out he was using his cellphone for buying and selling for 8 hours or more every day!

Keep in mind the thyroid gland is in the throat region, right next to where he was holding that cellphone — blasting it with electromagnetic radiation all day long.

I presumed all that cellphone use played a role in his cancer, and the studies since then have only made me even more certain.

Now, Britain’s Health Protection Agency claims its own review of the research finds no link between cellphones and cancer — but I just don’t buy it. They don’t seem to buy their own conclusion, either, since they also cautioned against excessive cellphone use by children.

If cellphones are so safe, why would they need to caution anyone against using them?

Answer: They’re not safe. One major study found that people who use cellphones the most over a decade have a 40 percent increase in the risk of a potentially deadly brain tumor called a glioma.

Another study found that cellphones change brain activity in the region closest to the phone. It’s not clear what this means yet — but it’s proof they do something to the brain.

There are enough question marks now that the World Health Organization added cellphones to its list of possible carcinogens.

Despite all that, I know most people will give up their cellphones when they give up their cars, hairdryers, and credit cards. In other words, it’s just not going to happen.

If that’s the case for you, then take a few simple steps to protect yourself (and make sure the rest of the family follows suit).

First, never hold the phone right against the ear. I know some people use Bluetooth devices to separate the phone from the ear, but those give off their own signals.

Instead, use the speakerphone or at least a pair of wired headphones with a microphone in them. Some new phones come with these.

Don’t keep them right against your body when you’re not using them, since there’s evidence they might actually weaken bone, which could increase your risk osteoporosis.

And since studies have shown they can affect sperm quality, men should never keep them close to their privates.

Finally, when you get to your office or home, turn the phone off completely and switch to the landline.

Most nutrients are not only safe in high amounts, they’re necessary — because too many people simply don’t get nearly enough of the essentials from diet alone.

But it’s also possible to get too much of a good thing, and a new study shows one of the risks of going overboard with iron. This essential mineral, so crucial to your health, could actually contribute to Alzheimer’s disease if you get too much.

In a series of experiments, lab rabbits given a high-cholesterol diet saw increases in their levels of iron in the brain. And as the iron built up, so did the amount of amyloid-beta plaques linked to dementia.

Amyloid-beta alone is a huge red flag, but it wasn’t the only dementia risk factor that cropped up. At the same time, a neuron protein called tau began a process called phosphorylation.

I don’t want to get too technical here, but that’s another big warning sign of dementia.

That’s the bad news.

Here’s the good news: When the bunnies were given the same exact treatment we give humans for excess iron — chelation, in this case with a chelating agent called deferiprone — blood levels of both cholesterol and iron fell and the amyloid beta and phosphorylated tau began to disappear.

Brain levels of iron didn’t fall — only levels in the blood, which is to be expected. And apparently, that alone was enough to do the trick.

Now, I treat people — not bunnies. But I test all my patients for excess iron because you don’t have to have floppy ears and a love of carrots to face the risks. Too much iron over time can cause or contribute to any number of conditions, including heart disease and cancer.

And while you’ve probably heard of iron deficiency anemia, most people have never heard of hereditary hemochromatosis — a genetic disorder in which the body stockpiles iron, allowing it to build up to dangerous levels.

It’s a lot more common than you’d think.

Have your holistic doctor check your own levels of iron — and if they’re too high, make like a bunny and seek a treatment that involves regular blood draws.

I’ve diagnosed a number of patients with this condition the past 18 years, and I can’t tell you how grateful they were since it resolved their fatigue and joint pain, both common symptoms of this condition.

It greatly reduced their risk of complications like early heart disease and cancer.

One of the most common mistakes I see people making is that they take iron supplements or multivitamins with iron, thinking it will help their fatigue. This is a mistake. Don’t take iron unless you’ve been diagnosed as being iron deficient via a blood test.

Drop for drop, it’s hard to top green tea when it comes to health benefits. The drink has been shown to help fight cancer, boost the immune system, and even help you to live longer.

And now, a new study shows that it can keep you active and on your feet — especially if you’re getting up there in years.

Japanese researchers tracked nearly 14,000 seniors for up to three years, and found that those who drank the most tea were a third less likely to battle disability — including problems with everyday life, such as bathing or dressing — than those who drank the most.

This being Japan, however, the people who drank the most drank quite a bit — five cups a day (those who drank the least, on the other hand, had less than a cup on average). That’s a lot of tea, but you don’t have to drink that much to benefit. In fact, three cups a day reduced the risk of disability by a quarter.

The study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition doesn’t show why green tea helps keep seniors active and independent, and part of the reason is almost certainly because the tea drinkers in the study had healthier lifestyles overall.

But that’s not the only reason — because green tea is packed with powerful antioxidants that have shown to boost health and ward off disease before, including epigallocatechin gallate.

That’s a name that was designed to trip tongues, so we call it EGCG for short — and studies have shown that this stuff can reverse the cell damage linked to illness and disease.

Green tea has also been shown to fight cancer, gum disease, stress, depression, pneumonia, and more. It can also boost your immune system, lower your levels of bad cholesterol, reduce your stroke risk, ward off dementia, and even help you to lose weight.

It’s about as close to a “magic” elixir as you’ll find — so go and brew yourself a cup or five today.

I recommend cruciferous vegetables for detoxification so often that I’m sure some of my patients think I own stock in a broccoli farm.

In the interest of full disclosure, I should point out that I don’t — but if I ever decided to get into the agricultural business, I’d grow cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cabbage, and kale.

They’re that good.

When you detox with these vegetables, you not only rid your body of toxins, you also give it the power to fight cancer — and the latest research shows why women in particular should make sure they boost their intake of these veggies.

In a new study out of China, researchers found that breast cancer patients who had the highest intake of cruciferous vegetables were 62 percent less likely to die of the disease and 35 percent less likely to have a recurrence when compared to those who ate the least.

The study of nearly 5,000 women between the ages of 20 and 75 even found that those who ate the most of these vegetables had a lower risk of death from all causes.

A coincidence? I don’t think so — because cruciferous vegetables are rich in powerful glucosinolates, which break down to form isothiocyanates. You don’t have to memorize either tongue-twisting word, just remember this: isothiocyanates can fight tumors and even cause cancer cells to commit suicide.

They’re so powerful that the drug industry is trying to develop cancer meds based on isothiocyanates — but why wait for their synthetic version when you can get your own natural daily dose the delicious way?

Our most common cruciferous vegetables include broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts, but it’s worth noting that the women in this study ate a more typical Chinese diet — and their most common cruciferous vegetables include bok choy, Chinese cabbage, and turnips.

More importantly, they also eat a lot more of these vegetables overall — so if you want to take advantage of those cancer-fighting properties yourself, make sure you increase your own intake.

And if you haven’t tried bok choy, you’ve been missing out.