Now, the latest research shows how these same trace elements can play a major role in your risk of getting or avoiding one of the deadliest forms of cancer on the planet — the pancreatic cancer that’s claimed Steve Jobs, Luciano Pavarotti and Patrick Swayze in recent years.

Let’s start with the good stuff: selenium and nickel.

Selenium is already a proven cancer-beater, and it can almost guarantee that you won’t get pancreatic cancer: It can slash your risk by 95 percent, according to the study in Gut.

The best source of selenium is Brazil nuts — but since it’s generally hard to get from diet alone, either take a supplement or make sure it’s included in your multivitamin.

Nickel didn’t quite pack the same punch — but it still managed to reduce the risk of pancreatic cancer by a third, according to an analysis of toenail clippings in 518 people, including 118 who had pancreatic cancer.

Yes, toenail clippings — and while that might sound a little bizarre, that’s actually one of the best ways to measure trace elements… including the ones you already know you should avoid.

We all recognize how dangerous lead is, for example — but the new study finds yet another reason to steer clear: a 600 percent boost in pancreatic cancer risk. Cadmium, another heavy metal, boosted the odds by 350 percent, while arsenic doubled the risk of the disease.

Now, you might not think those last three are worth worrying about. You’re avoiding them already, right?

Don’t be so sure.

All three, for example, can be found in cigarettes. In some areas, they’ve been found in the groundwater. And arsenic and lead have been turning up in apple juice, according to recent tests from Consumer Reports.

Arsenic might even be in your chicken dinner. Until recently, it was considered perfectly acceptable to add arsenic to chickenfeed — in part because poisoning chickens gives their meat that “healthy” pink glow consumers love so much.

The FDA recently issued a temporary ban on the main source of arsenic in chickenfeed — but the poultry industry has been aggressively lobbying for its return, and no one would be too surprised if they got their way on this.

Call it one more reason to go organic.

Of course, I immediately popped open my computer to see what the fuss was all about it and all I can say is: Serves me right for watching the evening news!

The study that supposedly “proves” vitamin E can boost cancer risk is being billed as a double-blind, placebo-controlled piece of research — in other words, the gold standard of science.

But that’s not quite the whole story here — because in this case, the “gold standard” is more like a piece of gold-colored tin.

First, the 17 percent boost in risk is actually only a little bit beyond the margin of error. With a difference of just 1.6 cancer cases per 1,000 men per year, the association is weak at best.

Second, the difference in risk disappeared altogether in one of the groups of men: those who took vitamin E with the mineral selenium. If the researchers really believed the study proves that E boosts the cancer risk, then they should be singing the praises of selenium for lowering it.

Of course, that didn’t happen.

But there’s a third point here that calls into question anything and everything uncovered by the study: The “gold standard” part actually ended years ago — with no results at all!

The researchers pulled the plug after an average of 5.5 years of followup despite the fact that 5.5 years is practically no time at all when it comes to prostate cancer, which is notoriously slow to appear and even slower to grow.

The new numbers come from an additional 18 months of follow-up — and during that time, the men were no longer getting vitamins OR placebos as study subjects.

So now instead of a clear conclusion, all we have are more question marks: Did the men who were on the placebo start taking real vitamins after the study? Did the men who had been given free vitamins by the study stop? Did they keep at it but switch doses or blends? Did stopping vitamins, instead of taking them, actually case the increase in risk?

But there’s no question over vitamin E: Despite what you’ve heard, your body needs it — and even the government says most of us don’t get enough.

In other words, keep taking your supplements.

In fact, they usually want nothing to do with nutritional healing. It’s so backwards that when it comes to natural health, even the tiniest acknowledgement from the FDA is a huge victory.

Take their new stance on selenium, a mineral that, in tiny amounts, can help our bodies in a number of ways. Some promising research even shows that selenium could help lower your risk for certain cancers.

The FDA said in June that it’s willing to let supplement makers mention that link, albeit in a very limited way. In fact, the wording the FDA says it will allow is downright unusable. But when you consider the usual stance it takes on supplements, this is a radical departure.

The research on selenium is still ongoing, but so far it’s been very encouraging in areas well beyond cancer prevention. Selenium has been shown to be necessary for thyroid hormone activation, and may have some fantastic antioxidant properties. Both of these roles help you fight off illnesses and even aging.

Maybe next the FDA will admit we’re onto something after all, not just with selenium but the many other vitamins and minerals that can help fight disease and illness better than all of Big Pharma’s meds put together.

Maybe, but I doubt it.

After all, there are so many supplements out there that have helped millions of people treat their illnesses without having to rely on prescription drugs, yet the FDA has barely glanced in our direction.

So while I wish that little opening in the door might be a signal that the FDA is opening its collective mind to natural healing, the cynic in me sees something else at work.

A couple of Big Pharma’s over-the-counter vitamins are starting to include selenium. They’re finally catching on to what the rest of us already know: There’s enough emerging evidence in its favor that people want to make sure they’re getting enough of it.

One of those vitamins got into some hot water in June for making a mild claim about those cancer-fighting properties.

So I see this is as the FDA rushing to the defense of some of its most favored clients, not a signal that the winds are finally shifting in favor of truth.

Too bad. One more missed opportunity.