She looks so happy because that phone is cooking the part of her brain that feels sadness.

A new study shows that cell phones really do cause cancer when you use them wrong – and that most people use them wrong. Fortunately, using them right is easy as pie (and improves your life in other ways).

I’ve covered time and time again the importance of skepticism for new things.

If it is made by humans, it must carry the burden of proof. Like Flaming Hot Cheetos, cell phones should be assumed unhealthy until proven otherwise.

Even if you don’t subscribe to that line of thinking – this new study puts the final nail in the coffin for cell phones and cancer.

The study, conducted in Germany, included over 5,000 subjects across 13 countries. No worries about small sample sizes here.

What Did the Study Find? (1)

Frequent users had a 40 per cent higher risk of glioma [ed: a type of brain tumor], compared to people who never used the phones, as well as about twice the risk of developing tumors on the same side of their heads where they normally held their mobiles while talking, or where most of the energy emitted by their phones would be absorbed.

Ok, so cell phones cause brain cancer. Everyone throw your phones off a bridge and go live in a cave! I’m kidding (mostly).

There’s an easy solution here.

Go Hands-Free!

Take your cell phone off the side of your brain, and *presto* no more cancer. This is best achieved with plain old wires. A bluetooth headset just switches from one form of radiation to another. Plus it makes you look like a total jackass.

Bluetooth turned this guy into such a jackass that he can’t even enjoy a nice lunch with his (frankly pretty homely) wife.
Also I’m not gonna tell her how to live her life, but a bra might be a good idea.
She’s one slight lean forward away from sharing the plate with that salad.

Here are a few hands-free headsets I recommend:

• UrbanEars Plattan HeadPhones (I have these and they are AWESOME)
• Authentic PowerBeats for Athletes (Borrowed them for a workout and did not want to give them back)
• NX80 Hands-Free Ear Buds (Cheap with decent reviews)

Going permanently hands-free has a few other benefits. The biggest one? Productivity. Just today I had an hour-long work call during which I cleaned the entire kitchen. Now THAT is life-hacking.

Also, you’ll have headphones with you wherever you go, which can be very convenient.

Of course, wherever you put that phone when it’s not in your hand is now at an increased risk for tumor growth. If you’re sitting down, put your cell phone a few feet from you on a table or desk. When standing, carry it, switch it between your back pockets, or put it in the outer pocket of a jacket.

The best advice is simple:

• Keep your phone at least 4″ from your body – more is better
• Never carry your phone in your front pocket – don’t cook your boys
• Your phone is more dangerous during a call or download
• If you need to have it really close to you, put it on airplane mode

This seems like a hassle, but there are plenty of benefits. You’re less likely to get cancer, for one. And the productivity and convenience I mentioned. Also, distancing yourself from your phone can help assuage phycological dependencies on Facebook and twitter (not a joke, unfortunately).

So grab one of those awesome hands-free options (again, I could not love the UrbanEars more). You’ll be saving your brain and be more productive.

[fitness-form]