The Worst "Healthy" Items to Buy at Costco | EP 382

Summary

The Dr. Gundry Podcast - EP 382: The Worst "Healthy" Items to Buy at Costco Release Date: December 16, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Dr. Steven Gundry and his co-host embark on a virtual “aisle-by-aisle” audit of Costco, aiming to separate truly healthy foods from cleverly marketed “health halo” items that may damage your gut, metabolism, and overall wellness. Listeners are equipped with practical guidelines to identify red-flag ingredients, make smarter shopping swaps, and discover Dr. Gundry-approved Costco finds—ranging from pantry staples to proteins, snacks, and produce. The conversation is informative, consumer-savvy, and occasionally dispels supermarket myths with humor and candor.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Understanding the "Health Halo" Trap

[02:41]

• “Not everything wearing a healthy, organic or protein packed label is actually doing your body any favors. Some of these so-called healthy items, they’re absolute gut bombs in disguise.”
  —Dr. Gundry (01:05)
• The misleading nature of “health” branding; always read ingredient labels.

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2. Top Offenders: Healthy-Looking Foods to Avoid at Costco

[03:00–15:41]

a. Bagged Salad Kits

• Greens themselves = fine, but dressings/toppings = oils, sugar, gluten, lectins.
• “Most bagged lettuces salads are not that great either. Most of these have been treated to avoid going bad quickly. And you don’t want things like fresh lettuce that don’t go bad.”
  —Co-host (02:58)
• Swap: Buy organic arugula/spring mix, make your own dressing with olive oil and vinegar, top with avocado, olives, wild salmon, nuts.

b. Dried Fruits

• High in concentrated fructose, often with extra sugar.
• “A handful is a sugar bomb. It’s concentrated fructose… and it also feeds bad bacteria in your gut.”
  —Co-host (04:54)
• Swap: Fresh, seasonal berries or freeze-dried/frozen berries without added sugar.

c. Store-Bought Hummus

• Chickpeas (unless pressure cooked) are lectin-rich; most contain cheap seed oils.
• Swap: Guacamole or home-made, pressure-cooked chickpea hummus.

d. Protein Powders

• Commonly contain A1 cow whey, soy/pea isolates, gums, sweeteners.
• “Whey from A1 cattle can aggravate sensitive guts… be careful with soy or pea proteins. These are lectin dense.”
  —Co-host (07:02)
• Swap: No Costco recommendation; consider hemp protein.

e. Protein & Granola Bars

• Marketing hype: really “candy bars with great sounding words that sound healthy.”
• Red flags: oats, oat syrup, rice syrup, soy crisps, date paste, long ingredient lists.

f. Rotisserie Chicken

• Preseasoned with starches, enhancers, gums, antibiotics; birds fed inflammatory diets.
• Swap: Buy whole chicken (preferably pasture-raised) and roast at home.

g. Yogurt/Dairy

• Terms like “Greek,” “high-protein,” or “keto” often mask A1 cow's milk, gums, and sugars.
• “If you see a flavored cup of yogurt, that means it’s dessert, not yogurt.”
  —Co-host (10:42)
• Swap: Goat/sheep yogurt (plain), goat/sheep cheeses, Italian-imported options.

h. Industrial Animal/Fish Proteins

• Feedlot meats, farmed salmon = high omega-6, artificial additives.
• Beware misleading “grass-fed” claims unless also “grass-finished.”
• “Pasture raised chickens and eggs and wild caught seafood like sardines, mackerel, sockeye salmon, bison…” are preferred.

i. Plant-Based Milks and Meats

• Oat & almond milks: Often loaded with emulsifiers, seed oils, and sugar. Oat milk especially problematic for sensitive individuals.
• Plant meats: Ultra-processed; usually soy/wheat isolates, seed oils, glyphosate.
• Swap: Unsweetened coconut milk, whole mushrooms (portobello as a “steak”).

j. Snack Foods

• Veggie chips, straws, popcorn, fruit snacks—marketing, not nutrition.
• “Veggie is a color, not a nutrient. So run away from these snacks.” —Co-host (14:53)

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3. Guidelines for Smart Costco Shopping

[18:58, 22:00, 38:10]

• The “Five Nos”:
  • No added sugar
  • No grains
  • No seed oils
  • No A1 dairy
  • No lectins (unless pressure-cooked, peeled/seeds removed)
• Prioritize short, real-ingredient lists.
• "If you can't read it or picture it growing, just leave it on the shelf."
• Build meals with real protein, polyphenol-rich fats, and low-lectin plants.

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4. Costco Picks That Get Dr. Gundry’s Approval

a. Fish & Seafood
[23:45]

• Wild Alaskan salmon (fresh/frozen/canned)—avoid “organic” farmed.
• Canned sardines (preferably in water or olive oil).
• Canned tuna from small tuna (often labeled mercury-free).

b. Cheese & Italian Meats

• Goat, sheep, buffalo cheeses (look for “from Italy/Spain”).
• Italian prosciutto, fermented charcuterie (read origin labels).
• Parmesan Reggiano from Italy (not just Italian-sounding names).

c. Non-meat Proteins/Nuts

• Hemp hearts, pistachios (in-shell for portion control), walnuts, macadamia nuts (roasted for freshness).
• Caution: Peanuts, cashew butter (mold, lectin/inflammation risk), almond butter (prefer peeled).

d. Oils

• Cold pressed olive oil from glass bottles labeled “Toscana” or Spanish equivalent. Avoid plastic bottles; oil goes rancid quickly.
• Untoasted sesame oil (in glass).

e. Produce & Miscellaneous

• Organic berries, pomegranates, golden kiwis, avocados, guacamole (no tomato).
• Pesto with extra virgin olive oil (check label; supply varies).
• Fresh mushrooms (shiitake, crimini, exotic).
• Whole lettuce heads with roots, organic seasonal fruit.
• Artichoke hearts, pine nuts, Marcona almonds.
• Vinegars (balsamic, apple cider, red wine).
• Fun tip: “Dr. Gundry’s fake Coke” = San Pellegrino + balsamic vinegar.

f. Snacks in Moderation

• Siete chips, Terra root veggie chips: safe in moderation, not for mindless munching.
• Unreal dark chocolate coconut bars, Primal Kitchen Caesar dressing & avocado mayo.

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5. Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• “Oats are made for fattening horses. Oats are glyphosate bombs.”
  —Co-host (14:28)
• “Popcorn is a lectin food. It’s mostly starch plus seed oils.”
  —Co-host (15:07)
• “You don’t need a smaller cart, you need a smarter label.”
  —Co-host (22:13)
• “If you see gluten free oats or gluten free oat milk, do not believe it.”
  —Co-host (12:59)
• “The ingredient list matters much more than the marketing.”
  —Co-host (18:52)
• "Moderation is key—use chips as a delivery device for avocado, not as a snack." —Dr. Gundry (Approx. 46:40)

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6. Practical Shopping Recommendations

• Read labels meticulously—marketing terms are misleading.
• Go “fresh, whole, seasonal” as much as possible.
• Buy in-shell nuts to eat more mindfully.
• Lean on olive oil, vinegars, herbs/spices, all widely available and high turnover for freshness.
• Watch for seasonal fruit and avoid year-round snacking on imported berries.

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |------------|----------------------------------------------| | 01:01 | Introduction to Costco “healthy” item traps | | 02:50 | Health Halo Trap: Bagged salads | | 04:54 | Dried fruit – why it’s a sugar bomb | | 06:34 | Hummus, protein powders, and their pitfalls | | 08:20 | Protein bars and granola bars exposed | | 11:10 | Rotisserie chicken, yogurt/dairy warnings | | 13:50 | Industrial proteins, plant-based foods | | 14:53 | Snack food “health” marketing debunked | | 18:58 | Smart shopping survival rules (“Five Nos”) | | 23:45 | Dr. Gundry’s favorite proteins, nuts, oils | | 38:10 | The best in produce & pantry at Costco | | 45:00 | Snacks to look for (in moderation) |

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Overall Tone

The episode is conversational and occasionally tongue-in-cheek, but focused on science-backed, actionable advice. Dr. Gundry and his co-host maintain an encouraging and educational tone, fighting “health halo” marketing with clarity and empowering knowledge.

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For Listeners Looking to Optimize Costco Trips

• Don’t trust the front label; analyze ingredients.
• “Build meals around real protein, polyphenol-rich fats and low lectin plants.” (22:30)
• Use Dr. Gundry’s “Five Nos” as your cheat sheet for selecting foods.
• Focus on seasonal and minimally-processed items for best gut and metabolic health.

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Key Takeaway:
You CAN shop healthy at a warehouse club—but only with a discerning eye and willingness to skip so-called “healthy” processed food. The power is in your ingredient choices—not the marketing.

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Transcript

[Podcast Host]

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[Dr. Steven Gundry]

All right folks, buckle up because today we're entering the ultimate shopping challenge for you and your wallet.

[Co-host or Guest Expert]

Costco. Now don't get me wrong, I love.

[Dr. Steven Gundry]

A good bulk buy as much as anyone. But not everything wearing a healthy, organic or protein packed label is actually doing your body any favors. Some of these so called healthy items, they're absolute gut bombs in disguise. But it's not all doom and gloom. Costco also carries some incredible staples that I stock up on myself.

[Co-host or Guest Expert]

Here's looking at you Italian Prosciutto.

[Dr. Steven Gundry]

So today I'm revealing the worst, quote unquote healthy Costco items to steer clear of. Plus my favorite clean Costco proteins, the best snacks, and the produce picks that absolutely get my approval. It's if you've ever stood in those giant warehouse aisles wondering, is this actually good for me? This episode is going to save you time, money, and maybe even your gut. We'll be right back. The holidays are a time to amp up your practice of gratitude. In the spirit of the season, I just want to say thank you Thrive Market for being a loyal sponsor of the Dr. Gundry podcast, enabling us to offer this podcast free to listeners around the world. Save time and money this holiday season and sign up for a membership at my favorite healthy online Marketplace. Head to Thrive Market.comGundryPodcast for $80 in free groceries with your first order. That's ThriveMarket.comGundryPodcast.

[Co-host or Guest Expert]

As you know, there are some really great healthy foods at Costco, but there are healthy Costco foods that you need to avoid. And here's what you want to buy instead. Today we're walking the aisles of Costco to expose the health halo. Foods that sneak lectins, sugar and industrial oils into Your cart and what to grab instead so you can protect your gut, your waistline and your energy. Now this is educational only. This is not medical advice. But here we go. From the best of the not so healthy foods to the worst. First of all, bagged salads and kits. Now here's the trap. The greens may be fine, but the kit isn't. The dressings are usually loaded with the wrong kind of seed oils and and sugar. The toppings are usually croutons, which contain gluten, tortilla strips, which contain corn, lectins, beans, which contain lectins, and dried fruit, which, no offense, is full of sugar. So here's some red flags to look for. If you see soy, cottonseed oil, canola oil, sugar, early on, the label, croutons, tortilla strips, beans or soy, just put it back. Now remember, most bagged lettuces salads are not that great either. Most of these have been treated to avoid going bad quickly. And you don't want things like fresh lettuce that don't go bad. You actually want them to go bad. You, you should be eating them quickly. Now, there are some swaps. Get yourself organic arugula or spring mix. They're readily available. And then mix up your own toppings with extra virgin olive oil and red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar or apple cider vinegar. And then top your salad with avocados, olives, pistachios, walnut, goat or sheep, feta or wild salmon. You'll have your mix and eat it too. Now, number two, dried fruits. Here's the trap. A handful is a sugar bomb. It's concentrated fructose, often added with sugar or fructose. Now, this drives fat production in the liver, number one. And it also feeds bad bacteria in your gut. Yeah, they taste fantastic. That's the whole idea. Yeah, they're incredibly convenient. Who wouldn't want to munch on a dried papaya or dried mango?

[Sponsor or Advertiser Voice]

Please don't.

[Co-host or Guest Expert]

So what do you do? Well, Costco has a lot of great swaps. They carry whole, fresh, seasonal fruit. Now, berries are the best organic obviously, or fine freeze dried berries or frozen berries with no added sugar or oil for the occasional crunch. Now, Costco does sell pomegranate seeds in season, and in fact, now's the season, so let them do the work for you. They also sell whole pomegranates. Now, getting the seeds out of pomegranates is fun and challenging, but I actually have a really easy device that pops all the seeds out of the pomegranates. And it's really fun to play with. Number three, hummus. I'm sorry. The trap is that chickpeas are lectin rich. They are a legume. Now, most store hummus isn't pressure cooked. If you pressure cook chickpeas, they're perfectly safe. And most hummus in the grocery store or Costco isn't pressure cooked. And it's typically mixed with seed oils. There are some great swaps. Avocado, guacamole for a dipping option. Or make hummus at home with pressure cooked chickpeas. Number four protein powders. Now here's the trap. Many clean tubs hide whey from A1 dairy cows, soy or pea isolates high in lectins, artificial sweeteners, gum and natural flavors. Now unfortunately, whey from A1 cattle can aggravate sensitive guts. Unfortunately, there are papers that show that whey protein includes that funny sugar molecule Neu5GC, which aggravates arthritis, aggravates inflammation and it's in whey proteins. Now be careful with soy or pea proteins. These are lectin dense and the flavor systems and gums can absolutely disrupt your microbiome. Now there are some red flags on the label. If you see whey protein or whey concentrate. If you see soy or pea protein, if you see esquame, potassium sucralose, maltodextrin, carygian, gums or natural flavors, it's probably not your friend. Now are there gundry friendly swaps? Now honestly, I have no protein powder recommendation at Costco to buy. Sorry. Why not pick up a jar of my Gundry MD Pro plant for great gut buddy support. Or just use a hemp based protein powder. Number five protein and granola bars. Now here's the trap. Protein bars are basically candy bars with great sounding words that sound healthy. For instance, oats. I'm sorry, Oats are a grain that are loaded with lectins. And even the organic oats in this country have glyphosate and other weed killers and pesticides in them. Soy crisp. Sadly, soy is a lectin date paste.

[Sponsor or Advertiser Voice]

That's sugar folks.

[Co-host or Guest Expert]

Chicory root fibers is actually a good thing, but it's going to be way down the list. Watch out for seed oils and other natural flavors. So the big red flags, Oats, oats syrup, brown rice syrup that not only has lectins but it's sugar. Soy protein crisp, protein blend. Look out for canola, soy oil, vegetable oils. Look out for date paste listed first. Look out for long flavor systems. Now swaps. I personally like the unreal dark chocolate coconut bars. I think they are far better than a granola bar for a snack. All right, this is gonna break your heart. Number six, rotisserie chicken at Costco. Now here's the trap. It's an attractive price. The cooking has been done for you. But most market birds come pre season with starches, phosphates, flavor enhancers and sometimes sugars. And gum. The skin soaks it all in. These chickens were all fed an inflammatory diet and most likely tons of antibiotics. Now what do you do for swamps? Just buy a plain whole chicken, ideally pasture raised elsewhere, and roast it at home. With extra virgin olive oil, lemon and herbs, it's easy to roast a chicken at home. Yogurts and dairy. Now here's the trap. If you see the words Greek high protein or keto, it can still be A1's cow's milk with gums, carragean and sweeteners. Now, A1 casein is a gut irritant for most of my patients. If you see a flavored cup of yogurt, that means it's dessert, not yogurt. So the red flags that you should look for is milk from conventional cows, caragean pectin, gums, natural flavors, cane sugar or fruit on the bottom. Now, are there some swaps? Now go to a different store and buy plain goat or sheep yogurt, which is a two casein. There's no gums, there's no sugar. Just top it with cinnamon, chopped walnuts and a drizzle of allulose or monk fruit if you want. Costco does have a lot of great hard cheeses made from goat's milk, sheep milk or buffalo milk. Please avoid any American cheese. Product number eight, industrial animal fish proteins. Now here's the trap. These proteins use feedlot beef, conventional pork and farm salmon to carry higher levels of omega 6 fats, residues and often added phosphates in processed forms. For instance in sausages and deli meats. Now there are red flags to look for on the label. Color added, vegetable oil added, sodium phosphate dextrose, that's another word for sugar and solution injected. Now are there swaps? Yeah, there are. 100% grass fed grass finished beef. Be very, very careful with just the words grass fed. There is no federal standard to define grass fed legally. You could feed a cow grass for one day and then take it to a feedlot and feed it corn and soybeans the rest of its life and still label it grass fed. Got to see grass fed grass finished. But as I said before, the still is Loaded with a mischievous sugar molecule called Neu5GC. On the other hand, pasture raised chickens and eggs and wild caught seafood like sardines, mackerel, sockeye salmon, bison is neu5ac. Now please choose plain unseasoned cuts and season them at home with extra virgin olive oil, herbs and mineral salt. Now how about some more traps that look healthy? Oat and almond milks. Well, you can't get milk out of an oat and you can't get milk out of an almond. So what do you do? These are ground up with emulsifiers and seed oils and added sugar to give that milky taste. Now I'm sad to tell you that oat milk raises the glycemic load and can be cross contaminated. In fact, oats have a protein that cross react with gluten. So if you see gluten free oats or gluten free oatmeal milk, do not believe it. I see the cross reaction in my patients all the time. So what can you do? Well, you can swap out unsweetened coconut milk. Well, how about plant based meats? Sadly this is an ultra processed food. They use soy and wheat isolates which are lectin containing. They use seed oils, flavors and sadly they're all contaminated with glyphosate. This is not a meat that you want to eat. Well, are there swaps for real food? Sure. Costco sells mushrooms. You can make a mushroom steak. They often sell whole portobello mushrooms. They're easy to grill and they taste steak like. Now what about the healthy snack foods? Now here are the ones that look the healthiest but certainly aren't. The veggie chips and straws. The harvest snap Pea crisp. These are just another name for a lectin load. Any product that says granola, I'll say it again. Oats are made for fattening horses. Oats are glyphosate bombs. What about gummy fruit snacks? These are just sugar skinny popcorn. Popcorn is a lectin food. It's mostly starch plus seed oils. Now veggie is a color, not a nutrient. So run away from these snacks.

[Dr. Steven Gundry]

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[Co-host or Guest Expert]

Now there is a swap. There are seaweed snacks that are olive oil based or you can make kale chips baked at home with extra virgin olive oil. Kombucha Now Kombucha is a great probiotic, prebiotic, postbiotic food. But beware, most of the Kombuchas at Costco are sweetened with large amounts of sugar to make them taste good. Every now and then I do see a low sugar kombucha at Costco and I buy it. But most of the time they don't sell well. So most of the time Costco only stocks the really sugar one. Watch out for the sweetened tea drinks. Same problem here. Or look out for the no calorie tea drinks that have been sweetened with sucralose or other artificial sweeteners. Brown rice and whole grain everything is another buyer beware. Now whole grains carry lectins and spike glucose. So just because it sounds healthy, whole grain, wow, that sounds great. This is a lectin based bomb and I see it all the time in my patients. Now are there swaps? Sure. Millet and sorghum have no lectins. Cauliflower rice or pressure cooked quinoa is an occasional good choice. Well, what about the nut section? Watch out for peanut butter, cashew butter, pumpkin seeds. Peanuts are legumes with mold and lectin issues. Now cashews are part of the poison ivy family and for many people, very inflammatory. But there are some great nuts that you can buy at Costco. The macadamia nuts, the walnuts, the pistachio nuts, or if you can find it, almond butter made from peeled almonds. What about the frozen smoothie mixes? I'm sorry, these are sugar bombs. Well, what about the jarred tomato sauces and some salsa? Just remember that tomatoes are part of the nightshade family. The skins and seeds are the troublemakers. Combine that with sugar and seed oils and you've got trouble. Now what do you do? Well, you swap out pressure cooked tomato sauces or peeled seeded Italian varieties, or just make pesto with extra virgin olive oil. Speaking of pesto, Costco carries a fantastic pesto sauce which is made from Italian basil. But buyer beware. About half of the year it's made with extra virgin olive oil. The other half of the year it's made with vegetable oils, obviously because of supply. So please read the back of the label. If it's made with extra virgin olive oil, buy it and freeze it in the refrigerator. But if it doesn't say made with extra virgin olive oil, stay away from it. All right, let's go to the cleaning products in Costco. Now in general, please stay clear of almost all cleaning supplies at Costco, such as the detergents, the softeners, the cleansers. They're full of endocrine disrupting chemicals, not to mention mention harmful fragrances. Now, once in a while you do see Them carry a non toxic brand like Eco. So in general, there are survival rules for shopping at Costco. If it has a health halo, flip it over. The ingredients matter much more than marketing. So there's five nos. No added sugar, no grains, no seed oils, no A1 dairy, no lectins unless pressure cooked, peeled or seeded. That's the first stop at being a smart shopper at Costco. Second, a short list of ingredients always wins. And if you can't read it or picture it growing, just leave it on the shelf. Now you don't need a smaller cart, you need a smarter label. Build meals around real protein, polyphenol rich fats and low lectin plants. And your gut and your genes will thank you.

[Sponsor or Advertiser Voice]

Everybody wants to know if you can actually find compliant items at big box stores. And the answer is yes. In fact, time goes by that people find me in Costco and grab me and say, is this okay? Is that okay? And oh my gosh, Dr. Gundry, you're in Costco. What are you doing here? And the answer is you can actually find a lot of safe items, but also a lot of really good items for you in a big box store like Costco. So today I want to talk about cost, the protein choices and the oil choices that you can find in Costco and what you should look for. So first of all, Costco has wild salmon. They'll have it fresh, in season and it will say wild Alaskan salmon. And one of the tip offs is it's usually a lot darker red color than farm raised salmon and it will usually say wild. Ignore the organic that is farmed by definition. They didn't follow the fish around to see if they were eating organically and they were fed organic grains, corn and soybeans primarily. Number two, most of the time, Costco has frozen handy pieces of wild salmon. You have to kind of sort around and look because they'd be much happier selling you frozen Atlantic salmon. But stay away from that. Look for Alaskan salmon. Alaskan salmon by law has to be caught wild. That's not true of Canadian salmon, Norwegian salmon, Scottish salmon. Look for Alaskan salmon. And by the frozen pieces, really handy. Also they have canned salmon and look again for canned wild salmon. So lots of options for salmon. What my wife and I do is we tend to wait for salmon season and then we buy several pieces of whole salmon and take it home, cut it up into pieces, we put it in Ziploc bags because as you've read in the new book Gut Check, Ziploc doesn't have any phthalates in the plastic and then we have it, you know, the rest of the year. Next up, canned sardines. Costco often has really good canned sardines. Now, canned sardines are full like salmon of omega 3 fats, long chain omega 3 fats, and they're great source of protein. But you're really looking for the omega 3 fats. And interestingly enough, you're looking for them for the little bones in the fish, which are a great source of natural calcium, not the calcium pills you're swallowing. Try to find them in water. They're better for you in a lot of ways. But if all you can find is olive oil, make sure it says olive oil not packed in oil. Usually the ones that are packed in oil have soybean oil or cottonseed oil. And these are nasty short chain omega 6 fats that you really don't want. So water, preferably second choice olive oil. And these brands appear and disappear in Costco. But in general, most of my patients are very pleased with the sardines that you can buy at Costco. Canned tuna. Now, canned tuna, just for the record, usually comes from small tuna, not from sashimi grade tuna. They would not be that dumb. Small tuna are much lower, if you will, on the food chain and they have not been acquiring heavy metals like mercury for a much longer period of time than sashimi grade tuna. So you're really quite safe with canned tuna at Costco. In fact, some of the brands will say mercury free or low mercury. And you can trust that because again, most of these canned tuna Costco are small. And grab yourself some cans, they often go on sale. You often have to buy, you know, six or 10, but that's when you want to buy them. Okay? Over in the cheese area, Costco frequently has a number of goat cheeses. If cheeses are fermented, then you're much safer in lowering the amount of a mischievous sugar molecule called Neu5GC. So you really want to go past the fresh goat cheese logs, which are not fermented, and instead look for goat cheeses, feta cheeses that actually say the ingredient is goat. Read the label. Unfortunately, in America, many feta cheeses which should be goat or cheat are actually made from cow's milk. So just look for the words goat or sheep. Lastly, there are a number of sheep cheeses that are great for you. You can find pecorino from Italy, you can find manchingo from Spain, and often there's a sampler of sheep cheeses from Spain. Cut into small wedges. And it's a great way to experience some of these fantastic fermented cheese from sheep and from goats. The prosciutto from Italy is a fermented food. And all the new 5 GC from Italian prosciutto is gone. And it's in almost every Costco. It's already pre sliced. It's really easy to use and it's a perfectly acceptable addition to your diet. The same way Italian Parmesan cheese. Parmesan Reggiano cheese is by far the cheapest you will find at Costco. And I actually buy our Italian Reggiano cheese, Parmesan Reggiano at Costco. And it's gotta say that. It's gotta say from Italy. Beware of cheeses that have Italian sounding names but aren't from Italy. Same way with the Italian meat. So the Italian salamis, make sure it came from Italy. Costco started carrying slice Italian charcuterie with salamis and prosciutto in a very convenient package that are actually from Italy. And what's exciting about that is these are traditionally fermented sausages. And the exciting news from Gut Check is that these sausages don't contain neu5gc and they are loaded with postbiotic fermentation products like polyamines, like spermidine. So they're actually pretty doggone good for you. And they're at Costco. Now. What about non meat proteins? Well, there's actually plenty there for vegetarians and vegans. Hemp hearts. You can get big bags of hemp hearts at Costco. Hemp hearts have the benefit of being high in protein, but also high in soluble fiber. So it's a win win. And you can use hemp hearts in so many ways. I find the easiest way is to just sprinkle them on salads, sprinkle them on vegetables. If you want to throw it in a smoothie, that's fine with me. But hemp hearts, and they're really reasonable. Pistachios. There are a number of pistachios that are available at Costco. Whether you want them peeled, dry, roasted, salted in the shell, unsalted in the shell, they're readily available. Here's a word to the wise. Try to buy them in the shell. Cracking open that shell and picking it out slows you down. And it's true with any nut. Nuts are really good for you. They contain a lot of protein, but you'll eat a lot more if the work's been done for you. So just a word to the wise, with pistachios and also with macadamia nuts. Macadamia nuts. It's difficult to safely find raw macadamia nuts. And if you do find them, if they're in half, they've probably gone rancid already. That's why you see, most macadamia nuts have been already roasted and that's to stop them from going rancid. Easy to find macadamia nuts at Costco. Word to the wise, it's easy to gain weight eating macadamia nuts. In fact, if I have a skinny patient and I, believe it or not, see skinny patients who want to gain weight, my go to snack is macadamia nuts. And you can put on the weight with macadamia nuts. Walnuts. Costco has both organic and regular walnuts. Should you spend the extra money? Well, just remember that with most nuts, the nut is never exposed to herbicides or insecticides because it's contained in a nut. And once you break open that nut, the flesh will not have those herbicides and insecticides. However, in the interest of good agriculture, if you can afford the organic, please buy the organic. But don't be afraid of non organic nuts for the most part. And I did mention macadamia nuts. Be careful. Okay, how about oils? Well, Costco is a pretty doggone good place to find really good cold pressed organic olive oil. But word to the wise, you don't want to buy your organic cold pressed olive oil in those big plastic jugs. Two reasons. Number one, it's in plastic. But number two, although it sounds like a good idea to buy your olive oil in bulk, the minute you open the top on olive oil, it starts going rancid and you won't use it up fast enough before it goes rancid. So the alternative is almost every Costco has an organic, usually Italian olive oil that's in a long, tall cylindrical bottle. And it usually has a label of authenticity called Toscana. I've actually been to the plant where it's made in Tuscany and it's true it has to come from the Tuscan region. Now sometimes they don't have that, but there's a very similar one that comes from Spain and it's in a very similar bottle. And it's also quite safe and a very high quality. But just stay away from the big plastic bottles and you'll do yourself a favor. Sesame oil. You can usually find untoasted sesame oil, but it's not in all Costcos. Preferably. Once again, look for sesame oil in a glass bottle.

[Dr. Steven Gundry]

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Costco is a great source for dried herbs and spices and the more you can get herbs and spices into your life, the better off you are because herbs are one of the best easy to use sources of polyphenols and polyphenols as you know feed your good gut buddies and also are really important for protecting your mitochondria who make energy for you you can also find a great selection of olives at Costco. Costco, believe it or not, has organic rice, cauliflower in the frozen food section. They've got sesame seeds, they've got San Pellegrino. But buy the ones in the glass bottles, not the plastic bottles right next door. If you like the flavored San Pellegrino in the can, that's perfectly safe as well. But please resist the urge to pick up San Pellegrino in the plastic bottles. Avocados. There's always avocados in Costco. Preferably look for the organic variety. But Costco is a great place to pick up avocados. Costco is a great place to buy guacamole. Thankfully, they have guacamole in individual serving containers that doesn't have any tomatoes. And guess what? Tomatoes are not part of guacamole. That's somehow missed by most people. But they have tomato free guacamole and it's great. Their pesto over in the refrigerator section, usually next to the cheeses, is some of the best pesto you can buy. I'll tell you why. Number one, it uses a type of basil from the Liguria region of Italy. By far, Ligurian basil is the most flavorful, the best source of polyphenols of any basil in the world. And it's in the Costco pesto. It also has pine nuts. It also has Parmesan cheese. And the wonderful thing about it is you can buy it fresh and then you can put it in your freezer and just thaw off what you're going to need. Personally, it's phenomenal on Gundry MD Sorghum spaghetti, and that's how we use it most of the time. In the produce area, you can find organic shiitake mushrooms. You can find crimini mushrooms often, particularly this time of year, you can find some really exotic mushrooms like chanterelles. They're vastly cheaper at Costco and well worth including in your really daily routine. More and more we're seeing organic whole lettuce heads that have still got their roots attached. They're fantastic as a salad. Kiwis are easy to obtain at Costco and Costco often has the golden kiwis. And fun fact, the golden kiwi has been shown to be the source of one of the best prebiotic fibers to feed your good probiotics. There is. And there's some really cool golden kiwi studies in humans showing it promotes gut microbiome diversity. So if you see them and they're in Season, buy them. Speaking of in season, pomegranates are a great buy at Costco in season. Often you'll see the pomegranate seeds in season. You can find in season organic raspberries and blackberries and even cherries. But word of warning, look for where these produce came from. There is nothing seasonal about a raspberry. In February you'll see it at Costco, but you'll see it came from Chile or Argentina or Uruguay. That's not a seasonal produce. Oh, it looks good and you go oh, it's organic. But please, we are not supposed to encounter fruit 365 days a year. And sadly I see it in my patients blood work when they're eating these wonderful fruits. Non seasonally, but it's a great place to pick them up on a seasonal basis. Costco has artichoke hearts and they also have whole artichokes, they have pine nuts, they have hemp hearts, they have pistachios in multiple varieties. Whether you want them peeled or in the shell, my advice is please buy them in the shell and you can get them salted or unsalted. But the key is if you buy them in the shell, it will slow down your eating considerably. It is far too easy and fun to eat handful after handful of peeled salted pistachios and not think about what you're eating. On the other hand, it's far more entertaining to pour yourself out a bowl of in the shell pistachios and pop them open slowly and enjoy. It really slows you down and you'll get the benefits of the pistachios. Costco has a great choice of walnuts, both organic and non organic. Why buy walnuts in a big bag from Costco rather than somewhere else? Well, whenever you're looking to buy nuts, particularly shelled nuts, you really want to go to a place that has a high turnover because these nuts will go rancid. And good news, Costco has a very high turnover if you've ever noticed. And that's good for nuts because you're going to get literally very fresh walnuts or pecans or pine nuts and you're not going to have to worry about the rancidity of these nuts. And that's another really good reason to buy them at Costco. Now you can also find almonds at Costco, but word to the wise, almonds have a pretty nasty lectin in the peel of almonds. So even if it says organic almonds, just put them back. Luckily, most Costco stores have Marcona Almonds. Marcona almonds, as you may know, are peeled. And in traditional cultures, particularly in Spain and Portugal, mothers teach their daughters how to soak and peel the skin off of the almond because they've learned through generations that the peel is the problem. So that's the safest of the almonds in Costco, the Marcona almonds. But word to the wise, if you've read Gut Check and you have an autoimmune disease or think you have an autoimmune disease, almonds are way up there on the nut that so many of my patients with autoimmune disease unfortunately react to. And there's so many other better nuts. Speaking of which, macadamia nuts are a really great choice at Costco. Macadamia nuts are expensive. If you want to gain weight, macadamia nuts are the way to go. But macadamia nuts have a really fantastic oil profile within them. They're mostly in monounsaturated fat, but they also have an omega 7 fat that's almost impossible to find in any other nut. So they should be included in your repertoire. Next, vinegars. Costco has an amazing selection of vinegars. And if you've read Gut Check, you know that you want to get vinegars into your life. Whether it's balsamic vinegar, whether it's apple cider vinegar, whether it's red wine vinegar, you name it, vinegars are great for you. Make yourself the famous Dr. Gundry fake coke. Buy some San Pellegrino at Costco, Buy some balsamic vinegar at Costco, pour some balsamic vinegar in your San Pellegrino and make yourself a fake Coke. Balsamic vinegar, any vinegar is a great source of acetic acid, which is a short chain fatty acid that is actually needed for your gut microbiome to make this all important short chain fatty acid called butyrate. And you got to get vinegar to kind of supercharge the process. Next up, most Costco's have a pretty decent selection of greater than 72% chocolate, either in bars or in other forms. Now it comes and goes, you gotta look for it, but if it's there, get it there. You can also find Rye's coconut bars. And these are perfectly safe. They're incredibly low sugar. And look for em. Sometimes they're there, sometimes they're not. Finally, Primal Kitchens Caesar dressing is a pretty doggone good choice. It's made by my friend Mark Sisson. Primal Kitchen in general are safe products. Their avocado mayonnaise is a safe product. But try their Caesar dressing. Now, there are a few snacks that could be used in moderation. And I specify moderation for a reason. So you'll see really good buys on siete chips. You'll see really good buys on terra root vegetable chips. And yes, they're pretty safe, except people overeat them. And I see this over and over again that I saw Dr. Gundry say that Tara root chips are safe. That means I can have the entire bag I bought at Costco this afternoon. No, you can't. You gotta be really careful because these are concentrated sources of carbohydrates. And yes, they don't have any lectins, but they still have lots of easily digestible carbohydrates. So the word is moderation. And use these chips not to munch on, but as a delivery device to get avocado into your mouth. Buy the guacamole in individual serving containers at Costco and use that chip only as a delivery device. It'll slow you down and you'll get all the benefits of the guacamole as well.

[Dr. Steven Gundry]

Now it's time for the review of the week. The review of the week comes from Rimal Mohammad 8649. On my YouTube video about Castor oil, they said, thank you for this clarity. I have been using castor oil on my belly postpartum, and nothing happened. I hope this removes all the bluff around this. You are changing lives for the better, so keep it up. Well, thank you very much. You know, I've been at this now for three, 30 years, and I've been learning from my patients what works and what doesn't work. And I write about this, and I.

[Co-host or Guest Expert]

Want you to know what I've learned from my patients.

[Dr. Steven Gundry]

So thank you for confirming that this is one hype that doesn't live up to the hype and keep telling me about it, because I'm looking out for you. Now it's time for the question of the week. The question of the week comes from cooterbrown7734 on my YouTube video about a tip that can help your workout. They ask, can powdered eggs be used as a substitute for protein powder? Well, yes, there are powdered egg whites or even powdered eggs that are available. But word of warning, we test food sensitivities on a great number of our patients, and sadly, eggs. Eggs, including egg whites, come up frequently as something that people react to. Now, I personally think that the old saying, you are what you eat is true, but you are what the thing.

[Co-host or Guest Expert]

You'Re eating ate is even truer.

[Dr. Steven Gundry]

And working with egg producers, I've learned that what the chickens are fed has a huge outcome on what you react to in the eggs. So buyer beware on egg white protein powders.

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[Dr. Steven Gundry]

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[Podcast Host]

I hope you enjoyed this episode of the Dr. Gundry podcast. If you did, please share this with family and friends. You never know how one of these health tips can completely, completely transform someone's life when you take the time to share it with them. There's also the Dr. Gundry Podcast YouTube channel where we have tens of thousands of free health insights that can help you and your loved ones live a long, vital life. Let's do this together.