Since the COVID-19 pandemic, interest in health and wellness has skyrocketed. A 2025 Future of Wellness survey conducted by McKinsey & Company estimates that Americans spend $500 billion each year on wellness goods and services—and that number is increasing four to five percent each year. On social media, there’s a lot of noise about which products are worth investing in. However, pharmacist Phil Cowley (@philsmypharmacist) is using his TikTok platform to "deinfluence" his followers from "toxic" health products. Here are four health items he’d never buy from Costco.

RELATED: Doctor Warns Never to Buy These 4 Foods From Costco: "Diabetes Bomb Sprinkled With Heart Disease."

1. Weider Red Yeast Rice

Costco

In a viral TikTok, Cowley explains that red yeast rice works similarly to the statin drug Lovastatin, which he believes "is the worst of all the statins."

Red yeast rice contains the compound monacolin K, which "has the same chemical structure as the prescription cholesterol-lowering medicine lovastatin (Altoprev)," according to Mayo Clinic.

Cowley says red yeast rice "hardly works at all," and it "still messes up with your liver and destroys your mitochondria." If you’re interested in a cholesterol-lowering treatment, "you might as well go get a statin for a quarter of the price," he adds.

However, it needs to be emphasized that health concerns should be brought to your doctor’s attention before you seek any sort of medication. Consult with a health practitioner who can examine your personal/family history and point you in the right direction.

Additionally, Mayo Clinic notes that "there's less of a guarantee about what's in a red yeast rice supplement compared with a statin. Some red yeast products might have only small amounts of monacolin K in them and might have little effect on cholesterol."

Moreover, red yeast rice supplements "can have similar side effects [as Lovastatin] that are more serious." So again, first speak with your doctor.

RELATED: 4 Major Costco Changes Coming to Stores, and How They'll Affect You.

2. One A Day Adult Multivitamin with Brain Support

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One A Day’s brain supplements contain 11 essential vitamins and minerals, in addition to Phosphatidylserine, to help boost cognitive function. The claim sounds promising, but Cowley says the supplements are actually a money grab.

"It’s got Phosphatidylserine in it, which does almost nothing. Instead, go find yourself CDP choline," he suggests.

Research and small clinical trials show that CDP choline (generically goes by citicoline) may improve processing speed, memory, attention span, and executive function, and reduce levels of oxidative stress, per the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation.

"It’ll work a ton better and you’re not paying for all the extra really not support in the brain," Cowley notes.

3. Airborne Immune Support Supplements

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"Everyone needs to get over this brand. Airborne does nothing for you—look what’s inside the ingredients," says Cowley. "Sure, you get a lot of vitamin C, but you can get that from an orange."

The supplements contain seven percent of your daily recommended vitamin A intake, a "teeny bit" of magnesium, and a "little bit" of vitamin E, he notes, adding that the gummies' "proprietary herb blend isn’t going to be enough to cover up anything with your immune system."

He concludes that Airborne supplements "are expensive" and only "taste great as gummy snacks." (Note: Airborne supplements aren’t designed to be treated as a snack, nor should you consume them as one.)

In fact, Airborne was hit with a class action lawsuit in 2007 that disputed its claims that the supplements fight the common cold (this was never proven), which resulted in a $23.5 million settlement. As Healthline explains, "Although the supplement no longer claims to fight colds, many people still take it as a way to fend off one."

Instead, Cowley recommends taking a daily probiotic to help with immunity support: "I guarantee a probiotic, with the way it passively adds [to the] immune system, it’s going to work way better."

RELATED: Costco Shoppers Are Abandoning These 8 Kirkland Products: "Worse Than Anything I’ve Tried."

4. Kirkland’s LaxaClear

Costco

Kirkland’s LaxaClear is a dupe for Miralax, an over-the-counter laxative used for constipation relief. Many users swear by Miralax’s effectiveness and keep it readily on hand. However, when it comes to protecting your gut, this drug isn’t pharmacist-approved.

"It’s the worst thing in the world for your gut because, first, it makes you healthy poop, but then it kills all the bacteria that are really supposed to be there," explains Cowley.

"This stuff is toxic to your microbiome," he adds. "So in the long run, even though it makes you poop now, [it] makes it worse later."

Replace LaxaClear with chicory root and a good probiotic instead, he suggests. A previous study found that chicory root promotes healthy bowel movements and softens stool.