Whey protein drinks are one of the best ways to create meals that help you lose weight. Counting calories is important, but getting enough protein, vitamins and minerals is important too. Building muscle should not be sacrificed, and will be sacrificed if you buy cheap carbohydrate content "meal replacements".

Whey protein drinks are a good choice for just about anyone. Not just for ballet weight loss, cheer leaders or fitness buffs - but for you too! Muscle building is a life long necessity because as we age we lose muscle mass and start gaining fat.

Another advantage to keeping up the muscle mass in your body, is that you burn more calories even while sleeping. Muscle needs calories to be maintained - and fat does not. Increased body fat disrupts your hormone balance and creates havoc with your body chemistry, for the young and old alike.

What Is The Best Whey Protein?

The best whey protein comes from grass fed cows. The milk produced from grass fed cows has a balance of omega 3 fats and omega 6 fats. Fatty acids are important, and non-fat products are not as healthy as the diet industry would have us believe.

Why Are Fats Important?

Fats are just as important as proteins, vitamins and minerals for building our body cells. Fats build our:

• cell linings or cell walls, regulating what goes in and out, how and when
• the material covering our nerves, our myelin sheaths
• our hormones that regulate our energy, moods, thinking ability and sex drive

That's why non-fat foods don't do us any good, even when we are trying to lose weight. For example, say you eat a non-fat diet for a few weeks and your brain hormones - your seratonin, dopamine just to name two, don't provide you with any energy or enthusiasm. Your whole life is at stake. Exercise becomes torture for some.

And how will you continue to lose weight, dance, cheer lead, work out or maintain your ability to concentrate at your job without your brain chemicals?

A good protein meal will include eggs, or cold water fatty fish (yes, I said fatty!) or lean poultry, or lean red meat. Not processed fat-free proteins. Trimmed, with some fat is necessary for good health. Butter is good too, in daily but small quantities.

Grass fed red meats, wild caught cold water fish, eggs from organically fed hens, and dairy products from grass fed cows, all give you more omega 3 fatty acids in your meals. Whey protein drinks from grass fed cows are the ideal protein replacement for weight loss, or just for occasions when you want to count calories, and don't have time to make a healthy meal at home or at work.

It is unfortunate that our food industry provides meats mostly from grain fed animals which overwhelm us with omega 6 saturated fats. It is not that these fats are BAD, but the balance between omega 6 oils and omega 3 oils is severely disrupted. Going fat-free does not solve the problem.

If you can eat about 24 grams of protein at less than 150 calories, you are doing great. Your protein drink should not contain high fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, trans fats, gluten or soy protein. Natural low calorie sweeteners are used in the best products these days.

And, a word of caution for your lose-weight meals; a protein drink replaces protein, it is not a meal replacement. You still need salads, and green vegetables, to keep your supply of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and all the enzymes in these foods that help with good digestion.

Manage your muscle building and weight loss wisely...I think you'll be happy with the results if you try out the better quality whey protein drinks.