While many women’s supplement arsenal consists of only a multi-vitamin, protein supplements have been becoming increasingly popular amongst young and old women alike. If weight loss is a concern, there are a variety of protein supplements that focus specifically on losing weight. A better portion of these protein supplements contain very little fat or additives.

Consider the following on why you should use protein supplements for weight loss:

Convenience. Protein supplements are extremely easy to prepare and digest. Many times they can take place of a snack or even a meal – simply throw in your protein powder along with water (or milk) into a shaker up, do a few shakes, and your protein is ready! Best of all, protein powder comes in a variety of flavors depending on the brand you take such as chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry.

Affordability. A 5lb tub of whey protein costs about $40. While that may seem expensive, keep in mind that there are about 60 servings in a 5lb tub of whey protein. That works outs to less than $1 per serving, which is extremely affordable.

Effectiveness. Protein boosts your metabolism, which is the rate in which your body burns and uses food as energy. The faster your metabolism works, the less food your body will be able to store as fat.

Protein also promotes learn muscle growth. This doesn’t mean you’ll start building huge muscles like a bodybuilder, what it means though is that your muscles will begin to take shape and you’ll see an outline of where they are – no more flabby arms!

When you are in the gym working on your trimming down your figure, you should keep in mind that whey protein contains a high amount of glutamine and BCAAs (branched chain amino acids) – the building blocks of muscles. Taking whey protein increases your muscle mass, lowers the time it takes to recovery from exercise, and boosts your stamina!

So, what are the most effective protein supplements? Consider one of these:

Muscle Milk Light – Muscle Milk light is designed especially for women. It's low calorie and tastes like a milkshake. A trademark blend known found inside Muscle Milk Light called LeanLipids encourages fat loss by burning more MCTs (Medium Chain Triglycerides) as muscle energy instead of fat. It also helps by having less of your long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids being stored as fat. The enzymes found in muscle milk light enable these lipids to be even more functional.

Ultra Whey Pro – Each scoop of of Ultra Whey Protein whey has 22 grams of protein. The whey blend is comprised of whey protein isolates, whey concentrate, whey hydrolysates, and glutamine peptides. Flavors consist of chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla.

Pro Complex – Pro Complex protein has a wide variety of essential vitamins and minerals, while fueling you with it’s multi-protein blend with more BCAA’s and Glutamine. Every serving of Pro complex has 60 grams of the highest quality protein available. Flavors include chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, and rocky road.

Optimum Nutrition 100% Whey Gold Standard – One of the most popular protein powders on the market today, 100% Whey Gold Standard has ON’s proprietary blend consisting of microfiltered whey protein isolates, ultrafiltered whey proteinc oncentreate, ion-exchange whey protein isolates, and HydroWhey hydrolyzed whey peptides.

It has nearly 24 grams of protein in just over a one ounce serving – that means that protein represents 79% of it’s weight. Available flavors include rocky road, vanilla ice cream, strawberry , chocolate, tropical punch, and french vanilla cream.

Elite Whey Protein – This whey protein has a great mixture of whey protein concentrates, whey peptides, and ion-exchange whey protein isolates. Elite Whey also includes a proprietary digestive enzyme blend, as well as Zytric, that helps amplify absorption. Favors consist of chocolate fudge, chocolate, pina colada, vanilla, berry blast, and butter cream toffee.

So next time you're thinking about trying a weight loss pill, consider trying protein supplements instead!