The Economy is in such poor shape that now even eating will cause you to have to fork over more cash. Restaurants, grocery stores, and even fast food places are now paying more for beef and chicken. According to recent statistics, beef went up a whopping 20 percent over the last year. Chicken has also gone up nearly 5 percent this year. Store and restaurant owners have been unsuccessful in keeping the prices from boiling over to the customers due to the large increases, and have had begun to make menu changes already. Fast food places simply cannot afford to sell meat as cheap as they do anymore and prices are being bumped up. Some items like larger burgers have even been taken off the menu and replaced with alternative less costly meat items.

One of the biggest reasons for this problem comes from producers cutting back on production to avoid paying more for animal feed. The skyrocketing cost of corn has been a huge burden on them and is causing a major blow to profits. Beef producers are slaughtering more animals faster to make up for costs, which sends more products to the market initially, but lowers the futures' production causing negative long term effects. A drop in production translates to a smaller supply, which causes a boost in pricing for restaurants, grocery stores, and other suppliers. To offset these costs, owners unfortunately have to trickle down some of the cost increase onto the customers.

Luckily these meats can easily be taken out of a diet and not even be missed by the body. These meats are most helpful to your body due to them being a great daily protein source in a diet. However whey protein can easily replace the meat in a diet and be a lot more effective in protein consumption as well. Larger portions of meats have to be consumed in order to get the same amount of protein it takes in one serving of whey. It is a superior alternative as it also helps to keep the body lean by avoiding fat consumption.

Whey contains all essential amino acids and is extremely high in BCAAs (branched-chain amino acids) like leucine, isoleucine, valine and glutamine. Whey is considered a fast acting protein due to its fast absorption to the blood stream and it is also an immune system booster. As far as protein goes, in one scoop of quality whey protein your body receives 28g of protein. In a normal sized chicken thigh you only receive 10g and steaks are about 6g per oz. The larger the portions of meat, the more protein you get, but the catch is; fat comes along with eating more meat not to mention your wallet sure won't get any fatter! Your body will gain access fat as your wallet gets slimmer and trimmer, when in fact it should be vice versa. The best solution to combat these rising prices, and to gain lean muscle without fat is to substitute the meat for whey protein. Don't fork over more cash to eat, and keep your wallet full as well as your stomach.