THE REVOLUTIONARY 7-UNIT LOW-FAT DIET

Some canny Britishers have spruced up the old reliable reducing regimen to permit dieters to count fat intake instead of calories--for the same end result. Originally marketed to popular success in Slimming Magazine, the approach avoids the mental block that some have against figuring calories and also circumvents many of our myths about fattening foods (e.g., that pasta, potatoes, and the like are fattening on their own). The presentation, like the approach, is perfectly sound: the authors provide the necessary tables for figuring out fat units of various foods; and, as they point out in an afterword, the diet not only lowers calories (which is of the essence), it also benefits dieters by reducing the intake of the least desirable part of our diets. Standard tips and encouragement are offered (always measure, read packages, don't butter vegetables), along with an abundance of serviceable menus and recipes. Except for dieters who hate to think about calories, this plan won't work where others have failed--but its seeming ease may induce chronic dieters to give it a try.