AMERICA'S NEW LOW-FAT CUISINE

An instructor at a Minnesota fitness center run by her husband, Robert K. Cooper (Health & Fitness Excellence, 1988), Leslie Cooper offers here some run-of-the-treadmill dietary advice (essentially, whole-grain complex carbohydrates and limit fat to a moderate 25% of calories), as well as recipes that avoid red meat and use whole-grain breads and pastas and part-skim cheeses—but that by no means eliminate eggs and butter. Lame tips on eating out (to select a restaurant, ``the yellow pages are a good place to start''), packing lunch, and planning quick breakfasts (leftover muffins, nonfat yogurt) precede a 28-day meal plan that includes such dinner entrees as soybean au gratin and baked potato with tuna sauce. The recipes all come with nutritional analyses, a service less unique than the author makes out—as are her ``low fat'' adaptations: She acknowledges in introducing her guacamole that avocados are high in fat but claims outlandishly that ``most recipes also call for mayonnaise or sour cream.'' Overall, Cooper displays a fuzzy understanding of food and nutrition (she seems to think that olive oil is polyunsaturated and that polyunsaturated is best) and makes some arbitrary substitutions and recommendations. If Cooper didn't so exaggerate her own contributions, it would be easier to buy the book as another addition to the low-fat shelf, simply for its undemanding moderation. As is, it's harmless.