Subtitled "a three-stage plan for permanent weight loss", Low-Carb Meals in Minutes is more than a recipe book. It"s a blueprint for a diet based on the most recent fashionable theory among nutritionists that carbohydrates are bad and protein is good. A quick flick through the likes of tex mex meat loaf, thai peanut rub pork, Vietnamese pancakes and Japanese beef sukiyaki suggests that this might have been more aptly subtitled "Fast international food". As a diet book that does away with pasta, rice and potatoes, by the time you get your head round the good and bad carbohydrates, grapple with the series of organisational tips (which make the recipes more complicated than they actually are) and get to grips with the eating plans, a plain baked potato will seem like heaven. The biggest drawback is that being American the recipes rely heavily on certain ingredients such as mayonnaise made with soya bean oil, low fat turkey sausages, reduced fat feta. Though Gassenheimer is best known for her quick recipes, these are more fiddly than fast, with even the breakfasts involving lots of slicing and rolling. --Lorna V