A respected Australian science institute is to publish a book in the UK which it believes could top the bestseller lists and lend scientific credibility to the business of losing weight.

The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) has devised what it claims could be the perfect diet. Its Total Wellbeing Diet has already knocked the latest Harry Potter and The Da Vinci Code off the top of bestseller lists in Australia, selling 100,000 copies a month in a country where obesity is as serious a problem as it is here.

The book claims to offer a "scientifically proven" weight-loss programme "that challenges old conventions and theories". It evolved out of research by the organisation into the claims and counter-claims of popular diet gurus - particularly those generated by the high-protein, low carbohydrate Atkins diet.

Read more about the new Australian diet that was supposedly inspired by the Atkins diet at http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1585075,00.html.