Big Flavors--Low Fat : These desserts look and taste like high-fat treats. They’re not. : Sweet Dreams?

“How long does getting thin take?” Pooh asked anxiously.

--A.A. Milne

Getting thin takes too long, apparently. That’s why fat-free foods are so attractive. They appear to be an innocuous magic solution for dieters like Pooh. Consider this day in the life of a dieter:

For breakfast, light pancakes, spread with reduced-fat butter and drenched with light syrup. At lunch, it’s a turkey breast sandwich with reduced-fat Swiss cheese on light bread, slathered with light mayonnaise. Salad greens, each leaf coated with fat-free dressing. At just 25 calories per tablespoon you feel free to have a ladle full. For dessert: a hunk of chocolate cake and frosting trimmed down from 420 calories and 18 grams of fat to just 220 calories and six grams of fat and a huge scoop fat-free ice cream--only 130 calories in three ounces.

Is a day like this harmful to the body? Health experts say no. These fat-free foods get their creamy texture from fat substitutes that have been designated GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) by the Food and Drug Administration. They are derivatives of carbohydrates and proteins found in seaweed and corn and have a fiber-like effect on the intestinal tract.

But the jury is still out on whether they help you lose weight. Fat-free foods are a useful tool in weight management: They keep you from feeling deprived while you’re watching the intake of calories and fat. But they aren’t a license to overeat, says Dr. Paul Saltman, professor of biology at UC San Diego.

Saltman, like many other health experts, is concerned that even highly motivated dieters may eat more junk food once the calories or fat are removed. People who drink diet sodas, for example, often rationalize that they are drinking “minus 130 calories” when accounting for a one-calorie soda. The reward is a cookie, he says.

“(Fat-free foods) help us if we want to eat brownies and not have fat, but they’re not going to remove calories from our bodies,” Saltman explains. “People are being given an opportunity to enjoy food . . . and maintain their health. But we’re not there yet.”

Dietitians fear that eventually these fat-free foods will replace wholesome foods in the diet. Fast food and sweets will become more attractive than whole grains, nonfat dairy products, lean meats and vegetables, which supply essential vitamins and minerals for growth and maintenance.

“Unless people are really educated about nutrition we can’t be assured that they will get what they need everyday,” says Bettye Nowlin, spokesperson for the American Dietetic Assn. “They may get enough calories, but over time they’ll come up short on nutrients.”

Recipes H12.