Produce is dieters' ally in battle of the bulge It's a jungle out there when it comes to dieting. A

6/9/1997 12:00:00 AM

By Bureau

Produce is dieters' ally in battle of the bulge

It's a jungle out there when it comes to dieting. And millions of Americansare in that jungle, fighting the battle of the bulging waistline.

There's an irony in all that: As people reduce fat intake, many continue togain weight because they eat more total food.

For serious dieters, and that seems to be about a third of all Americans, somethings become crystal clear:

If you are going to lose weight, you will eat five produce servings a day andmaybe even more. Produce is the natural substitute for fatty foods, providedyou can find a way to add taste. You want that tomato to be ripe, juicy anddelicious. After all, you're giving up the Philly cheese steak with extraonions and cheese. The natural substitute for the cheese snack with crackersor the frosted cupcake is a banana, a cold navel orange cut in half or maybean apple and a tiny piece of cheese. Dieters learn to think small.

A lot of the nutrition labeling is a cruel joke. In the labeling jungle, youcan be eaten alive. For produce -- forget about it. Maybe you can find thefine print nutrition poster somewhere over the green vegetables. Maybe not. Atleast with produce it hardly matters because almost any produce is better foryou than what's in the rest of the store.

The food labels can be dangerously deceptive. Some companies advertise ``lowfat'' or ``reduced fat'' items. But look carefully -- the calories are thesame or maybe 5 percent less than the regular items. For dieters, math is themain ally -- you have to be able to add up calories.

Restaurants and quick-service food outlets are the bane of dieters. There isno nutrition labeling on restaurant food. They got a big exemption from theFood and Drug Administration under the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act.Deli foods and ready-to-eat foods prepared at stores are exempt.

Also, restaurant food tends to contain more calories than home-cooked meals.

Another irony: Americans at restaurants are turning away from the low-fatitems many restaurants offer. The theory is that when people dine out they``splurge.'' The only trouble is, 30 years ago people dined out once a month.Now they dine out half the time.

Nearly half the $700 billion spent on food is spent away from home.

To give one example: Taco Bell, with thousands of outlets, touted its new``Border Lights'' food choices. They contained less fat and fewer calories.Taco Bell has largely dropped this program because it found people didn'treally want the ``Lights,'' and in some ways it hurt the overall business. (Isuspect it also made people feel guilty for not buying the lighter fare.)

People talk a good game when it comes to dieting. But when the talking isover, they often go back to eating more than they need or their lifestylerequires. Many people eat like field hands and live like retired bankers.

The latest wrinkles in the great reduction war are the new diet drugs Reduxand Phen-Fen, which seem to trick the brain into thinking it has just had themidnight buffet on the QE II ocean liner. The drugs have potentially seriousside effects, which doctors are quick to mention. Also, while the drugs help,they don't seem to be the magic bullet of weight loss. You also needmotivation, willpower, exercise and some good-tasting substitutes for a fattydiet.

People cannot live by Redux alone. For countless millions of people, food is acomforter, a sign of well-being and prosperity, a social occasion, apsychological lift. People remember the admonitions of their childhood:

``Eat, eat my child.''

``Clean your plate -- people are starving in China.''

``Here, have another slice.''

For the produce industry, which competes for stomach space against the world'slargest corporations and their brand names, the modest 5 a Day program faces atough fight. Still, one abiding selling point ought to be: ``Dieters of theworld, don't despair. You can still eat, and we'll provide you with tasty,filling substitutes that will keep you on the path to dieter's heaven.''

With an aging and weight-gaining population, that is going to be one of thehealth messages for decades to come. All the industry needs now is about $20million a year to drive the message home.