Depending on what you want from dietary fat there are a number of substitutes designed to help. Low- or no-cal butter flavoring ia an option if what you want is the taste. Not everyone can’t believe it’s not butter however. Nonstick coatings and sprays don’t add flavor the distinctive “mouth feel” of fat. And therein lies the rub.

Much of the flavor and succulence of food comes courtesy of fat.

Finding other ways to make food flavorful and texturally appealing is the obvious solution. But thanks to the miracle of modern science, some fat substitutes have been developed so you can have your fat and eat it too.

One of these is called olestra, a synthetic fat with zero calories. It behaves like natural oils and fats when used for cooking. It was approved by the FDA for use in such snack foods as chips and crackers, which are available on your supermarket shelf.

Unfortunately, the very thing that makes olestra a no-calorie wonder makes it somewhat problematic. Similar to the prescription fat-blocker orlistat, olestra causes some unpleasant changes in the behavior of your bowels, including abdominal cramps, flatulence, diarrhea, urgent and oily stools, and what has been delicately described as anal leakage. It also interferes with the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K) and beta-carotene.

Orlistat is taken in prescribed doses, but if you are a dedicated snacker, you could down a huge bag of olestra-laced potato chips in one sitting. You might think you were getting away like a low-cal, low-fat bandit, but your digestive system will tell you otherwise.

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