The following appeared in the health section of a magazine on trends and lifestyles:
“People who use the artificial sweetener aspartame are better off consuming sugar, since aspartame can actually contribute to weight gain rather than weight loss. For example, high levels of aspartame have been shown to trigger a craving for food by depleting the brain of a chemical that registers satiety, or the sense of being full. Furthermore,
studies suggest that sugars, if consumed after at least 45 minutes of continuous exercise, actually enhance the
body’s ability to burn fat. Consequently, those who drink aspartame-sweetened juices after exercise will also lose this
calorie-burning benefit. Thus it appears that people consuming aspartame rather than sugar are unlikely to achieve
their dietary goals.”
Discuss how well reasoned . . . etc.
The above argument concludes that an artificial sweetner aspartame does not help to reduce weight and has an opposite effect. The evidence provided is that the high levels of aspartame have been shown to trigger a craving for food by reducing the chemical in the brain that registers the sense of being full. In my opinion, the argument is not very convincing and has loop holes.
Firstly, the evidence that high aspartame consumption reduces the chemical in the brain that registers satiety is weak because it does not provide information about how the chemicals will react to the different levels of sugar. It is possible that the same level of sugar depletes the chemical in the brain more than the sweetener.
Secondly, the evidence that the consumption of sugar after alteast 45 minutes of continuous exercise enhance the body’s ability to burn fat and the sweetener lacks this ability is just one advantage that sugar has over sweetener. There are many studies that show that if the same levels of sugar and sweetener are consumed the people consuming sweetener consume less calories.
In my final discussion, I would like to state that the sweetner might not be helpful in reducing weight because people are consuming higher level of sweetner as compared to sugar which is of no use. The sweetener is helpful if one consumes same or less amount of sweetener. The argument could be stronger If comparison of the quantity of sweetener and sugar are mentioned and it was shown that even consuming same and less quantity of sweetener is not helpful in reducing weight.
“People who use the artificial sweetener aspartame are better off consuming sugar, since aspartame can actually contribute to weight gain rather than weight loss. For example, high levels of aspartame have been shown to trigger a craving for food by depleting the brain of a chemical that registers satiety, or the sense of being full. Furthermore,
studies suggest that sugars, if consumed after at least 45 minutes of continuous exercise, actually enhance the
body’s ability to burn fat. Consequently, those who drink aspartame-sweetened juices after exercise will also lose this
calorie-burning benefit. Thus it appears that people consuming aspartame rather than sugar are unlikely to achieve
their dietary goals.”
Discuss how well reasoned . . . etc.
The above argument concludes that an artificial sweetner aspartame does not help to reduce weight and has an opposite effect. The evidence provided is that the high levels of aspartame have been shown to trigger a craving for food by reducing the chemical in the brain that registers the sense of being full. In my opinion, the argument is not very convincing and has loop holes.
Firstly, the evidence that high aspartame consumption reduces the chemical in the brain that registers satiety is weak because it does not provide information about how the chemicals will react to the different levels of sugar. It is possible that the same level of sugar depletes the chemical in the brain more than the sweetener.
Secondly, the evidence that the consumption of sugar after alteast 45 minutes of continuous exercise enhance the body’s ability to burn fat and the sweetener lacks this ability is just one advantage that sugar has over sweetener. There are many studies that show that if the same levels of sugar and sweetener are consumed the people consuming sweetener consume less calories.
In my final discussion, I would like to state that the sweetner might not be helpful in reducing weight because people are consuming higher level of sweetner as compared to sugar which is of no use. The sweetener is helpful if one consumes same or less amount of sweetener. The argument could be stronger If comparison of the quantity of sweetener and sugar are mentioned and it was shown that even consuming same and less quantity of sweetener is not helpful in reducing weight.
