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letsbeatgmat21
- Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
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- Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2015 11:38 am
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.[[
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The above argument that people who use aspartame are better off consuming sugar is based on an unwarranted assumtion that aspartame is consumed primarily to lose weight. Even if this assumption is true, the above argument fails to provide a convincing explanation of how using sugars can be more helpful than aspartame in weight loss.
Firstly, the argument assumes that the person using aspartame instead of sugar has a primary goal of losing weight. This may not always be the case. For example, it may be possible that aspartame has other health effects than sugars other than weight loss. For instance, aspartame may serve as an alternative to sugar for people who have diabetes , where aspartame could help in contolling insulin level of the effected. It may have other health benefits like reduced cholestrol which may be a reason for aspartame as a substitute to sugar. Had the argument suggested that aspartame was primarily used by people aiming for weight loss , it would have made the argument stronger.
Secondly , even if the it is assumed that the people taking aspartame primarily take it for weight loss the argument fails to provide a convincing explanation. For one , it is said that 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. A primary explanation of above fact could be that consumption of aspartame could lead to a faster functioning of human metabolism and as a result the efficiency of human digestive system could increase leading to increased hunger. This may not be as bad to weight loss as attributed above. More efficient metabolism and digestive system would mean burning of fat quicker and hence may aid even more in weight loss. If the argument would have explained how decrease in craving of food was related to weight loss , it would have seemed stronger.
Finally , the argument explains that if sugar is consumed at least 45 minutes after continuous exercise enhance their abilities to burn fat. While this may be helpful in weight loss , it may be possible that aspartame performs even better in this aspect. For example , aspartame drinks may enhance the ability to burn fat many folds than sugars enhance. An explanation of how aspartame differs from sugars in its consumtion after exercise would have made the argument clearer. The term dietry goals itself doesn't explain what the person expects to acheive by using aspartame as an alternative to sugar. There could be multiple goals, as mentioned above, that a person would want to acheive. A clearer explanation of what is specifically meant by dietry goals would have been helpful in strengthening the argument.
Thus, due to the above unwarranted assumptions , the argument seems seriously flawed. It is necessary to explain what the dietry goals of a person are for which he is replacing aspartame with sugar or vice versa. Also , the argument needs to explain how the features of aspartame are shortcomings for a person consuming it and also how sugar is beneficial to him considering the above mentioned assumptions.
"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.[[
[[[0
[00[
The above argument that people who use aspartame are better off consuming sugar is based on an unwarranted assumtion that aspartame is consumed primarily to lose weight. Even if this assumption is true, the above argument fails to provide a convincing explanation of how using sugars can be more helpful than aspartame in weight loss.
Firstly, the argument assumes that the person using aspartame instead of sugar has a primary goal of losing weight. This may not always be the case. For example, it may be possible that aspartame has other health effects than sugars other than weight loss. For instance, aspartame may serve as an alternative to sugar for people who have diabetes , where aspartame could help in contolling insulin level of the effected. It may have other health benefits like reduced cholestrol which may be a reason for aspartame as a substitute to sugar. Had the argument suggested that aspartame was primarily used by people aiming for weight loss , it would have made the argument stronger.
Secondly , even if the it is assumed that the people taking aspartame primarily take it for weight loss the argument fails to provide a convincing explanation. For one , it is said that 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. A primary explanation of above fact could be that consumption of aspartame could lead to a faster functioning of human metabolism and as a result the efficiency of human digestive system could increase leading to increased hunger. This may not be as bad to weight loss as attributed above. More efficient metabolism and digestive system would mean burning of fat quicker and hence may aid even more in weight loss. If the argument would have explained how decrease in craving of food was related to weight loss , it would have seemed stronger.
Finally , the argument explains that if sugar is consumed at least 45 minutes after continuous exercise enhance their abilities to burn fat. While this may be helpful in weight loss , it may be possible that aspartame performs even better in this aspect. For example , aspartame drinks may enhance the ability to burn fat many folds than sugars enhance. An explanation of how aspartame differs from sugars in its consumtion after exercise would have made the argument clearer. The term dietry goals itself doesn't explain what the person expects to acheive by using aspartame as an alternative to sugar. There could be multiple goals, as mentioned above, that a person would want to acheive. A clearer explanation of what is specifically meant by dietry goals would have been helpful in strengthening the argument.
Thus, due to the above unwarranted assumptions , the argument seems seriously flawed. It is necessary to explain what the dietry goals of a person are for which he is replacing aspartame with sugar or vice versa. Also , the argument needs to explain how the features of aspartame are shortcomings for a person consuming it and also how sugar is beneficial to him considering the above mentioned assumptions.
