jzepeda
Essay 2 Prompt:
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.
First, the argument lacks any background into how the study was conducted. By providing details into what kinds of exercise each person was involved in or how long they exercised, the argument could potentially become more convincing. For instance, if each study participant engaged in the same exercise program, it would be more likely to draw a general conclusion on whether sugar or aspartame was helpful in burning fat. If each participant did a different workout, for different amounts of time - the same conclusion could not logically be made. Furthermore, there is no detail on how long each particpant consumed aspartame or sugar. If some consumed it at the 45-minute mark, others 2 hours after, and others 4 hours after, we again cannot make a connection between all participants.
Second, the argument does not discuss the demographics of the study participants. If some participants are much older than others, one cannot make the assumption that their bodies’ will respond to exercise or specific diets the same way. Similarly, if some of the participants are already healthy and their body excels at burning fat, their results will more than likely be much different than those who are not as healthy or who do not exercise as often. The argument assumes that all of the participants can be lumped together in order to make a conclusion but without more details on who these people are, we cannot compare apples to oranges.
Finally, the study does not state how success, or the body’s ability to burn fat, is measured. Is this being measured by weight loss over time or by fat percentage? Was each person’s starting health, weight, and fat percentage taken into account before? With no insight into how the study came to its conclusions after reviewing its data, we cannot make the assumption that the intake of aspartame is better or worse than sugar in terms of burning body fat.
In conclusion, the argument lacks multiple key details that would make its assumption sound. In order to more adequately support its claim, the argument should provide more details into how the study was set up to create a controlled environment, who participated in the study, and how the study measured success in order to come to its ultimate conclusion that consuming asparatme over sugar will not be helpful in achieving dietary goals.
My Comments: Pretty Good.!
I like the structure. Almost perfect that you can use on the day of the exam.
I don't know the score this will fetch but overall a solid one.