This is one of the topics i attempted for argument while prep. Haven't refined it much, so it's very crude and gives a sense of my first draft.
Topic
"A recent study shows that people living on the continent of North America suffer 9 times more chronic fatigue and 31 times more chronic depression than do people living on the continent of Asia. Interestingly, Asians, on average, eat 20 grams of soy per day, whereas North Americans eat virtually none. It turns out that soy contains phytochemicals called isoflavones, which have been found to possess disease-preventing properties. Thus, North Americans should consider eating soy on a regular basis as a way of preventing fatigue and depression."
My response
The author in this argument links a study of chronic fatigue and depression to be significantly higher in North Americans when compared to Asians. In particular he mentions this to be 9 and 31 times higher for fatigue and depression respectively. This striking difference is compelling at first glance and the first thing which comes to our mind is what could be reason for such a striking difference. There can be numerous factors which can contribute to this if we analyze in depth. But the first factor which comes to our mind is food habits and author has predictably come up with one such findings. He has attributed this to disparate studies of Asian food habits to those with Americans in terms of soya, while linking these two factors together. It may be noted that these two facts can be co-related, however we cannot attribute them to be linked without any concrete evidence or study.
Soy is an interesting food ingredient widely consumed by Asians and as author suggests have shown to prevent some disease properties, but author completely fails to mention what these disease preventing properties are. He fails to point out if they are in anyways are related to chronic fatigue and depression. Moreover, the author mentions about chemicals in soy which maynot be fully attributed to any of the studies of depression and fatigue.
To logically deduce the conclusion and find reasons of what could be the factors which have resulted in such a difference, the author must consider several factors and in particular if they have been any relation to the study in terms of disease. Definitely food can be a common link and which seems quite obvious. Author in order to justify his findings must research on other food items as well, for example Asian cuisine seems to be less dominant in fat, more in widely accepted nutritional ingredients like rice, pulses, fish etc. So why do we need to limit our findings to just soy, a concrete study of other Asian ingredients can also be a key to justifying the argument. The most appropriate findings would be if any of these ingredients can be linked to specific fatigue or depression conditions.
Other factors which can also be looked at will be lifestyle, environmental factors, family orientation etc. A holistic approach and giving weighted attention to several factor can truly add worth to the argument which is proposed by author.
Based on these factors we can safely contribute towards suggesting methods of preventing these diseases. For example if the findings confirm a linkage between soy's chemical isoflavones and its effect on reducing fatigue and depression, the author can safely suggest consumption of them.
Only after analysis and justification can we say with confidence of the reasons which are linked to fatigue and depression and suggest appropriate ways of preventing them.
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