Argument142 【0706G－LOVEAW小组】第十四次作业 by iq28

iq28UID: 2152875

TOPIC: ARGUMENT142 - The article entitled 'Eating Iron' in last month's issue of Eating for Health reported that a recent study found a correlation between high levels of iron in the diet and an increased risk of heart disease. Further, it is well established that there is a link between large amounts of red meat in the diet and heart disease, and red meat is high in iron. On the basis of the study and the well-established link between red meat and heart disease, we can conclude that the correlation between high iron levels and heart disease, then, is most probably a function of the correlation between red meat and heart disease.
WORDS: 479          TIME: 0:27:00          DATE: 2007-3-1

The author draws an astonishing conclusion that correlation between high iron levels and heart disease is caused by the relationship between red meat and heart disease. Such conclusion is obviously based on several steps of logical confusing inferences. I will discuss them one by one in the following details.

To begin with, although red meat contains much amount of iron in it, it does not equal to the high levels of iron in the diet when people eat red meat. Entirely possible, the iron in the red meat does not exist in a stable form, and after cooking most of the iron may have already gone out of the red meat. Even if the iron still remains after cooking, the high level of iron in the red meat may not reach the standard mentioned in the study on iron levels in diet which has correlation with heart disease. It is entirely possible that the amount of iron in red meat is 10mg per kilogram can already be called 'high level of iron', while the real dangerous iron amount in a single meal is 100mg, which is far more than the iron in the red meat. In such cases, the author fails to convince me that the red meat causes the heart disease.

Granted that iron in red meat is at a level as high as mentioned in the study, still there are many other factors that may contribute to a higher risk of heart disease rather than iron. For example, it may be the unhealthy cooking habit that creates bad elements in the red meat which may actually be responsible for the increasing heart attack risk. Or it may be that red meat together with common food, such as bread or rice, can cooperate to make harmful materials which deteriorate the heart, but the red meal itself is innocent. Failing to consider such possibilities, the author still cannot prove the relationship between heart disease and red meat.

Given that all forgoing flaws have been modified, the conclusion remains questionable. Heart disease can be caused by many reasons, and always these reasons entangle with each other rather than appear in single form. For example, the pressures caused by the modern fast life style, the problematic gene succeeded from parents, or the lack of exercise, these may all be factors that contribute to the heart disease besides the red meat. Without further investigation upon the other living conditions of the red meat eaters, the author simply cannot assert his conclusion. Moreover, it is highly probably that red meat actually play vital role in protecting the heart, and this may be the real reason that those who suffers from high risk of heart disease prefers red meat, which was misused by the author in analyzing the relationship between heart disease and red meat.

In summary, the result of the argument is unsound.

[ 本帖最后由 iq28 于 2008-2-1 15:37 编辑 ]