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 d

The study shows that North Americans are more prone to fatigue and depression than the Asians. How much more the North Americans are likely to suffer is really shocking- 9 and 31 times respectively. The reason as stated by the author is that because Asians consume soy much more than the North Americans. However, it does not specify the kinds of diseases does soy prevent. And the argument also ignores the social, economic and cultural aspects of human life which are considered important factors when it comes to depression and fatigue.
The author states that Asians eat soy in a regular basis which contains a chemical which has disease-preventing properties. However, exactly what kinds of diseases this chemical prevents is not specified. The problem we are dealing with are depression and fatigue. Now does it concern us if soy has the ability to prevent cancer or cholera? Absolutely not. So what we need here is what specifically soy does to prevent disease.
Another side which is ignored in the argument are the reasons behind depression. In a broad sense depression can be caused by practically an infinite number of things. But in general society, culture and economy can be the greatest factors affecting people. These aspects of the North Americans and the Asians can be vastly different. May be the economy of North America is falling down, which cause people to be depressed. It could be a huge cultural upheaval which are affecting peoples’ lives in a negative way. So due to different socio-cultural and socio-economic factors there might be a big difference in the number of people getting absorbed in depression in the two different regions of the world.
Finally, it can be said that the conclusion of the argument is based on a very narrow assumption of disease preventing property of soy which needs further research and data. Also the factors behind depression should be examined in supporting the conclusion.