Critical Evaluation of Saturday Meal Plan at Sunnybrook Health Center

This report presents a critical evaluation of the Saturday meal plan provided by Sunnybrook Health Science Center. The analysis delves into various aspects of the meal plan, including its balance of expansive and contractive foods based on the Ying and Yang theory, potential for food cravings, and the presence of acid-forming, alkalizing, and buffering foods. The report also assesses meal digestibility, considering the impact of food combinations on digestion, and evaluates the meal's color balance for visual appeal. The author concludes that while the meal plan offers a variety of foods, it has considerable imbalances and suggests improvements like incorporating more brightly colored fruits and vegetables and improving food combinations to prevent gastric discomfort and improve overall nutritional quality. The report also highlights the need to balance dinner with less acid-forming and contractive foods.

Running head: CRITICAL EVALUATION OF MEAL PLAN
CRITICAL EVALUATION OF MEAL PLAN
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

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Introduction
The formulation of a balanced diet adequate in a variety of nutrients forms the
cornerstones of maintenance of a healthy and sustainable life. Further, an adequate meal plan
encompassing key nutrients is of utmost importance for enhancing the treatment and recovery
process of diseased patients undergoing key healthcare procedures. (Chávez-Bosquez, Marchi &
Parra, 2014).
The following essay aims to critically evaluate the meal plan for Saturday, of Sunnybrook
Health Science Center.
Discussion
Expansive Vs. Contractive Foods
In accordance to the Ying and Yang theory of macrobiotic nutrition, a balanced meal
must comprise of foods which provide an effect of energy equilibrium upon the body. Hence,
food groups can be classified as being expansive (enabling one to feel slow and sluggish) or
contractive (enabling one to feel quick, agile and alert). Whole grains, plant protein, whole fruits,
unsaturated fats, nuts and seeds add balance to the meal, while sugars, saturated fats, alcohol and
beverages are expansive and meat, salted and milk products are contractive foods (Harmon et al.,
2015). The breakfast menu of Sunnybrook Health Center is not significantly balanced in terms of
energy. While there seems to be an abundance of whole grain products and small amounts of
fruits which are balanced in energy, the small amounts of contractive foods like eggs is not
enough to balance the slowing properties of excessive sugary expansive foods like fruit juices.
For lunch, the diet seems balanced with abundant source of balanced energy foods such as

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vegetables and whole fruits, and contractive foods such as meat products being balanced by
expansive foods such as sugary desserts. The diet contains plenty of imbalances during diet since
it is abundant in contractive food sources such as meat products which will be difficult to balance
by less amount of available expansive food products like potatoes and sugary desserts, followed
by a lack of vegetables, fruits and whole grains which could have otherwise balanced the diet in
terms of energy.
Possible Food Cravings
Patients may suffer from food cravings during midnight or during the hours preceding
breakfast. Further, while the abundance of high fiber whole grains during breakfast may prevent
food cravings, patients may encounter the negative effects of a high fiber diet such as bloating
and gastric discomfort (Brotherton et al., 2014).
Acid-Forming, Alkalinizing and Buffering Foods
Consumption of a highly acid diet results in acidosis and susceptibility to diseases such as
cardiovascular and renal disorders, decreased energy and hormone production, muscle aches,
oxidative stress and a compromised immune system. Meat and sugary products, cereal items,
cheese and spices are acid forming foods, while alkaline forming foods include potatoes, eggs,
leafy vegetables, whole fruits and dairy products (Williams, Kozan & Samocha-Bonet, 2016).
The breakfast as well as dinner of Sunnybrook Health Center is abundant in acidic foods such as
sugary fruit juices and beverages, meat products and cereal grains with very less amount of
alkalizing foods such as potatoes, milk products and leafy vegetables. The lunch seems to be
balanced as it contains acidic foods such as meat and fish, and sugary fruit desserts as well as
alkaline foods such as potatoes and green leafy vegetables. Freshly prepared unsalted butter raw
dairy products, whey, oils and margarine are foods which are buffering. Except forte usage of

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unsaturated cooking oils, the meal plan of three days is completely devoid of buffering food
products (Carnauba et al., 2017).
Possible Food Cravings
Patients are less likely to encounter food cravings after breakfast due to the abundance of
cereal products which contain high satiety value. However, the high fiber cereal products along
with sugary beverages may also cause gastric discomfort due to their acid forming nature. The
lack of high satiety fiber foods in dinner may further lead to food cravings post meal timings
along with acidity due to high amount of acid forming meat products. While lunch seems
balanced and unlikely to cause food cravings, it is rich in acid forming condiments such as salad
dressings and sugary desserts which may cause gastric discomfort associated with acidosis
(Kitsako et al., 2015).
Meal Digestibility
Each food item, based on levels of acidity and alkalinity, produce their own profile of
digestive enzymes and hence, inaccurate food combinations may result in gastrointestinal
discomfort (Flemmer, 2015). The breakfast diet of Saturday provided by Sunnybrook Health
Center has been critically evaluated for meal digestibility. Fruits are recommended to be
consumed in an empty stomach, to their rapid digestion. Hence, serving fruits with whole grain
foods, as observed in the diet, will halt the process of digestion in fruits, resulting in bloating and
indigestion. Hence it the fruit juices and fruit pieces for breakfast must be served separately as
the first meal to be eaten on an empty stomach, instead of as a combination with other breakfast
food items (Bornhorst, 2017) . High protein food sources such as eggs must not be combined
with starches like bran, oats and muffins as observed in the breakfast diet. This is because, the
acidic protein foods and alkaline cereal foods required completely different acid and alkalizing

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enzymes for digestion, hence leading to gastrointestinal disorders. Hence, protein foods must be
combined with non-starchy green leafy vegetables since the latter contain a high water content
and already posses enzymes, hence not requiring alkaline enzymes for digestion. Consequently,
starches like cereals must be combined with buffering foods such as fats (butter, vegetable oils)
or alkaline forming foods such as potatoes or leafy greens (Lovegrove et al., 2017).
Meal Color Balance
A meal plan with similarly colored food items looks visually unappealing and
monotonous to eat (McCrickerd & Forde, 2016). The breakfast diet provided by Sunnybrook
Health Center on Saturday has been critically evaluated for color. The breakfast the diet seems to
incorporate a good contrast of colors such as colorful fruit juices, warming yellow shades from
eggs and neutral notes from cereal products. However, the meal contains more amount of
neutrally shaded cereal products and lacks significant amount brightly colored foods which could
have enhanced the meal’s visual appeal. Hence, incorporation of brightly colored variety of
whole fruits and leafy green vegetables will be a beneficial way to increase the visual appeal of
the meal in terms of color (Correia et al., 2014).
Summary: Table of Opposites (As designed by the Author)
Table of Opposites (As per the Sunnybrook Health Center Saturday diet)
Expansive Foods Contractive Foods
Orange/apple/prune/cranberry juices, peanut
butter, mashed potato, ice cream, sherbet,
prune/vanilla puddings, jello, custards
Boiled/Poached egg, skim milk cheese, beef
broth, scalloped salmon, minced turkey, pureed
beef, thousand island dressing, baked chicken,
pot roast beef
Acid-Forming Foods Alkalizing Foods
Orange/apple/prune/cranberry juices, peanut
butter, mashed potato, ice cream, sherbet,
prune pudding, boiled/poached egg, turkey
salad sandwich, salmon asparagus quiche,
cottage cheese fruit plate, pureed beef,
Rolled oats, cream of wheat, bran flakes,
Special K, puffed rice, toasted English muffin,
skim milk cheese, toast, bran/fruit muffin,
mashed potato, pureed/soft green beans, cream
of vegetable, mixed green, minestrone soup,

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thousand island dressing, peach slices/pureed,
beef broth, scalloped salmon, minced turkey,
pureed beef, baked chicken, pot roast beef,
cranberry cocktail, apple sauce, fresh apple,
baked chicken
steamed rice, vanilla pudding, custard,
whipped squash, cauliflower florets, zucchini
loaf, wax beans, mashed potato, horseradish,
pureed squash
Buildup Foods Breakdown Foods
Rolled oats, cream of wheat, bran flakes,
Special K, puffed rice, boiled/poached egg,
skim milk cheese, scrambled eggbeaters, toast,
toasted English/bran/fruit muffin, turkey salad
sandwich, green beans, mixed green, salmon
quiche, cottage cheese fruit plate, minced
turkey, scalloped salmon, chicken broth, pot
roast beef, sliced turkey, steamed rice,
baked/minced chicken, peanut butter, whipped
squash, cauliflower florets, zucchini loaf, wax
beans, mashed potato, horseradish, pureed
squash
Orange/apple/prune/cranberry juices, ice
cream, sherbet, prune/vanilla puddings, jello,
custards
Conclusion
Hence, it can be concluded that, despite the variety of foods offered by the meal plan of
Sunnybrook Health Center, there lies considerable imbalances in the meal planning. As observed
from the summary table, there is a large number of acid-forming foods in the diet which may
cause acidosis and the associated health symptoms. The meal can also be improved visually
through incorporation of brightly colored fruits and vegetables. Further, the food combinations
during breakfast need improvement since high amount of cereals or fruits served as combinations
can cause gastric discomfort. Additionally, the dinner must be balanced by reducing the large
quantities of acid-forming, contractive foods to decrease the possibility of gastric discomfort and
food cravings post meal timings.

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