Learning About IHOP Nutrition
Considerations
Websites such as The Daily Plate run by Livestrong are often good sources of IHOP nutrition facts and other food information. The Daily Plate staff notes it strives to keep restaurant facts as accurate as possible.
However, you might want to be especially careful when viewing user-entered facts. If you have a health problem that requires strict adherence to specific nutritional guidelines then you may need to request a printed nutritional information card from IHOP. You can apply this advice to any other eatery that doesn’t publish its nutritional information online.
Pancakes and the Like
A trip to IHOP for many people includes lots of starchy breakfast treats such as pancakes, waffles, and French toast. If you’re really watching your waistline or carbohydrate grams, these might not be an ideal choice to eat regularly.
One of the “worst” items (nutrition-wise that is, not taste-wise) for even an average person to eat when visiting IHOP is the stuffed French toast combo. Sure, this is a delectable blend of starch, sugar, and protein. However, the calorie count of about 1,476 as well as the estimated 76.2 fat grams and the 173.1 carbohydrate grams makes this a choice to pass upon or use extremely sparingly.
If you’ve got to have sugar and carbs while visiting IHOP, one of the better choices in this category appears to be pancakes. One buttermilk pancake is 110 calories, 3 grams of fat and 17 carbohydrate grams. These facts, of course, don’t take into account butter or syrup.
About Omelettes
Omelettes seem to be a generally good choice when visiting IHOP, but be mindful of adding lots of sides such as bacon, hash browns, and pancakes.
The Daily Plate reports that the spinach, mushroom, and tomato omelette consists of 275 calories, 4.5 fat grams and 37 grams of carbohydrates. Keep in mind the carb count may seem a bit higher than most egg-based dishes because of the three types of vegetables included.
However, there is one omelette you might want to avoid eating regularly. The Big Steak-based dish purportedly has 915 calories and 72 grams of fat. Atkins-type dieters might be the only ones interested in eating this, as the carbohydrate count is rather low for IHOP at about 14 grams. However, this omelette has some potential for unwanted artery clogging.
When You Just Don’t Want Breakfast at IHOP
Sometimes you want to go to this popular chain but not eat breakfast items. The IHOP menu offers extensive choices in the areas of sandwiches, appetizers, salads, soups, entrees, and of course, desserts.
One option for the nutrition-watcher who wants to go to IHOP but not for a breakfast dish is the “simply chicken” sandwich. The sandwich consists of 440 calories, 6 grams of fat and 42 carbohydrate grams. However, this is not inclusive of side dishes or toppings like bacon, cheese, or mayonnaise.
Something you might not want to eat regularly at IHOP is the chicken fajita salad. Even without tortilla chips, this salad is not as healthy as one might think. The Daily Plate users report that this dish has a whopping 67 grams of fat as well as 870 calories. So, unless you’re an Atkins-follower, this is another dish you might want to avoid in favor of something else.
References
“Livestrong.com: IHOP Nutrition.” https://www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate/search.php?q=&b=IHOP&so=&page=1
Atkins Diet Information. Atkins website. https://www.atkins.com/Homepage.aspx