Can I Eat Low Sodium at IHOP?

Can I Eat Low Sodium at IHOP?

If you have been reading my “Can I Eat Low Sodium at” posts, you should have figured out by now, I am not endorsing eating out all the time on our Low Sodium Journey. Far from it. I do these posts to help guide us to the low sodium choices they have on their menus to help us maintain our health when we are Dining Out. An important factor in living a low sodium life every day, is that it allows us to still enjoy every day activity. That includes dining out.

This point was never made more clear to me than from a post I saw in one of the many low sodium support groups that made me sad and shake my head. A member of the group received a gift card from friends as a treat or reward. She then had to ask the group if it was safe to order something from that restaurant. Sadly it was a restaurant that was on the list of restaurants with high sodium menus to avoid.

Restaurants Should Provide Low Sodium Options

First off, it is sad that I have to keep track of such a list. It is sad that a restaurant can’t muster together one complete meal option for us that includes a main dish, side, and beverage that comes within our daily sodium limits per meal. Especially if we don’t have to resort to the kid’s menu to find it. No one should feel bad about accepting a restaurant gift card that was meant to be a reward, and now has become a concern because there is no food choices that would fit into a low sodium diet.

Ok, that is the end of my rant. Let’s get to the real information you wanted today; the answer to what we can order that is low sodium at IHOP. All of the Nutrition Information for IHOP was taken directly from their website here. in order to qualify as a meal, we need a main dish, side, and beverage to come in at 750 milligrams of sodium or less. The reason for 750 mg? The FDA recommended daily allowance for a “healthy” person is 2300 mg. per day. The American Heart Association (AHA) & The Mayo Clinic recommend 1500 mg a day to protect heart health. Based on 3 meals a day, a meal would be a third of the daily allowance. That equates roughly to 750 mg of sodium for a meal.

What Items are Low Sodium at IHOP?

Sadly, not their signature items, pancakes. All of the pancake stacks start at 1000 mg and go up from there. The Waffles and Crepes are also out as choices. At this point you are wondering what else it could be? Well, here we go:

The Build Your Own French Toast Combos:

A piece of Original French Toast is 620 mg.

The Peach Vanilla Stuffed French Toast is 400 mg.

The Strawberry Stuffed French Toast is 380 mg.

The Strawberry Vanilla Stuffed French Toast is 390 mg.

The Strawberry Banana French Toast is 570 mg.

The other choices are too high in sodium.

Syrups:

Sugar Free Syrup – 1 oz. is 55 mg.

Blueberry Syrup – 1 oz. is 10 mg.

Boysenberry Syrup – 1 oz. is 5 mg.

Butter Pecan Syrup – 1 oz. is 20 mg.

Old Fashioned Pancake Syrup – 1 oz. is 15 mg.

Strawberry Syrup – 1 oz. is 10 mg.

Choice of Eggs:

2 Fried Eggs are 160 mg.

2 Hard or Soft Boiled Eggs are 125 mg.

2 Poached Eggs are 260 mg.

2 Scrambled Eggs are 230 mg.

Sides:

2 Strips of Bacon are 350 mg.

2 Sausage Links are 300 mg.

Hashbrowns are 430 mg.

Limited in our choices, but there are some solid options to choose and be able to eat low sodium at IHOP. Hopefully some day they will address the sodium in their pancakes, waffles, and Crepes. At least it is possible for you to confidently go to an IHOP restaurant and be able to stay low sodium at IHOP. Let me know your thoughts below.