If you can’t eat just anywhere, then here’s your guide to finding health foods on vacation. In particular, people with severe intolerances like gluten intolerance will need to pack their food.
As you know, I like to pack my own healthy stuff to bring on my trips. Usually, a few cans of mercury-free tuna and/or salmon, some fig or coconut bars, plantain chips fried in heat stable palm oil and sometimes even sea salt if I have no idea what I’ll find on the other side.
Luckily, St. Martin also has some decent options for people who are suffering from allergies of all sorts. The first place you should consider is the Bio-Man in Marigot. It’s near the waterfront, but on the south side away from where the crux of the action is. One nice thing about Bio-Man is that they have food for omnivores and don’t consider stuff healthy just because it’s veggie based. So you can find some decent meats, eggs and even raw butter there as well as full fat plain yogurt.
The two supermarkets you want to check out are the Grand Marché just south of Marigot (and presumably the ones nearer the airport would have a good selection as well) and the US Market in Grand Case, which is a bit more expensive. At the very least, you will find French meats, which are practically organic and pastured by US standards as well as sea salt and organic olive oil and vinegars. I wouldn’t go to anything in Philippsburg for health foods. Those places tend to be dirty and junky and cater to a different crowd altogether.
Throughout the island you will find a bunch of rasta eateries that serve fresh juices and vegetarian fare as well as a restaurant and bookstore called Top Carrot in the Philippsburg area. Top Carrot claims to have homemade ice cream, but we didn’t notice when we went in there.
If you know anything about me, you’ll know that I tend to steer clear of these places because they focus so much on the vegetarian aspect of things that their food is typically littered with all kinds of rancid vegetable oils and synthetic soy/almond/hemp animal replacement ingredients that are major contributors to disease. Ironically, the very thing that helps to abate the negative effects of these types of food (because the body’s cells have an innate preference for them) is ANIMAL FOODS! No wonder so many vegetarians end up with bloated bellies and falling hair!
Nonetheless, you can certainly find any food you want or NEED to eat while vacationing on St. Martin!
