[Recipes] FOR SCIENCE! Meet The NorCal Margarita, The Leanest Drink On Earth

Meet the NorCal Margarita, the leanest drink on earth. Better known as a tequila-ed up version of a Vodka Soda & Lime — with a catchy name — it’s a Paleo-friendly drink that strips out the sugar, artificial flavors, and other junk from the traditional margarita and distills it down to the clean, bare essentials.

The NorCal’s hidden superpowers, however, come straight from SCIENCE. For starters, it’s made in 5 easy steps (20 oz. glass):

1. Pour 1 shot (1.5 oz) of 100% agave tequila — I like Herradura or Espolon. Feel free to add more for a stronger drink.
2. Add juice + pulp from one lime.
3. Add ice and shake.
4. Fill glass with soda water — I like flavored Poland Spring, for an extra layer of flavor.
5. Garnish with salt, if desired.

Muddled mint also goes well, for a mojito-esque twist.

What’s So Lean About The NorCal Margarita?

We’ve laid this out in brutal detail, but lean-drinking is about efficiency — keep the calories and sugar down, malevolent mixers out, and the impact on blood sugar even lower. That’s the magic formula for abdominal preservation, while staying social.

Outside of the obvious low-calorie, low-sugar, pure & natural angle — a 1-shotter has a slim 97 calories & ZERO sugar, all from the tequila — The NorCal excels because it leverages chemistry to work in your belly’s favor, in the form of lime and bubbly:

1. Lime suppresses the insulin response caused by alcohol and helps maintain insulin sensitivity (a key to preventing obesity and type 2 diabetes). In this case, increased insulin levels trigger your body to store body fat; lime helps protect against that.

2. CO2 (in seltzer) opens the pyloric valve in the stomach, which speeds up the alcohol’s rate of absorption in the small intestine. This gets alcohol into your blood faster and amplifies its effect on the body.

Translation: you can drink less for the same effects. Recent studies show that mixing with diet soda can lead to heightened BAC without realizing it, so be cautious if driving.¹²³

3. BONUS: Tequila comes from the agave plant, as opposed to a grain or starch (vodka). Vodka can contain gluten and may cause gut irritation.

Lime (suppressed insulin response) + Seltzer (increased absorption; “less for more”) = one efficient, lean, potent drink, sans cals or sugar.

That’s drinking math.

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Bryan DiSanto

Owner & Editor-in-Chief at Lean It UP

Bryan DiSanto is the Owner & Editor-in-Chief of Lean It UP, a culinary student at Le Cordon Bleu – Paris, an ACE-CPT & CSN, NYU graduate, ex-fat kid, and all-around fitness/nutrition nutjob.

He also contributes to Men's Health Magazine.

When he’s not working on his (or somebody else’s) abs, whipping up Eggocados, or running a Tough Mudder, he’s probably off yelling at a Carolina Panthers game somewhere.

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References, Notes, Links

1. Roberts C, Robinson SP. Alcohol concentration and carbonation of drinks: the effect on blood alcohol levels. J Forensic Leg Med. 2007 Oct;14(7):398-405. Epub 2007 May 16. [↩]
2. MedLine — Alcohol [↩]
3. Time — Diet-Soda Mixers Can Lead to Quicker Intoxication [↩]