Yes, Margaritas Are Healthy

Margaritas are powerful concoctions of tequila, triple sec, lime juice, and salt, but if made improperly and with the wrong ingredients, these celebratory cocktails can transform a dreamy evening into a tear-and vomit-filled nightmare. However, a well-crafted margarita — one that uses the right balance of quality tequila and fresh lime juice — can actually be the best thing to drink at the bar or your friend's culturally insensitive Cinco de Mayo party.

Click here to see How You've Been Making Margaritas All Wrong

Tequila is not a "health" food, but in relation to other liquors, it has some unique beneficial attributes, but these benefits only apply to tequila made from 100 percent agave. Under Mexican law, tequila may only be made from the blue Weber agave plant from the Tequila region of Jalisco. In the U.S., however, tequila has received a bad reputation as a liquid hangover because regulations allow liquors made with only 51 percent agave to be called tequila.

Here are three reasons that margaritas are good for you... in moderation of course.

It's Got Vitamin C

Some might say a great margarita is all about the tequila, but the experts know that it's the fresh lime juice that really makes a margarita pop. A standard margarita recipe calls for around one ounce of lime juice, which provides you with 13 percent of your recommended daily intake of vitamin C. Having vitamin C in your system before and after a night of drinking may also reduce the severity of next-day hangovers.

It's Gluten-Free

While the gluten-free craze is overblown, there are people who are legitimately sensitive to grain-based alcohols. Traditional tequila, which is solely from the blue agave plant, is gluten-free, but some American brands use a blend of sugars (called mixtos), which may be extracted from grain. This combination of sugars is part of the reason for that nasty tequila hangover.

It's a Digestif

Digestifs are traditionally heavy liquors sipped after the conclusion of a meal to aid in digestion. They are usually served neat or in a strong cocktail. Tequila, the primary ingredient in a margarita, can speed up the digestion process by cutting through the fat of a particularly rich meal. Just remember — if you want the health benefits — to stick with a 100 percent agave tequila, preferably one that's been aged for at least a year.