This Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie tastes like a dream, takes less than 5 minutes to make AND has a serving of heart healthy cocoa flavanols. The real question is, what are you waiting for?

Disclosure: I was asked to participate in the @CocoaVia #HeartMonth campaign as a member of the Healthy Aperture Blogger Network. I was compensated for my time.

Health is one of those amazing gifts that you never really appreciate until it’s taken from you. Yup, I know it’s super cliche but it’s so damn true. Whenever I get so much as a cold I feel like the world as I know it is about to end. Ok, that is a bit of an exaggeration but health, like money and safety and so many other vital things in our lives, don’t effect us until we don’t have them anymore.

This month is American Heart Month and I’ll be honest, I really don’t think about my heart or its health all that much. I take my little beating heart for granted every day. I just wake up expecting it to do it’s thang, because well, it always has. But I do appreciate whenever I have a chance to step back and practice a little gratitude, especially in the health department.

This month I had the chance to try a new product, CocoaVia® a daily cocoa extract supplement that delivers the highest concentration of cocoa flavanols, which are scientifically proven to promote a healthy heart by supporting healthy blood flow†.

The cocoa flavanols in CocoaVia® are backed by two decades of scientific research that suggests these powerful plant-derived nutrients from cocoa beans may play a valuable role in cardiovascular health.

Ok, so let’s back up. What the heck are cocoa flavanols?

Well it turns out they can be found in the cocoa bean. However, unfortunately traditional cocoa processing, which includes drying, fermenting and roasting of beans, destroys many of the flavanols naturally present in the cocoa bean. CocoaVia® supplement isolates the “good stuff” in chocolate in a convenient, versatile form, without the extra calories and fat. So yes, chocolate is awesome for a lot of reasons, but it’s not the most reliable way to get in these powerful flavanols.

Luckily the CocoVia® supplement is a really easy way to enjoy a daily serving of cocoa flavanols. They come in portable sticks that you can add to your drinks, water, coffee, smoothies, cereal, yogurt and more. Let’s be real, some habits are really hard to start and stick to, but adding a a chocolatey supplement to your routine? Not too hard. Plus healthy blood flow will make your heart happy and when you’re heart’s happy, life is a whole lot easier.

You can learn more about CocoaVia on their website: www.CocoaVia.com

Today I whipped up a simple, easy to make, classic smoothie combo to show you how easy it is to incorporate CocoaVia into your routine. Hey, if a chocolate, pb, banana smoothie is gonna make my heart happy in the long run, then you can twist my arm.

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This statement has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Your Turn:

• Is there any aspect of your health you take for granted?
• What’s a simple daily routine you like to do for your health?

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