Chocolate Hazelnut Bowl — start your day sweet and healthy!

This week I’m giving you a recipe from Mind Your Body. Despite what the name might suggest, the Chocolate Hazelnut Bowl recipe is full of super healthy ingredients — good for you in more than one way!

Of the 130+ recipes in the Mind Your Body academy, this is one of my favourites. It is super quick to make, really tasty, and best of all, very healthy! And some of the ingredients are considered superfoods, which means they contain high levels of much-needed vitamins and minerals, as well as antioxidants.

"Smoothie bowls can be quick and easy ways to get valuable nutrients into your body."

Click here for your FREE Chocolate Hazelnut Bowl recipe

The Chocolate Hazelnut Bowl Superfoods

• Cacao [kuh-kah-oh]
  Cacao is a healthy choice when you want a chocolatey taste as it contains less than 15 calories (63 kilojoules) per tablespoon. It is also known to help lower blood pressure and improve blood flow to the heart and brain through the flavonoids it contains. Look for the non-alkalised as these contain all the photo-chemicals and antioxidants. Dutch or alkalised cocoa are processed and have most of their antioxidants removed.
• Hazelnuts
  Hazelnuts are rich in monounsaturated fatty acids, which helps reduce low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol — commonly considered the worse type of cholesterol. Hazelnuts are also high in magnesium — one of the most important minerals for the body and also the most deficient, as well as antioxidants, calcium and vitamins B and E.
• Banana
  It’s becoming more commonly known that bananas are high in potassium and magnesium. Potassium is a mineral and electrolyte that plays a significant role in the functioning of your heart, muscles, nerves and kidneys. Magnesium is responsible for over 300 enzymatic reactions and for this reason, is often the most deficient mineral in the body. But bananas are also rich in pectin — a soluble dietary fibre that assists digestion that can bind to cholesterol in the gut and prevent its absorption into the bloodstream.
• Chia [chee-uh] seeds
  Chia seeds are packed full of omega-3 fatty acids, fibre and calcium. Omega-3 is an essential nutrient because our bodies don’t make it and it is used in the building of cell membranes in the brain. The ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 consumption should be 1:1; however, in many people it is often 1:20, and in extreme cases, 1:30. Of course fish is a great way to increase your omega-3 intake, but sprinkling chia seeds into and onto your smoothie can also be a great way to get that intake up.
• Almond Milk
  Almond milk is 50 per cent lower in calories than cows milk, which is great if you’re being mindful of your caloric intake; however, it is void of much of the nutritional benefits of almonds such as protein, monounsaturated fats and calcium. While almond milk is low in nutritional benefits, it is used in this recipe for its low-level of calories and taste when combined with the other ingredients.

Smoothie bowls can be quick and easy ways to get valuable nutrients into your body. And when combined smartly, they can also be very low in calories, without sacrificing taste. This Chocolate Hazelnut Bowl includes cacao, hazelnuts, banana, chia seeds and almond milk; all of which are nutritionally beneficial and low in calories.

What is your favourite smoothie bowl recipe? Try this one and tell me what you think.