Does fruit induce creativity?

Steve Jobs was known for his creativity, thinking he knew the reason for it: his diet consisted almost exclusively of fruit. Medically speaking, one should be careful with such fruit diets, although a Dutch study now shows that the Apple inventor wasn't completely wrong.

Researchers of Leiden University discovered in a recent study that consumption of food rich in tyrosine, can clearly improve one's thinking ability and creativity. Tyrosine is an amino acid that's import for brain metabolism. Fruit contains a lot of tyrosine, and is thus indirectly "a beneficent and healthy way to improve mental ability and creativity", research author Lorenza Colzato explains. "Steve Jobs' fruit diet could have been a cornerstone for his successes", she continues to write.

Nevertheless, nobody should eat only fruit. Doctors having studied the health effects of so-called fruit or juice diets, warn that this is a very one-sided diet. With a fruit diet, the body receives insufficient nutrients. Particularly lacking are important proteins, which we can't store up - as opposed to fat or carbohydrates. The body's mineral metabolism is also thrown off, which could lead to severe health damage, like cardiac arrest in the worst-case scenario.