Healthy diet can help teenagers with depression

Eating healthy not only helps your body, but also your mind, and a new study shows it can help lessen depression for teenagers.

Researchers at Australia's MacQuarie University enlisted young adults with depression.

They had half of the group cut back on processed and sugary foods and eat more vegetables, fruit and lean protein. The other half stuck to their regular diets which were not as healthy.

Within three weeks, those on the healthy plan felt improvement in their depression symptoms and it lasted as they continued to eat healthy. The other group saw no change.

And the results were significant as more than 30 percent who stuck to the healthy eating plan for three months no longer met the criteria for depression.

The lead researcher says the diet was not restrictive or expensive.

This lifestyle change could have a real impact on mental health and not just for teenagers. Other studies have shown a similar healthy eating plan (the Mediterranean Diet) has helped reduce depression in older adults as well.