Importantly, both groups were counselled to continue taking any antidepressants or other medications they were prescribed. The goal of the study was not to see if a healthier diet could replace medication, but whether it could provide additional benefits, like exercise, good sleep and other lifestyle behaviours. After 12 weeks, average depression scores improved in both groups, which might be expected for anyone entering a clinical trial that provided additional support, regardless of which group you were in. But depression scores improved to a far greater extent in the group that followed the healthy diet: roughly one-third of those people were no longer classified as depressed, compared with 8 per cent of people in the control group.