Barja, an aside

I quite enjoyed Barja's review

The Cell Ageing Regulatory System (CARS)

but found this section a little uncomfortable:

Hmmmmmm. Plant based, healthy fruit and vegetables, bad animal fats. Not my sort of outlook really.

In another of his publications here

Highly resistant macromolecular components and low rate of
generation of endogenous damage: Two key traits of longevity

there is this comment

"It was also found that 6–7 weeks of dietary restriction are enough to decrease MitROS production and 8-oxodG in mtDNA and nDNA in rat liver (Gredilla et al., 2001a )".

Gredialla et al (incl Barja) 2001a is

Effect of short-term caloric restriction on H2O2 production and oxidative DNA damage in rat liver mitochondria and location of the free radical source

Here they found, by eyeball, an approximately 50% reduction of in 8-oxodG in mitochondrial DNA after those six weeks of quite severe caloric restriction:

Now let's compare this with the degree of damage reduction (this time using the term 8-OHdG as the marker rather than oxo-8dG, which appears to be the same thing).

Here's the change in mtDNA damage marker in brain mitochondria using F3666, one of the worst ketogenic diets around:

Just by eyeball I make the drop in mtDNA damage out to be greater than 50% by two days and something like 75% by three weeks. On ad-lib food consumption. No hunger.

Considering that F3666 does not extend longevity in mice (it doesn't shorten lifespan either, despite causing liver damage and it does actually improve health during ageing in rodents) this does, for me, slightly knock some of Barjas core ideas.

Sad but true.

Peter