The effects of total dietary restriction(100% restriction of energy intake) on thiobarbituric acid reactive substance(TBARS) contents and intracellular antioxidant enzymes activities in the liver and kidney of young male Sprague Dawley rats were studied. The TBARS contents were reduced in both liver and kidney, up to 77% and 79% of the control rats, fed ad libitum, respectively at 7 days after dietary restriction . Superoxide dismutase(SOD) activities in the liver and kidney of rats were increased significantly by total dietary restriction. However, the activity of catalase in kidney was decreased 27% at 6 days after dietary restriction, but this enzyme activity did not change in liver. The changes of glutathione peroxidae(GSHPx) and catalase activities in the liver and kidney of rats with dietary restriction were not significant. These result suggested that dietary restriction reduce the free radical induced by tissue damage, as determined by TBARS content, in both the liver and kidney but the changes of activities of antioxidant enzymes may not be a contributory factor in reducing oxidative damage to tissue.