Singapore University professor ‘rejuvenated’ 15 years thanks to longevity experiment

If reversing the aging process becomes a reality, who can resist the desire to experience it? A professor at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine at the National University of Singapore (NUS Medicine) seems to have found a solution to this problem, while also making himself biologically younger by up to 15 years, according to Asia One.

According to a report from the research team, Professor Dean Ho, Director of the Institute for Digital Medicine (WisDM) of NUS Medicine, chaired a project to understand the impact of many factors on longevity. The study called Delta, published in the prestigious scientific journal PLOS One, began implementation in mid-August 2024 and is still ongoing.

This 47-year-old professor is the only research subject. He applied a series of lifestyle interventions including different levels of intermittent fasting such as fasting for about 20 hours a day and doing multiple 48-hour fasts, combined with exercise and nutritional adjustments. Every morning, he spends 90 minutes doing strength-enhancing exercises or cardiovascular training (cardio).

Professor Dean’s diet mainly consists of green vegetables, seeds, olive oil, lean protein and foods following the Mediterranean diet. Regarding drinks, he only uses filtered water, electrolyte water, black coffee and tea without sugar or milk.

NUS representative said Professor Dean wore 3 health monitoring devices simultaneously for about 8 months. This enabled the research team to record changes over a longer period of time than is possible with conventional reports.

The latest report shows that the 47-year-old scientist’s metabolic switching speed has decreased from more than 24 hours to 16.5 hours. Metabolic transition rate reflects the body’s ability to switch from sugar-burning to fat-burning mode quickly or slowly. At his age, this usually takes about 36 to 72 hours.

The study also noted an improvement in his resting heart rate, dropping from 65 beats per minute to 46 beats per minute. The report identifies this as a sign that cardiovascular function has been enhanced and the body’s ability to recover is better. Besides, Professor Dean’s sleep quality also improved significantly. His sleep time increased from about 5 hours to nearly 8 hours per night, with the amount of deep sleep increasing and the number of awakenings in the middle of the night decreasing. He also maintains the habit of going to bed earlier at 9:00 p.m., instead of until midnight like before.

Based on the artificial intelligence assistant (AI copilot) developed by the research team, Professor Dean’s biological age is estimated to be only 32 years old, nearly 15 years younger than his actual age.

Although these results are positive, the NUS representative emphasized that this is just the individual professor’s reaction to the above factors. Not everyone who applies this exact lifestyle will achieve the same results.

Sharing about the research, Professor Dean said: “We conducted this project to better understand what happens during the time between annual health examinations, which is what people rely on to evaluate their own condition. The goal is to go beyond static indicators to focus on how the body operates and changes in real time.”

He said each individual is different and even each person themselves changes over time. “Each individual has a unique ‘Delta’ index, a unique and constantly changing data set, reflecting the fact that health is a long journey, not just a snapshot at a time,” the professor added.