In the world of anti-aging, if you’re colloquially referred to as ‘Singapore’s Benjamin Button’, then you’re certainly one to listen to. Having become a widely recognized figure in the field of anti-aging and longevity, we exclusively spoke with Tiat Lim as he shared insights into his journey, methodologies, and aspirations within the longevity industry.
Tiat Lim: An Exclusive Anti-Aging Guide to Being Forever Young
With a background as a lawyer and a team leader of XPRIZE’s Team De-Aging Singapore, Tiat Lime has dedicated years to exploring scientific methods for reversing biological age following an injury that forced him to confront his health issues,
“In 2015, I was obese and suffered a slipped disc. Additionally, my LDL was well out of range, so I realized that I needed to do something about my health.”
With this epiphany, Lim not only chose to turn his health around, but he also decided to pursue it as a profession so that he could really stay invested in becoming a healthier person. So in 2016, Lim and his sister, Yan, co-founded Bespoke Fitness and created their own high-intensity workout program, FitRx, which had a strong transformative effect.
“For the first time in my life, I saw a six-pack, which I’d never had before – not even when I was in the army at 18.”
The De-Aging Begins
Following his transformative journey, Lim traveled to the Mayo Clinic once those around noticed that he was aging well for his age. He later underwent extensive testing under the supervision of Professor K. Sreekumaran Nair, MD, Ph.D.
Prof. Nair’s past research validated how interval training can help fight the aging process, and with that, he confirmed that Li’s biological age was at least ten years younger than his chronological age.
Following his visit to the Mayo Clinic, Lim became fully immersed in de-aging methodologies, even connecting with Professor Brian Kennedy to participate in Singapore’s Aging Biomarkers in Singaporeans (ABIOS) study.
Through is involvement in studies like ABIOS and his own personal research, Lim has sought to uncover what the real biomarkers of aging are and how we can better measure biological aging.
Tiat Lim’s De-Aging Hacks
“Accelerating is when your biological age is higher than your chronological age. Aging is when your biological age is equal to your chronological age, and de-aging is when your biological age is below your chronological age. So, I’m de-aging.”
So, if you’re hoping to adopt Li’s de-aging approach to life, then you may want to get some fitness shoes,
“If you refer to my de-aging pyramid on my website, the foundation is exercise, very high intensity exercise.”
Citing David Goggins as an inspiration for his intense fitness routine. Lim works out six days a week, and his training regime lasts up to three hours every time.
In addition to training like a Navy SEAL, Lim follows a carefully crafted dietary regimen known as the Bespoke Eat Program (BERP), where he follows a strict no “SOAP” rule,
“That means no sugar, oil, additives, and processed food. The A could also stand for alcohol because I’m a teetotaler, so I don’t drink any alcohol whatsoever.”
As strict as his diet is, that doesn’t mean that Lim avoids indulgence. By consuming 21 meals a week, he allows for two of those meals to be cheat meals,
“I eat these meals with zero guilt, and totally enjoy them…I fully enjoy my clean meals as well.”
What about supplements?
In recent years, there’s been a lot of interest in anti-aging supplements, with many becoming reliant on pills that can suddenly reverse the aging process – however, a pill can’t fix poor habits,
“If you don’t have that foundation, if you’re not exercising, you’re not eating right, not sleeping right, do you really think a magic pill is going to fix everything?”
While Lim does maintain a supplement routine, he chooses to adhere to the Pareto principle when doing so,
“You should be getting 90% of your nutrition from whole foods, and only 10% from supplements.”
Lim adds that supplements only contribute a small fraction to overall longevity,
“To me, that’s just the 5 percent. I’m focusing on the other 95 percent.”
Focus On Science-Based Anti-Aging
As mentioned, the growing interest in anti-aging and longevity has opened the door for individuals whose anti-aging regimes aren’t always rooted in science.
Thankfully, Li’s approach to longevity is grounded in scientific validation: “I like evidence. I like data,” he emphasized.
Nonetheless, Lim is concerned about the current state of the longevity industry, seeing it as “the Wild, Wild, West.”
“We do not have any sort of industry standard for measuring biological age,” he explains. Lim adds that this has become the perfect breeding ground for pseudoscientific claims and misinformation.
Lim’s science-based approach is why he’s such a huge proponent for XPRIZE, a non-profit organization that designs and hosts public competitions intended to encourage technological development. As the team leader of XPRIZE’s Team De-Aging Singapore, Lim sees the platform as a critical piece to setting definitive standards within the longevity field, with the potential to filter out “all the charlatans and all the snake oil salespeople” from the industry.
As team leader, Lim continues to actively collaborate with medical schools in Singapore to qualify for the XPRIZE semifinals. If selected for the semifinals, Lim, and his team will be allocated a certain amount of money. They will then run a pilot study for about six months before submitting the data to the XPRIZE committee.
In reaching the finals, which may take six years, Lim hopes that he and his team will get to explore more advanced regenerative medicine techniques, which will feature stem cell treatments.
De-Aging In The Family
For Li, de-aging has become a family commitment, with his own mother even getting involved,
“Dr. Charlotte Li, who you can find on Instagram, is 78. She started doing FedRx training with us at 72. Six years later, she can do sit ups, push-ups, and even unassisted, weighted pull ups. It’s never too late to start, and the earlier you start, the better.”
Lim admits that his mother hasn’t been measured as comprehensively as he has. However, she underwent biological measurements earlier this year and her artery age was revealed to be 56,
“In 2021, she went for the ABIOS study, she was measured at 60 plus. She’s improved by a decade over the last two-three years, and I think she’s going to keep improving.”
End note
While Lim and his entire family are proof of de-aging, he admits that they haven’t found the key to immortality,
“We haven’t gotten to the stage where we can stop the clock yet,” he admits, adding that he’s “definitely working towards it.”
In the meantime, the biologically 32-year-old hopes that his last years of life will be filled with him being a younger, and healthier version of himself,
“I’m really not that interested in lengthening my lifespan. My goal is to make sure that my health span equals my lifespan and that my disease span is zero.I never want to spend a day in a wheelchair, or spend a day bedridden. I just want to be healthy all the way to the very end and then bye-bye.”
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References
Robinson, M.M., Dasari, S., Konopka, A.R., Johnson, M.L., et al. (2017). Enhanced Protein Translation Underlies Improved Metabolic and Physical Adaptations to Different Exercise Training Modes in Young and Old Humans. Cell Metabolism, [online] 25(3), pp.581–592. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2017.02.009.
