Project REMEDY will have two workstreams – The first will explore personalised nutrition for Asians, while the second will analyse 100 traditional foods for their superfood potential.
This dual-pronged approach aims to uncover how traditional Asian diets and ingredients influence gut health, metabolism, and chronic disease risks.
“Our goal is to establish a scientific foundation so that future companies – whether in Vietnam, Singapore, or elsewhere – can confidently develop products based on traditional remedies.
“This research will identify active ingredients, mechanisms of action, and how they may contribute to effective formulations in supplements, functional foods, or pharmaceuticals,” said AMILI CEO and co-founder Dr Jeremy Lim.
Project REMEDY will therefore offer crucial insights into developing precision nutrition for Asian populations.
“This is significant as much of the cutting edge nutrition research remains founded in research on Western populations,” said AMILI’s lead scientist Dr Germaine Yong, who pointed out that the Asian diet and biology are distinct from the West.
“Hence, when it comes to eating well in Asia, how do we know we are truly eating for better health?” said Dr Yong.
The lack of insights into how the Asian diet affects gut health and metabolism led to the launch of Project REMEDY, a collaborative study between AMILI and A*STAR.
The study
The 18-month observational study will use deep phenotyping, real-world dietary tracking, and microbiome analysis to investigate personalised health responses.
Researchers are looking to recruit 200 participants starting from April.
For the first workstream, participants will submit pictures of all the food they will consume during the study period and report results from DIY blood tests.
Researchers will also conduct microbiome tests, use continuous glucose monitors, and track participants’ sleep with Oura rings.
These processes will allow researchers to work on personalising dietary recommendations for Asians.
“This approach will generate tens of thousands of data points per participant, enabling the development of personalized dietary recommendations.
“We already know that two people eating the same food can have vastly different responses – one person’s blood sugar may rise from 4–7mmol/L, while another person’s may spike from 4–10mmol/L. These fluctuations influence insulin surges and the risk of metabolic diseases like diabetes,” said Dr Lim.
He then explained the rationale for the second workstream, which involves analysing 100 traditional products to assess their prebiotic potential and ‘superfood’ properties.
“We are focusing on traditional, natural foods – ingredients our grandparents and great-grandparents have long believed to have health benefits. In modern times, we’ve often dismissed these, but now we have the scientific tools to evaluate them properly.
“For example, we can analyse turmeric, which has been widely used in Indian cuisine, millet, a staple grain, and ginseng, which is a cornerstone of traditional Chinese medicine.
“These ingredients have long been valued for their medicinal properties, but we never understood exactly why. Today, by examining them through the microbiome lens and using modern analytical techniques like metabolomics, we can scientifically validate their health benefits,” explained Dr Lim.
Insights from these observations will enable merging of traditional wisdom with modern science, applying today’s knowledge to yesterday’s remedies to understand why they work, rather than just accepting that they do.
Dr Yong said this project is designed to build the largest dataset of diet-microbiome interactions in multi-ethnic Asia, which will enable precision nutrition tailored for Asian populations, better health outcomes, and industry innovation.
“We’re looking forward to this collaboration, which will enable more effective dietary guidance tailored to Asian phenotypes, insights that help prevent and manage metabolic diseases, and opportunities for developing Asian-specific nutraceuticals and functional foods,” said Dr Yong.
