Wild Yam Root and Powder Profile

Wild Yam Root and Powder Profile

Also known as

Dioscorea villosa, Colic-root, and Yam.

Introduction

There is a great deal of misinformation among consumers, practitioners, and natural product vendors alike about the connection between wild yam (Dioscorea villosa) and progesterone. The female hormone progesterone was first synthesized in a laboratory in 1934, but the materials needed for the process were so expensive that the hormone, that could only be made in very small batches, was priced at $1000 per gram, or about $10,000 per gram in current dollars. Researcher Russell Marker developed a way to derive progesterone from diosgenin, a compound found in the Mexican plant cabeza de negra, Dioscorea macrostachya. This made progesterone extremely cheap and led the way to the development of oral contraceptives. While diosgenin can be converted into progesterone in the laboratory, it cannot be converted into progesterone in the human body. Wild yam contains no progesterone, natural or otherwise.

Constituents

Ascorbic acid, beta-carotene, chromium, cobalt, dioscin, diosgenin, fiber, magnesium, manganese, niacin, phosphorous, potassium, riboflavin, selenium, silicon, sodium, tin, zinc.

Parts Used

The dried tuber.

Typical Preparations

Teas, infusions, capsules, and added to creams and ointments. Seldom found in liquid extract form. Combined with cinnamon to treat chronic infection.

Summary

Traditional Chinese Medicine has used wild yam for at least 2,000 years, since the time of the writing of the Divine Husbandman's Classic of the Materia Medica.

Precautions

Avoid products that are labeled "natural progesterone." They either contain no progesterone, or they contain synthetic progesterone.

For educational purposes only This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.