05-08-2014, 18:00
I'm not sure if this has been covered here or not yet. But I'd like to share some info about these two things. (I apologize if this HAS been covered.) This post will be mostly quotes and links. I don't have enough time right now to personally dive into this further, so I'll let the links guide you 
Wild yam does have its benefits; help with anxiety, anti cancer benefits, menstration and menopause relief, blood sugar and cholesterol regulation, digestion aid, it contains antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties, among other uses. It is rich in diosgenin, a PRECURSOR of progesterone, DHEA, testosterone, and the three human estrogens—estriol, estrone, and estradiol.
Taking wild yam internally, and even applying wild yam cream topically, or eating yams, your body doesn't convert the wild yam into progesterone. In order to raise progeterone levels using wild yams, it MUST be done in a lab. Keep reading
"Unlike soy and flax, for example, which contain plant-based estrogens (phytoestrogens) that are adaptogenic and converted into utilizable forms in the body, wild yam (Dioscorea barbasco) cannot be converted into progesterone in the body. The conversion can occur in a laboratory setting, however, and therefore, wild yam is sometimes used to synthesize the progesterone found in progesterone creams. The cream may technically be yam-based, but its active ingredient is not the wild yam itself but the USP progesterone that has been added." (2)
I may be wrong & out of line here, or just ignorant, but I never understood why some people take wild yam as a progesterone booster, unless they are using it for other reasons or JUST as a progesterone precursor and not to actually effect progesterone levels directly. If you're using it because you think it boosts your progesterone, see my links below and switch to a Bio-identical USP progesterone cream.
(1) **"Wild yam is a plant source for a saponin called diosgenin (the active component in wild yams), which can be converted in a laboratory into progesterone. However, your body cannot convert diosgenin into progesterone, DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone) or any other sex hormone, and wild yam does not naturally contain any progesterone that your body can use. The progesterone that is made from wild yam is known as pharmaceutical progesterone because it only exists after a chemical conversion process has been performed in a lab.
So, wild yam products that say they contain "natural progesterone" -- and many do -- can be misleading because progesterone does not actually exist in wild yams, nor can your body convert any wild yam components into it." http://www.sixwise.com/newsletters/05/06...nefits.htm
(2) **"Unlike soy and flax, for example, which contain plant-based estrogens (phytoestrogens) that are adaptogenic and converted into utilizable forms in the body, wild yam (Dioscorea barbasco) cannot be converted into progesterone in the body.
The conversion can occur in a laboratory setting, however, and therefore, wild yam is sometimes used to synthesize the progesterone found in progesterone creams. The cream may technically be yam-based, but its active ingredient is not the wild yam itself but the USP progesterone that has been added. For this reason, while the body may absorb wild yam extract through the skin, which may then confer mild effects on menopausal symptoms, results of research on oral and topical applications of wild yam extract have not detected a significant change in progesterone levels in the blood.
If you want the beneficial effects of bioidentical progesterone, make sure the ingredients on the label include United States Pharmacopoeia (U.S.P.) progesterone. U.S.P. progesterone is available in over-the-counter 2% creams as well as by prescription." http://www.drnorthrup.com/womenshealth/h...pic_id=129
(3) ** "Will Wild Mexican Yam produce the same benefits as natural progesterone?
No, it cannot. Wild yam is a repository of many wonderful substances, but wild yam and its extract cannot be converted by the human body into progesterone. Deep in the root of the Wild yam is fatty substance called diosgenin. Locked within it lies the natural progesterone molecule that must be synthesized out by a competent pharmaceutical grade laboratory." http://www.healthyhormones.com/faqs2.htm
(4) ** "You cannot get a significant amount of hormones from using creams based directly on wild yam or even by eating Mexican wild yam. Your body doesn’t have the chemical cofactors required to convert them into useful hormones. This has to be done in a laboratory. This hasn’t stopped entrepreneurs, though, from marketing yam creams as sources of various steroid hormones. Make sure the product you use is not just unprocessed Mexican yam, but instead a scientifically produced product using the highest pharmaceutical-grade USP progesterone." " It is rich in diosgenin, a PRECURSOR of progesterone, DHEA, testosterone, and the three human estrogens—estriol, estrone, and estradiol." http://www.smart-publications.com/articl...to-balance
(5) ** "A compound in wild yam, called diosgenin, is used as the basis for synthesizing several steroids, including progesterone and estrogen. However, diosgenin can be manufactured into progesterone only in the laboratory; the human body can't make that conversion. For this reason, diosgenin is better used as an antispasmodic." http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness...medies.htm
(6) **http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA263507/wild-yams.html
(7) ** http://altmedicine.about.com/od/herbsupp...ildYam.htm
(8) ** http://www.womenforbalance.com/why-is-my...rking.html
(9) ** http://books.google.com/books?id=8NxuQPmRqh8C&pg=PA25&lpg=PA25&dq=wild+yam+usp+micronized+progesterone&source=bl&ots=P_BJA6UBAe&sig=P9XUDE7dyjte-qnw9Jozg5l8MJY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=fAPhU8PPB-nx8AH5_ICQBg&ved=0CCQQ6AEwBDgK
(10) **(And this is from a company that SELLS wild yam): "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." https://www.mountainroseherbs.com/produc...ct/profile
(11) ** http://www.johnleemd.com/store/faqs_progest_crm.html
** ^^ HIS LIST OF BIO-IDENTICAL PROGESTERONE CREAMS:
http://www.johnleemd.com/store/resource_...erone.html
There's a lot more info out there, this is just all I had time to do. Feel free to search around
Wild yam does have its benefits; help with anxiety, anti cancer benefits, menstration and menopause relief, blood sugar and cholesterol regulation, digestion aid, it contains antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties, among other uses. It is rich in diosgenin, a PRECURSOR of progesterone, DHEA, testosterone, and the three human estrogens—estriol, estrone, and estradiol.
Taking wild yam internally, and even applying wild yam cream topically, or eating yams, your body doesn't convert the wild yam into progesterone. In order to raise progeterone levels using wild yams, it MUST be done in a lab. Keep reading
"Unlike soy and flax, for example, which contain plant-based estrogens (phytoestrogens) that are adaptogenic and converted into utilizable forms in the body, wild yam (Dioscorea barbasco) cannot be converted into progesterone in the body. The conversion can occur in a laboratory setting, however, and therefore, wild yam is sometimes used to synthesize the progesterone found in progesterone creams. The cream may technically be yam-based, but its active ingredient is not the wild yam itself but the USP progesterone that has been added." (2)
I may be wrong & out of line here, or just ignorant, but I never understood why some people take wild yam as a progesterone booster, unless they are using it for other reasons or JUST as a progesterone precursor and not to actually effect progesterone levels directly. If you're using it because you think it boosts your progesterone, see my links below and switch to a Bio-identical USP progesterone cream.
(1) **"Wild yam is a plant source for a saponin called diosgenin (the active component in wild yams), which can be converted in a laboratory into progesterone. However, your body cannot convert diosgenin into progesterone, DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone) or any other sex hormone, and wild yam does not naturally contain any progesterone that your body can use. The progesterone that is made from wild yam is known as pharmaceutical progesterone because it only exists after a chemical conversion process has been performed in a lab.
So, wild yam products that say they contain "natural progesterone" -- and many do -- can be misleading because progesterone does not actually exist in wild yams, nor can your body convert any wild yam components into it." http://www.sixwise.com/newsletters/05/06...nefits.htm
(2) **"Unlike soy and flax, for example, which contain plant-based estrogens (phytoestrogens) that are adaptogenic and converted into utilizable forms in the body, wild yam (Dioscorea barbasco) cannot be converted into progesterone in the body.
The conversion can occur in a laboratory setting, however, and therefore, wild yam is sometimes used to synthesize the progesterone found in progesterone creams. The cream may technically be yam-based, but its active ingredient is not the wild yam itself but the USP progesterone that has been added. For this reason, while the body may absorb wild yam extract through the skin, which may then confer mild effects on menopausal symptoms, results of research on oral and topical applications of wild yam extract have not detected a significant change in progesterone levels in the blood.
If you want the beneficial effects of bioidentical progesterone, make sure the ingredients on the label include United States Pharmacopoeia (U.S.P.) progesterone. U.S.P. progesterone is available in over-the-counter 2% creams as well as by prescription." http://www.drnorthrup.com/womenshealth/h...pic_id=129
(3) ** "Will Wild Mexican Yam produce the same benefits as natural progesterone?
No, it cannot. Wild yam is a repository of many wonderful substances, but wild yam and its extract cannot be converted by the human body into progesterone. Deep in the root of the Wild yam is fatty substance called diosgenin. Locked within it lies the natural progesterone molecule that must be synthesized out by a competent pharmaceutical grade laboratory." http://www.healthyhormones.com/faqs2.htm
(4) ** "You cannot get a significant amount of hormones from using creams based directly on wild yam or even by eating Mexican wild yam. Your body doesn’t have the chemical cofactors required to convert them into useful hormones. This has to be done in a laboratory. This hasn’t stopped entrepreneurs, though, from marketing yam creams as sources of various steroid hormones. Make sure the product you use is not just unprocessed Mexican yam, but instead a scientifically produced product using the highest pharmaceutical-grade USP progesterone." " It is rich in diosgenin, a PRECURSOR of progesterone, DHEA, testosterone, and the three human estrogens—estriol, estrone, and estradiol." http://www.smart-publications.com/articl...to-balance
(5) ** "A compound in wild yam, called diosgenin, is used as the basis for synthesizing several steroids, including progesterone and estrogen. However, diosgenin can be manufactured into progesterone only in the laboratory; the human body can't make that conversion. For this reason, diosgenin is better used as an antispasmodic." http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness...medies.htm
(6) **http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA263507/wild-yams.html
(7) ** http://altmedicine.about.com/od/herbsupp...ildYam.htm
(8) ** http://www.womenforbalance.com/why-is-my...rking.html
(9) ** http://books.google.com/books?id=8NxuQPmRqh8C&pg=PA25&lpg=PA25&dq=wild+yam+usp+micronized+progesterone&source=bl&ots=P_BJA6UBAe&sig=P9XUDE7dyjte-qnw9Jozg5l8MJY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=fAPhU8PPB-nx8AH5_ICQBg&ved=0CCQQ6AEwBDgK
(10) **(And this is from a company that SELLS wild yam): "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." https://www.mountainroseherbs.com/produc...ct/profile
(11) ** http://www.johnleemd.com/store/faqs_progest_crm.html
** ^^ HIS LIST OF BIO-IDENTICAL PROGESTERONE CREAMS:
http://www.johnleemd.com/store/resource_...erone.html
There's a lot more info out there, this is just all I had time to do. Feel free to search around
