Wild Yam Phytoestrogen Creams

(Wild Yam Scam)

Every woman, at one time or another has incorrectly thought wild yam extract creams and progesterone creams to be one and the same. The fact is they are not. They represent the same compound (diosgenin) at two very different stages of conversion.

To make a Wild Yam Extract cream, plant sterols (oils & fats) are extracted from the Mexican Wild Yam and Soy plants. We know that Wild Yam creams have a ‘estrogenic’ effect on the body, but there is no scientific proof that when cream is applied to the skin (or ingested in tablet or powder form) the active ingredient (diosgenin) derived from Wild Yam creams can be converted by the body into progesterone.

The very fact that progesterone is derived from Mexican Wild Yam is coincidental. Since the 1940’s scientists have been using soya beans, wild yams and other plants from the tuber family to make progesterone. To make natural progesterone, Wild Yam Extract must be taken into the laboratory and synthesised with the aid of an enzyme, rendering it a hormone. This laboratory conversion is necessary because, as we stated above, the body has no means by which to convert the raw plant sterols into progesterone.

You can, at this stage, safely introduce synthesised progesterone into the body because your body sees this ‘real’ progesterone as having the same molecular configuration. No further conversion is necessary by the body. It’s a perfect match. The key fits the lock. Because it’s such a perfect match, the body recognises it as natural, and you don’t experience any nasty side-effects that occur with some synthetic hormones. Further still, because it IS real progesterone, the body can use it to make other steroid hormones.

Women get very confused, largely because Dr John Lee?s work on progesterone has been promoted alongside Wild Yam creams. If you do see Wild Yam creams being marketed as a precursor of progesterone, steer clear (if you are after a genuine progesterone cream) because it does not contain real progesterone. It’s just another way of confusing women into buying a product they didn’t ask for in the first place. Feel free to use a wild yam cream if you wish to, however, be aware you are NOT going to get any progesterone benefits. It’s more likely Wild Yam cream will have a estogenic effect on your body. Of some benefit, certainly, but not in the same league as natural progesterone.

Many a marketing sales pitch will tell you that diosgenin is a precursor to progesterone and the body is capable of converting. You’ll remember in a previous chapter we outlined how diosgenin, derived from Wild Yam and/or Soy, is synthesised in the laboratory with the aid of an enzyme to render it a modecule your body can interpret. How then can the body convert this raw substance into a human hormone once it enters the body? The fact is it cannot. There is no enzyme in the body to do this. One popular brand of Wild Yam Extract cream making these claims here in Australia was put to the test by a reputed research institute and found that there was no evidence that the body could convert diosgenin into natural progesterone.

“…Claims have arisen in the popular literature that the female body can manufacture progesterone from diosgenin, particularly if a wild yam cream is applied to the skin… No evidence exits for mammalian enzymes which are capable of effecting what is a difficult chemical conversion. The evidence that does exist strongly disputes the possiblity of this conversion. In fact, diosgenin appears to have estogenic properties in mice and lacks progesteronic effects.”

– Herbal Medicine, Principles and Practice of Phytotherapy, Modern Herbal Medicine, Simon Mills, Kerry Bone, Published Churchill Livingstone

Why is wild yam extract included as an ingredient in some natural progesterone creams promoted by Dr. John Lee?

While Dr. Lee was clear in both his desire to differentiate progesterone and wild yam and his statement that he did not know the specific effects of wild yam on the body, there is some confusion about the benefits that are known. Unfortunately, many women assume that the inclusion of wild yam, for any reason, is something to be avoided.

Master herbalists tell us that wild yam is known as an adaptogen herb. It would be like using fertilizer on a garden. If the plants need it they use it.

Wild yam has been used in female-related herbal formulations for years. A recent search of several herbal books on women’s health revealed wild yam used in many formulas for pregnancy, nursing, menopause, and other female-specific issues.

The point here is that it is not the fact that a cream contains wild yam extract; it is what the manufacturer is claiming the extract will do.

Be very cautious of manufacturers of these natural progesterones creams who make claims that the wild yam extract in their cream will TURN INTO ANY HORMONE IN YOUR BODY. As stated above, the evidence that does exist strongly disputes the possiblity of this conversion. We believe it’s included in creams because there is evidence of a synergistic benefit by the yam extract being in the cream.