Yam Extract and Natural Progesterone

We receive many enquiries from women suffering due to their not having responded to a variety of other traditional menopause treatments or who had been using a "yam cream".

Complicating matters are a number of companies claiming or implying that their "yam creams" will manufacture natural progesterone in the body, or even actually contain natural progesterone. In fact, an examination of their ingredients reveals that they only contain Wild Mexican Yam extract.

All the medical research reviewed on Progesterone demonstrates that it is only supplemental Natural Progesterone - like that found in Wellsprings Serenity Cream and Wellsprings 20-1 Cream - that will produce an increase in saliva & serum levels of progesterone, not Yam extract.

Yam does contain plan saponins that have been shown to benefit women's health as an adaptogen. However, what is at issue are biological progesterone levels and progesterone's known balancing effects on oestrogen with subsequent relief from the hormonal symptoms of Menopause and its ability to help relieve osteoporosis.

In his book "What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause" hormone expert, and pioneer of bioidentical cream usage, Dr John Lee states "…there is no evidence that the human body converts diosgenin (found in Mexican Wild Yam) to hormones."

Dr. David Zava (PhD in Bio Endocrinology whose focus has been progesterone and oestrogen receptor activity) is the Laboratory Director of Aeron Life Cycles, one of the foremost hormone testing facilities in the world.

Dr. Zava has tested progesterone levels for many thousands of women and responded with the following: "In response to your question about wild yam steroids - do they convert into progesterone? The answer is no, there are no enzymes in the human body that will convert diosgenin, the active component of wild yams, into progesterone. This does not mean diosgenin is without activity in the body as it has been used by phytotherapists for centuries as an adaptogen."

Some company representatives will tell you that Yam extract (diosgenin) is molecularly the same as Natural Progesterone and that users of their "progesterone cream" will find the same benefit as they would with a cream like our Serenity Cream or 20-1 Cream which actually contain USP Natural Progesterone. Current published medical research and clinical experience do not support that claim.

In fact, Dr Lee refers to Yam Extract Creams in one of his books under the heading "The Yam Scam".