Wild Yam (Dioscorea villosa and other Dioscorea spp.)

Dioscorea villosa contains saponins (including diosgenin) and isoquinuclidine alkaloids (including dioscorin).⁴ Diosgenin is a steroid precursor. Researchers and manufacturers have used it to create estrogens, progesterones, androgens, and corticosteroids.³ Diosgenin IS NOT converted to steroids in vivo. In animal studies, subcutaneous diosgenin stimulated the growth of mammary tissue in the mouse,⁵ reduced intestinal inflammation and increased biliary cholesterol output in rats treated with indomethacin, and reduced biliary stasis in rats given a cholestatic agent.⁶ Chinese researchers have demonstrated diosgenin antitumor activity in mice.⁷

In Taiwan, researchers found evidence that dioscorin exhibited ACE inhibition⁸ and had antioxidant properties in vitro.⁹ In a study of steroid hormone activity of multiple natural products, Rosenberg Zand found that wild yam root had weak anti-estrogenic properties in vitro.¹⁰

Herbal properties: antispasmodic, anti-inflammatory, anti-rheumatic, cholagogue, diaphoretic, and expectorant.^1,11

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