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Originally Posted by Sarendipitous Hey Bon - good to see you here! Why should cream derived from wild yam be avoided? |
It seems it's more complicated than just avoiding wild yams, because I'm gathering that is a common source of np. I guess the deal is, you need cream in which the yam is converted to npc in a lab, rather than just a wild yam extract that relies on your body to do the conversion, which apparently it cannot do. I have now confused myself...
This is from a site selling its own brand of npc, so take it fwiw...
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Most pharmaceutical grade progesterone is made from diogensin found in wild yams. Diosgenin is found in other plants as well but not in amounts significant enough to be of value. Diosgenin is converted into natural progesterone scientifically. There are no enzymes in the human body that will convert diosgenin, which is the active component of wild yams into progesterone. You can eat or rub on your skin all of the wild yam extract you like but the body will not convert it to progesterone. Diosgenin is still very useful in the body, however, and has been used by phytotherapists for centuries as an adaptagen. Whatever the effects of wild yam, it does not have the same benefits as natural progesterone.
Many companies sell wild yam products containing diosgenin stating that they provide the same benefits as progesterone. It is also added to many genuine progesterone creams in which it is usually identified as "wild yam extract". However there is usually not enough diosgenin in these creams to have much of an effect. Thus, many women using a wild yam cream have stated that they just don't seem to feel any change. Most of the research that has been done on progesterone demonstrates that it is supplemental natural progesterone that will produce an increase in saliva and serum levels of progesterone, not yam extract.
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Dr. Lee's site says this (but dr. lee himself doesn't say anything anymore, since he's dead)...
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The USP progesterone used for hormone replacement comes from plant fats and oils, usually a substance called diosgenin which is extracted from a very specific type of wild yam that grows in Mexico, or from soybeans. In the laboratory diosgenin is chemically synthesized into real human progesterone. The other human steroid hormones, including estrogen, testosterone, progesterone and the cortisones are also nearly always synthesized from diosgenin.
Some companies are trying to sell diosgenin, which they label "wild yam extract" as a medicine or supplement, claiming that the body will then convert it into hormones as needed. While we know this can be done in the laboratory, there is no evidence that this conversion takes place in the human body.
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http://www.johnleemd.com/store/faqs_progest_crm.html