herbs - Wild Yam (Dioscorea villosa)

What is it?

Wild Yam is found in Mexico, United States and Asia where it is eaten as a food. The root is used is used to manufacture oestrogens, progesterone drugs and steroids in orthodox medicine and is also the part used in herbal medicine.

Action

Wild Yam contains steroidal saponins, mainly diosgenin and acts as a smooth muscle relaxant and has antispasmodic properties. Wild Yam does not contain progesterone as once suggested, but it does have a mild balancing action on female hormone health.  

Uses

Our experts recommend wild yam for the following disorder:

• Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)

Other information

Herbalists often use this for the menopausal symptoms and at lowering cholesterol levels and sometimes to reduce pain associated with arthritis, and rheumatism. Wild Yam is available in tablets and capsules or as a tincture.

Cautions

• Wild Yam is generally free of side effects at normal levels and there are no well-known contra-indications.



• There is insufficient data to show the safety of Wild Yam in pregnancy or when breast-feeding, so it is best avoided. 



• When this article was written there were no well-known negative drug interactions with Wild Yam.

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