Dioscoreaceae · rhizome
Wild yam
Dioscorea villosa
Traditional antispasmodic rhizome, mapped here mainly to kill a persistent hormone myth next to menopausal listings.
Safety first
Diosgenin in yam is a industrial precursor for steroid synthesis in a factory. The human body does not convert wild yam cream to progesterone. That marketing claim is false. Not HRT.
Tradition vs trials
Traditional record. North American Eclectic antispasmodic. Later the diosgenin-to-steroid industrial story was misread as a body process.
Trial literature. Human evidence that topical wild yam is equivalent to progesterone is absent. NCCIH-class summaries state the conversion claim is not supported.
Practical ranges
Educational ranges — not a prescription. Culinary use is not an extract.
rhizome / cream
No hormone-replacement range exists because the conversion claim is false
NCCIH — Educational range only — not a prescription. A licensed clinician individualizes product, dose, and duration.
Pregnancy, nursing, children
- Pregnancy. Avoid medicinal rhizome and hormone-claim creams.
- Nursing. Insufficient reliable data; avoid unless a clinician directs otherwise.
- Children. Insufficient reliable data; avoid unless a clinician directs otherwise.
Contraindications
- as progesterone replacement
- hormone-sensitive cancer self-treatment
Key interactions
- hormonal therapies · note
Do not combine with or replace prescribed hormones on the basis of a cream label.