Natural Therapy: Using the Wild Yam Plant to Treat Inflammatory, Digestive and Female Disorders

The wild yam plant has been used for generations by the native people of the Americas and Asia to treat a variety of illnesses including pain and stiffness, digestive disorders, and female disorders. One variety is consumed as a food product in Asia.

Wild yam is a member of the genus Dioscorea which contains at least 4 species native to North and South America or Asia and has been known as colic root, rheumatism root, Chinese yam, Shan Yao and wild sweet potato vine. It is an aggressive climbing vine which is considered to be a pest in many areas but an attractive plant to others.

One of the major components in the wild yam plant is a phytosterol known as diosgenin. This is a precursor or building block used by the body to form hormones such as progesterone, one of the major female sex hormones and cortisone, a major anti-inflammatory hormone within the body.

Premenstrual Syndrome

When taken daily during the last two weeks of the menstrual cycle, it can effectively alleviate many of the symptoms of PMS such as irritability, bloating, and acne. If taken as recommended, it can aid in the prevention of both painful ovulation (mittleschmerz disorder) and for the prevention of severe menstrual cramps.

Perimenopause

As women approach middle age, they may develop a premenopausal state known as perimenopause. Often during this period women will experience a number of irritating symptoms which are actually a combination of symptoms from both PMS and menopause. Some of these symptoms may include: painful ovulation, heavy bleeding, severe menstrual cramps, acne, irritability, irregular periods, and finally hot flashes.

Natural Birth Control

Because of its ability to aid in the formation of progesterone, wild yam has been used as a natural birth control method but its abrupt discontinuation may trigger ovulation and consequently should not be relied upon as a sole method. It is obviously not recommended for women who are pregnant or wish to become pregnant.

Pain and Inflammation

Cortisone is an anti-inflammatory hormone that is produced by the body to treat pain and inflammation. As wild yam has phytosterols, the body may use wild yam to increase natural cortisone production and making it useful for the treatment of arthritis and other inflammatory conditions such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Chrohn's Disease and pain from gallstones.

Wild Yam extract is available in a variety of dosage forms including: tablets and capsules to be taken by mouth, concentrated liquid extract to be placed under the tongue and cream to be rubbed on the skin. As it is well known, it will be available in most locations that sell any type of herbal medicine including health food stores, grocery stores, drug stores and large discount stores.

One should be sure to read the label of the product you are purchasing to ensure that you know all of the ingredients of the product as many supplements are combinations of different herbs. This is particularly important when purchasing a wild yam cream as is will likely contain actual progesterone which may be beneficial or undesirable depending on your need.

Source

Balch, James and Balch, Phyllis: Prescription for Herbal Healing