Wild yam root (dioscorea villosa) has been used for centuries for a wide range of conditions relating to female health. Its beneficial actions are attributed to one of the herb’s active ingredients, diosgenin, which is believed to be effective in supporting female health, *(This information has not been evaluated by the FDA. This product or information is not intended to diagnose any disease).

60 vegetarian capsules

Containing: Standardized Wild Yam root extract (10% diosgenin) 200 mg and Wild Yam root powder 20 mg

Other ingredients: Rice flour, vegetable cellulose, vegetable-derived magnesium stearate,

Suggested use: As a dietary supplement take one (1) capsule once a day, preferably with food or water.

Standardized extracts are guaranteed to contain a specific quantity of a know marker compound, and are laboratory tested to insure consistent potency. Nature’s Answer capsules feature standardized extracts enhanced (holistically balanced) with the highest quality of organic, responsibly wildcrafted or cultivated herbs, which maintain the naturally-occurring constituents found in the plant; Manufactured to cGMP (current Good Manufacturing Practices) standards; free of synthetic ingredients.

Diosgenin (found in Wild Yam herb), a steroid sapogenin, is the product of hydrolysis by acids, strong bases, or enzymes of saponins, extracted from the tubers of Dioscorea wild yam. The sugar-free, aglycone, diosgenin is used for the commercial synthesis of cortisone, pregnenolone, progesterone, and other steroid products. Diosgenin is the precursor for the semisynthesis of progesterone^[1] which in turn was used in early combined oral contraceptive pills.

The unmodified steroid has estrogenic activity^[2] and can reduce the level of serum cholesterol.^[3]

[1] ^ Marker RE, Krueger J (1940). "Sterols. CXII. Sapogenins. XLI. The Preparation of Trillin and its Conversion to Progesterone". J. Am. Chem. Soc. 62 (12): 3349–3350

[2] Liu MJ, Wang Z, Ju Y, Wong RN, Wu QY (2005). "Diosgenin induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in human leukemia K562 cells with the disruption of Ca²⁺ homeostasis". Cancer Chemother. Pharmacol. 55 (1): 79–90

[3] Cayen MN, Dvornik D (1979). "Effect of diosgenin on lipid metabolism in rats" (abstract page). J. Lipid Res. 20 (2): 162–74.