Dioscorea / Wild Yam

Wild yam contains diosgenin, a steroidal sapogenin used as the STARTING MATERIAL for pharmaceutical steroid hormone synthesis (progesterone, DHEA, cortisone). However: the human body CANNOT convert diosgenin to progesterone. This is a LABORATORY reaction requiring multiple chemical steps. Despite this, wild yam cream is marketed as 'natural progesterone', this is pharmacologically impossible. Actual 'natural progesterone' creams contain USP progesterone made FROM diosgenin in a lab, not diosgenin itself. Our assessment: wild yam ≠ progesterone. The marketing is misleading. --- *Reviewed by the Avelor Research Team and Clinical Advisory Board* *Last updated: 2026-04-06*