Wild Yam
The wild yam has been used worldwide for centuries to improve health and more. The wild yam (contrary to popular belief, it's NOT related to the sweet potato) is native to North America, Mexico and Asia, though many species now exist throughout the world. It is actually a vine, of which the roots and rhizome (stem) are used medicinally.
The root of the wild yam vine has many medicinal uses--but progesterone shouldn't be one of them.
Traditionally, Native Americans used wild yam to relieve labor pains, morning sickness, colic, asthma, rheumatism, joint pain and gastritis.
The Chinese had their own uses for a wild yam tonic, which they used to help the liver, aid digestion and relax the muscles. And in India, Ayurvedic practitioners used yam to help with impotence and infertility.
Why Wild Yam Should NOT be Used for Progesterone
Wild yam is a plant source for a saponin called diosgenin (the active component in wild yams), which can be converted in a laboratory into progesterone.
However, your body cannot convert diosgenin into progesterone, DHEA (dehydroepiandroster one) or any other sex hormone, and wild yam does not naturally contain any progesterone that your body can use. The progesterone that is made from wild yam is known as pharmaceutical progesterone because it only exists after a chemical conversion process has been performed in a lab.
So, wild yam products that say they contain "natural progesterone" -- and many do -- can be misleading because progesterone does not actually exist in wild yams, nor can your body convert any wild yam components into it.