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Soya bean vs wild yam as source for progesterone

by Shirley

Hi Wray,

I'm wondering why you chose the soya bean as a source for your progesterone rather then the yam root (converting the diosgenin into the bioidentical hormone from the wild yam). I read through your info on how you designed your product but did not see that. If you have addressed it, perhaps you could point me to that info. Thanks so much.

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Jan 02, 2012
 Soya bean vs wild yam as source for progesterone
by: Wray

Hi Shirley Many people are confused about how progesterone is made and where from. The confusion arises as so many web sites say made from yam, while others say made from soy. Interestingly, none of the pharmaceutical firms making progesterone injections or suppositories for use in IVF treatments, miscarriages or pre-term births, mention where the progesterone comes from. Which is the best or safest is always upper most in people’s minds. The bottom line is it doesn’t matter what plant is used for synthesising progesterone, providing it contains a plant sterol in sufficient quantities to make it economical. All plants have sterols, often called phytosterols. Animals only have one sterol, more commonly known as a zoosterol, which we call cholesterol, and fungi only have one called ergosterol. They are an integral part of cell membranes and precursors to many things, for instance in animals to hormones.  But there are plant sterols and plant sterols. The phytosterols used for making progesterone do not have a triple bond in the A-ring. In fact they have no bond in the A-ring, unlike progesterone which has one.  So the molecule must be changed, this has to be done in a lab. For instance the conversion of stigmasterol to progesterone takes place over 11 reactions, each producing a different molecule. Until the final step produces progesterone. Cholesterol is the starting point for the steroid hormones made naturally in animals, including humans. But it's expensive to use for the manufacture of progesterone, so plant sterols are used instead. Plants such as the soy bean, Dioscorea species of yams, fenugreek, sisal, calabar bean, some lilies, yucca, some solanum species, maize and many more contain phytosterols. Some of which are stigmasterol, diosgenin, beta-sitosterol, campesterol, hecogenin, sarsasapogenin, solasodine. As these plant sterols have a similar molecular structure to cholesterol, they are used as starting points for the synthesis of progesterone. So the synthesis ends with a progesterone molecule, or molecules, as it’s made in large quantities. It is only progesterone and can only be progesterone. If it was contaminated with anything else, be it yam, soy or any other plant, it would not be legal to call it progesterone. But due to this confusion, we now use a progesterone synthesised from yam. We do have more info on the cream here. Take care Wray
Jan 03, 2012
 soya-bean-vs-wild-yam-as-source
by: Shirley

When did you make this change? As recently as Sept 2010 you were still using the soya bean. I'm curious to know why you switched to the yam.

I'm presuming you're not using the wild yam from Mexico. And is it organic?

http://is.gd/MsPmWZ

Thanks so much,
Shirley
Jan 05, 2012
 soya-bean-vs-wild-yam-as-source
by: Wray

Hi Shirley We changed to the yam in June 2010. As I said at the end of my previous reply, so many are confused about soy, it was easier to just make the change, than to explain it didn't matter what plant the progesterone was synthesised from. I have done a web page on the various plants used to synthesise progesterone, but it's not up yet. As you're interested, I've pasted below info on stigmasterol and diosgenin….
Stigmasterol was first isolated from the calabar bean (Physostigma venenosum), a poisonous plant native to tropical Africa. But the commercial source of the sterol is now the unsaponified fraction of soya-bean (Glycine max) oil. Stigmasterol is also found in rape seed (Brassica napus), Ophiopogon japonicus (Mai men dong) and American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius). Plus various vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, and unpasteurized milk. Oils contains higher amounts than vegetables.
Diosgenin is a saponin aglycone, obtained principally from the roots of plants belonging to the genus Dioscorea (Dioscoreaceae). Mexican species are D. composita, floribunda, mexicana and villosa, Indian species are D. deltoidea, while in China D. nipponica is used. The various Dioscorea species grow in tropical climates. The tubers are thick, food-storage organs, some of which are edible, for instance D. esculenta and alata. Another source of diosgenin is the root of Costus speciosus (Zingerberaceae). This plant is common in the tropical rain forests of India and South-East Asia where it is now grown commercially for disogenin production.
I hope this helps. We get the progesterone from an American company, it is wild sourced so would be organic. But I don't know where they get the yam from. Take care Wray
Jan 05, 2012
 REPLY to your reply ;o)
by: Shirley

Thanks for this additional info. I'm so relieved it's organic and sourced in the good ol' US of A....not an easy thing to do I'm guessing.

BTW....I received 4 emails with this link, again very tedious to click on each one just to
find it the same but I don't want to miss any of your posts either. 3 came through at the same time...maybe your software needs some progesterone to settle it down

Jan 07, 2012
 REPLY to your reply ;o)
by: Wray

Hi Shirley Glad it was of help. I love your humour! I have also complained about the many links all identical. You can imagine how many I have to click through, as I get all of them! The problem lies with our server, an amazing site, which allows us to have this quick interface with customers. It seems the software has become overzealous, and maybe a dose of progesterone would calm it down! Take care Wray
Jan 08, 2012
 Yahoo email lists
by: Shirley

Well not to sound like a broken record...you
mentioned "quick interface"...really...it's
so much quicker on a yahoo email list.

I've been using this site for a few months
now and find it so much harder then reading
the yahoo email lists. I know you said
people have to set up an account and sign in
but once that is done they can read the messages
on the yahoo site or have the messages
come right through to their own personal
email program. They give several options
for people that don't want so many emails.

They come through with a subject line so
the ones of no interest can be deleted.

They do require a moderator or two but you
have those already from what I've seen here.
Some list owners maintain a separate website
as well, so you could keep this one up...just
refer people to the yahoo list if they want to
ask questions or chat with others of like
mind.

Here's an example of someone who maintains
a website but refers people to her yahoo list
for discussion:

http://truthaboutvaccines.org/

She requires a bio in order to join but many
list owners don't...actually I think some lists
don't even require registration...I could be
wrong about that. You do have to have a yahoo
ID though so I do see how it's easier here
as far as that goes.


I sure hope you'll take a second look.
Jan 14, 2012
 Yahoo email lists
by: Wray

Hi Shirley I hear what you say, but which email list do we use, there are too many now. The main reason we do it this way is the comment is on our web site. People come here looking for a solution to their problem. Whether they've been lead here by putting in the term progesterone, or another search term, it's brought them here. By using another server the link would be lost on our website, it would now be on another, and who would find it. The other reason is once on our site, they can access the search field if they have any other query, or want to find out more about progesterone. They can't do this on another site. The only moderator on our site is me! I've looked at the link you gave, and see they do require a bio, we don't. Plus they have had only 19,000 visitors to the site since June 09, we get 10,000 visitors to the site daily. As you point out some also require registration, I haven't looked at many I must confess. If people know about progesterone, and put the term into google, they'll find us on the first page. According to google there are 15 million other pages on progesterone. We're also on the first page of yahoo, bing and altavista too, these are top four search engines. Alexa, which provides web site traffic information, lists us on their first page, and gives us a ranking of 587 thousand. The others on their first page rank from 1 million to 10 million. I think it's best for us we keep it in house so to speak, besides I would go demented trying to look after more than this one site! Thanks for your input though, it made me ask our webmaster why we do it this way, so now I know too! Take care Wray
Jan 15, 2012
 Makes sense
by: Shirley

Thanks so much Wray for explaining all that.
I understand now how your site would be
different since you are also selling product.

I do appreciate that you also answer our
questions and concerns unlike most vendors.

It's worth muddling through to learn all the
things you have to teach here.

Again, thank you for taking the time to
address this...you fixed my record ;o)
Jan 17, 2012
 Makes sense
by: Wray

Hi Shirley I love your humour, I didn't mind the broken record! It made me make enquires which I've never bothered about before. Take care Wray
Sep 20, 2013
 Soya bean vs wild yam
by: Lash

HI Wray,

After reading this post I am really confused.

It was my understanding that you made your cream, using the soya bean because it is identical to the progesterone that your body manufacturers itself. It needs no chemical altering and no processing. Yams were not being used because they contain diosgenin and our bodies are unable to metabolize diosgenin from wild yam into progesterone. I have seen many references on the internet supporting this.

I just read a post where you stated that you started using wild yams in June of 2010. Why did you switch to using the yam as your source of progesterone, if the human body can't metabolized it into progesterone? Where are these yams from?
Sep 22, 2013
 Soya bean vs wild yam
by: Wray

Hi Lash No plant contains progesterone. But many do contain a sterol with a similar molecular structure, this has to be modified. The sterol is removed from the plant and it's this which is converted into progesterone. The bottom line is it doesn’t matter what plant is used for synthesising progesterone, providing it contains a plant sterol in sufficient quantities to make it economical. The plant based sterol goes through many enzymatic changes on it's conversion process, leaving a progesterone which is 99.9% pure. Over 250 different types of sterols, known as phytosterols, have been found in plants. Animals only have one sterol, or zoosterol known as cholesterol, and fungi only have one mycosterol known as ergosterol.  Plants such as the soy bean, Dioscorea species of yams, fenugreek, sisal, calabar bean, some lilies, yucca, some solanum species, maize, Quillaja saponaria, a Chilean tree and many more contain phytosterols. Some of which are stigmasterol, diosgenin, beta-sitosterol, campesterol, hecogenin, sarsasapogenin, solasodine. As these plant sterols have a similar molecular structure to cholesterol, they are used as starting points for the synthesis of progesterone. People complained they couldn't use our progesterone as it contained soy. So we switched to yams, as no amount of explanation on my part could persuade people that no soy is found in any progesterone. Take care Wray
Nov 16, 2013
 soy...
by: Anonymous

Thank you for this clarification. I use Source Naturals progesterone cream which is derived from soy. I was almost ready to have a breakdown when I read elsewhere that soy progesterone should not be used due to it's estrogenic properties. I am glad to hear that is not actually a fact.
Dec 25, 2013
 Soy or yam
by: Anonymous

It is true that sheep feeding on soy were found to be infertile
What is the name of the product you say you now make with yams. Thank you I would like to try it..
Oct 30, 2014
 progesterone transdermal Liposome Delivery system
by: Anonymous

Does the cream use the Transdermal Liposome Delivery System? I read it is more effective and helps prevent problems.
Nov 01, 2014
 progesterone transdermal Liposome Delivery system
by: Wray

Hi there No it doesn't. It's more costly to make it using liposomes, and we try to keep the cost down. We are very happy with the cream as it is, as there's no doubt the progesterone is delivered effectively. Please see our page on Saliva Tests. You'll notice the progesterone increases substantially. Take care Wray

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