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Yam extract

by bill
(Orlando, Florida)

My wife is estrogen positive, progesterone positive, had lumpectomy, clear margins, no lymph node involvement, oncotype DX 13. no radiation, no chemo, going all natural.

Everyone says no Soy, as it feeds cancer. She wants to take natural progesterone. Some say processed yam extract does convert or is converted by the manufacturer or the body into T3. In responding to another blogger, you indicate yam extract does not or cannot be converted to T3, can you expand on point and does the body convert it.

Comments for Yam extract

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Apr 07, 2015
 Yam extract
by: Wray

Hi Bill I'm pleased your wife wants to go the natural route. We do have a page on Cancer you could look through, plus this page here and another here. I've not heard of soy feeding cancer, in fact I can't see how it can. Cancer feeds off sugar, which is why the ketogenic diet is having success at reversing it. For more info see these pages here, here and here. The body cannot convert diosgenin or stigmasterol, two commonly used plant sterols, into progesterone, this has to be done in a lab. I'm really puzzled by the mention of T3, particularly in reference to progesterone. T3 is one of the thyroid hormones, and is made from protein, whereas progesterone is a steroid hormone and is made from fat, or to be precise from cholesterol. The thyroid gland makes T4 from the amino acid tyrosine, combined with iodine, it's called thyroxine. This is then converted mainly by the liver and kidneys, into T3 or triiodothyronine, the conversion needs the mineral selenium as a co-factor. Take care Wray
Oct 26, 2021
 Sigmasterol
by: Anonymous

Hello Wray,
Is the natural progesterone in Natrpro actually sigmasterol? I've read that the natural progesterone in Natpro is derived from soy/yam but how is that converted to the natural progesterone which is stated in the ingredients? Do they convert it in the lab?

Would you mind expanding?
Thanks
Oct 26, 2021
 Sigmasterol
by: Justine

Hello Anon, thank you for your query.

The progesterone in Natpro is identical to the progesterone your body makes. 'Progesterone Ph. Eur. USP JP'. It is derived principally from stigmasterol, a steroidal sapogenin, but is not stigmasterol, it is progesterone in molecular structure, converted from stigmasterol.

Here is a more in depth explanation, written by Wray:

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.

You can read more about Natpro and all it's ingredients on this page here

Warm wishes,
Justine

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