Wild Yam Root Extract and VapoFil™

What it is

Wild yam is a climbing vine with heart-shaped leaves that grows in the woods of eastern North America. It is not the orange sweet potato sold in stores as a yam. Its knobby roots were once called colic root, because early herbal healers used them in tea. Wild yam holds a plant compound called diosgenin.

Where it comes from

Gatherers dig up the roots after the vines die back in fall, then dry and grind them. Makers turn the powder into an extract. In the 1940s, chemists learned to use diosgenin from yams as a starting material for making medicines in a lab. The body cannot make that change by itself, so a wild yam extract is a plant extract and not a hormone.

Why it is in VapoFil

VapoFil lists 20 mg of wild yam root extract per serving.* Your VapoFil bottle label shows the serving size and every amount. Nettle, Sarsaparilla and Wild Yam has the rest of the story.

Worth knowing

• A woodland vine from eastern North America
• The root is the part used
• Not the same as a sweet potato
• 20 mg per serving on the label

Easy ways to explore it

• Read Nettle, Sarsaparilla and Wild Yam
• Compare it with sarsaparilla, another vine root
• Open the NIH supplement basics page in the sources below

Keeps company with

Wild yam pairs well with these guides:

Public sources

• NIH Office of Dietary Supplements: Dietary supplements, what you need to know
• NCCIH: Using dietary supplements wisely

Common questions