I had a very interesting conversation with a woman at my parish yesterday. She is a lovely woman. She and her husband have 7 children they just recently moved from Tennessee. They came over to my house to eat a brunch. I have to say those kids are beyond fabulous. So while everyone is getting settled to get ready to watch Brewers vs. Cardinal game and later Packers vs. Falcon game she and I got to talking.
She said that it's been nearly 3 years since she's gotten pregnant and she doesn't know why. She is 32, healthy, in good shape and she didn't have any known health issues. She has some issues with menustral periods a bit heavier than usual in beginning of her cycle and then tapers off rather quickly. She asked me if I had any clue, as she knows what I do for a living. I was drawing a blank. I asked her what her normal daily activities were, what her meals consist of. She homeschools, she does more in a morning that I do in two days! So after writing that down I asked about what she and her family eats. She's really into eating as close to how God created food. She gave me a list of foods, sounded interesting. She called one of her daughters in and her daughter said "We eat alot of wild yams which is delicious when cooked right. We have had some more brought up from Pappaw's place just a few weeks ago"
I about fell off my chair.
I asked the daughter if I could ask her a personal question, she said sure. I asked if she had started her menestrual cycle yet. She has. I asked the mother if her other daughters have and one other has. So we called in daughter #2. I asked both the girls what their cycle was like "It's really heavy first few days then nothing". So the average time for their cycles is about 2.5 days in total. Of course being young girls they don't know any better and mom is of belief they're young so their cycles are a shorter in duration.
I asked the mom did where did she live when she got pregnant easily? "Arizona". How long have you been living in Tennessee? "Almost 3 years".
I thanked the girls and told them if they wanted to leave the table they could. The older daughter chose to stay. I told the mother to quit immediately eating wild yams. She looked completely perplexed and bewildered. I told her that wild yams is known as a 'herbal birth control'. At least in an area of Mexico I've been in where is widely practiced. It's unknown really how it works but the thinking by the villiage women I knew that used it for that purpose say they think it makes the egg outer layer extra thick to where nothing can penetrate. Also, it is known in science to be the 'herbal' equivalent of birth control pill where it was derived from. It can also create miscarriages up to 7 months gestation when an over indulgence occurs.
I also explained that wild yam isn't all bad. That it can help with pre term labor as it relaxes muscles and smooths out the nerve endings to keep a woman going into labor, with the right amount only. And it's actually known to assist in pain relief for a woman in actual labor but it can cause great amount of hemorraging p labor is complete so its used sparingly to assist with pain management.
She became quite emotional which I wasn't expecting. She felt that she had done something wrong, evil. I reassured her that she hadn't. She has zero idea of wild yam's effects. Who would think of that? So to not worry, just that she needs to not eat wild yams nor should her daughters as they are experiencing a higher than normal hormonal shift to progesterone. Making their cycle a bit 'off' but nothing than can't be resolved immediately.
I pointed out to her that perhaps Arizona doesn't have wild yams (she said she never saw any) and her family eats it quite often at home in TN. She got on her phone and started calling her sisters all who love wild yam and eat it religiously and have had many issues regarding miscarriages, infertility, and other reproductive issues. All of her family is practicing traditional Catholics. And I think this information just rocked their world.
What does a wild yam look like?
http://www.rain-tree.com/Plant-Images/dioscorea-pic.htmShould you avoid it if wanting to get pregnant? Probably. But do note that it does have great medicinal properties that assist in other areas of female reproduction. But it does need to be used cautiously until it's understood, and it's not. At least not by me. The women in Mexico used in primarily for birth control but as stated above it has other qualities that assist in creating a healthy pregnancy i.e., primarily stopping pre term labor, it can actually help with infertility. All of this seems to be anedotal more than scientific empirical data. Knowing that I may be wrong but this family in particular has wild yams very often as it is a much loved staple.
Just thought I'd share.
Topic: Wild Yams (Read 6239 times)