Vitex improves milk production in nursing mothers. Best results are obtained when women use vitex for the first ten days after birthing. Interestingly, it can also help decrease prolactin in nonnursing women who are having abnormal menses. It can help reduce pain and lumps in the breast. Vitex has been found to be helpful in fibroid cysts that occur in the smooth muscle.
Wild yam improves liver and kidney function and can lessen dysmenorrhea and ovarian pain.
Wild yam contains diosgenin, which is a precursor to progesterone and was once used to make birth control pills. Today wild yam, valued as an herb, is useful for dysmenorrhea, infertility, menopause, menstrual cramps, ovarian pain, and threatened miscarriage. Soy products , which are eaten widely in the Far East, are hypothesized to play a role in this region s lower rates of cancers and heart disease and menopausal symptoms. Soy products such as beans, tempeh, tofu, soy milk, and miso contain isoflavones, an antioxidant which can reduce hot flashes and help inhibit tumor growth and cancer. Soy isoflavones also are a source of dietary phytoestrogens and have demonstrated the ability to reduce low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, also known as the more harmful type of cholesterol.